Please donate to the Thai Red Cross Society. Your money will be well spent and will get to the flood victims most effectively.

You can wire the money directly with the instructions provided when you click on the main, green banner. Or choose another donation method by selecting “Donation Online” banner on the left and choose “”Relief for Disaster Victims and Disadvantaged in Rural Areas”.

I’m making this suggestion here and for everyone to spread the words around.  I don’t know what Thai government has set up but I want you to consider NOT donating to them.

Then again, a lot of you already know about how donating to a government sometimes the money never reaches the intended target.  In this case, sure, some of it probably will get to the people. However, there are evidence that the help being sent out the people have political agenda attached.

All I want to really say is that if you want you money to really help Thai victims of the flood, free and clear of any messages other than “THIS IS TO HELP YOU”, please donate through the Red Cross Society.

I would consider raising funds during NaNoWriMo this year toward the flood victims instead of for my mom’s scholarship fund. I think she would really like it better that way.

Getty Image from this WSJ blog entry.

<rant>

If you’ve been following world’s news a bit, you would have heard of the political turmoils and struggles Thailand has had for the past 5-6 years.  The Red Shirts. The Yellow Shirts. This guy. And that gal. And what not. Even in our desperate hours, some people still can’t get their heads out of their asses to help their fellow citizens out of the goodness of their hearts.

The aid supplies distributed by “the government”–and some are now donated by other countries–are politically motivated. Some of the supplies for folks suffering are slapped with propaganda. But then turn around the other way and you have folks bitching about it while they’re staying safe and dry with their hoarded loot of bottled water and instant noodles.

For crying out loud, the country is going under and we’re still bickering!? If there was ever a sign from above for the country to shut the fuck up and unite, this would be it, folks.

Read the sign. Set aside the differences. Make the King, our “Father”, proud.  HELP EACH OTHER.

</rant>

Getting a new perspective

It’s been 6 months since my career change.

I have experienced so much in half a year than I’ve ever had in a long time. Obviously, I’ve experienced being completely and totally unemployed. I’ve experienced life as an independent contractor, working with a few clients on a few small projects; as a hired hand for any odd jobs; and as a party hostess and promoter for a product. And now as a full-time freelancer at a huge advertising firm.

I’ve always wanted to work in advertising since I made up my mind in 8th grade. I did summer internships at Ogilvy & Mathers in Bangkok the summer before college, and the following summer with Leo Burnett. I applied to any and all advertising jobs fresh out of college. But the dream veered into the dot com right before the peak of the boom and I found my true love in technology instead.

Now that my feet are in the door in an advertising firm working on tech projects, it is indeed a full circle.

This freelance gig is a huge eye opener for me for many reasons. This is my first freelance full-time contract job. This is the largest company I’ve ever worked for. This is also the most fun office I’ve been in. Well, since the dot com glory days.

It’s weird driving to work at 9:30 a.m. to a bustling office instead of shambling off the bus into an empty one a 7:30 a.m. Then again, I also never got to experience the empty 405 freeway at 2 a.m. either.

The hurry-up-and-wait, almost manic-depressive in nature, really, needs some adjusting to. I feel useless some times and I couldn’t leave my desk for a bit some other times. Never quite like that at the old gig.

It’s weird when we are encouraged to use instant messenger to talk to your colleague a few desks over when the old work place doesn’t even officially sanction Google Chat.

It’s weird not knowing everyone on your floor. But yet, there is always somebody walking around sharing donuts or cupcakes or some other food treats.

I often griped about having to dress professionally and rebelled against it with my knee socks and platform maryjanes to keep it lively. It’s weird now that I actually have to make a decision about which t-shirts to wear with my jeans. I never thought I’d be in a wardrobe dilemma when I can wear jeans everyday, but here I am.  Then again, when you were getting really comfortable with your boxer shorts and fuzzy slippers working at home, putting on jeans and t-shirt seems to be a bit of a hassle. LOL

Everything is different now than what it was six months ago. Heck, it’s even different now that just a month and a half ago!

And in a month’s time from today when my contract comes up again, things may change once more.

I thought this whole experimenting with companies and career choices should’ve been wrapped up by the time you turn 30. Here I am, 2 months from turning 35, learning something new everyday and adjusting to a life completely different what I had 6 months ago. It’s definitely weird.

But, well, ya know, I will survive and all that.

All who wander are not lost.

But when you’ve wandered around a while, you’re starting believe that you might really be lost.

Since my 6-year career at the nonprofit ended in March, I’ve been wandering in and out of small projects and side jobs, and online and in-person interviews.

I’ve wandered into the territory of full-time freelancing, puffed up with optimism and confidence. But some negative experiences with people along with what Seth Godin called “Lizard Brain”–the resistance part of your brain telling you to slow down and be careful–sent me packing.

Eventually, I return to the familiar open space of full-time job opportunities. The field is wide open–perhaps a little too wide open with too many players.  In my general directions, the jobs I want are few and far between.  My love for the quiet, suburban life clashes with my despise for a long commute.  Some people can do it. I really just can’t.

Meanwhile, I keep passing along opportunities to friends who live in town, hoping that they’d get lucky and the good job hunting karma will come back my way.

In all of this, occasionally, I feel lost.

The wind is taken off my sail with every unanswered application and every rejection email. High hopes spun me around just to be left adrift in the middle of nowhere.  When all is still like that, I would head toward he cabin to start a pity party.

But someone else seems to have a different plan for me.

Like this past week.

The phone rang. Got a short term gig for you, he said.  And so I set sail.

A few days into that journey, the phone rang again. An interview. And then a chat with a recruiter.  The inbox that has been devoid of any job leads coughs up a few notes.

And then my calendar pops open.

USC football season starts 2 weekends from now. Italian lessons begin a month from now. I’ve also got to get started on the TARDIS dress.  My weekdays will be filled for the next month–hopefully longer, and better yet, permanently–and my Saturdays are taken up through the end of the year.

I am no longer lost.

Hell, I won’t even have time to be lost, come to think of it.

I’m not quite as geeky as this chick in the video here, mind you. I have girl friends who are a lot geekier than me.  And there are plenty more ladies out there who will out geek me in many subjects.  But all in all, I’m nerdier than average. So I guess I’m qualified to make the following statement.

I mean, helloooooo. Geek girls have ALWAYS been here.

THIS. WHOLE. TIME.

Now that the media is making being geek girl tres chic, the inevitable aftermath is coming.

That’s right, a pack of non-geek girls trying to earn some geek creds to impress boys by throwing out some adorable little nerd baits.

We all have heard them before.

“Oh, I so totally love Star Wars.”

But most of the time, they can’t tell a Wookiee from an Ewok, or if Han shot first. (HAN FUCKING SHOT FIRST!!!!! There is no other way, foo!)  However, I must confess that I can tell you nothing about Episode 1-3 because they suck so bad I block it from my memory.

“The Star Trek movie was so cool.”

Of course, they are referring to the newest Star Trek movie. I agree there. But yell out “Khhhhhaaaaan!” and they’d look at you funny.  They also probably can’t tell a Tribble from an Ewok. Or Sisko from Janeway, for that matter.

“I like to play video games.”

Some dance games on the Wii, or some kind of Rock Band, I’m sure.  They’ll never know the beauty in the creepiness of Bioshock, the unpredictability of Rift, or the realism of Grand Turismo.  I have to admit, I don’t play much games either. I get motion-sick playing first-person control and confused with all the trigger buttons.  Pretty much this leaves me with a barrage of Lego games and Castle Crashers.  But I do keep up with the trends so I can converse with my gamer husband and be a good game spectator. I watch Brandon and his friends play all the time.

Yeah…I like to watch. Hee.

Well, you know, and the list of nerd baits goes on.

To each, her own. I respect that.  Go ahead, play your faux geek card.

But know that my fellow geek girls and I reserve the right to poke holes in your pretension, like a T-Rex testing for the weakness in the electrified fence, until you are exposed as who you really are: a regular girl.

And there is no shame in being a regular girl.  Like the guy in the video said, at least there are some common grounds in pop culture reference.

To thyself be true, yo.

But if the geek world calls to you and you’d like to explore your geek girl side, come on in!  Our universe is vast. And awesome.

Genre mash-up Zombie Slave Leia with Dad Vader.

A few years back, I announced my commitment to using my own tote bags for grocery shopping.  Last year, I also turned to shopping at local farmers market more after having watched Food Inc., which for me means the one at Alamitos Bay in Long Beach on Sundays.

This market, because of the proximity to the water, does not allowed the use of plastic bags.  Paper only over here except for the pre-bagged salads and other veggies, the salad vendors, the fish mongers, and the bison guy.

One lady who sells mushrooms eventually stops supplying us with paper bags altogether. “Even with paper, you’ll still throw that away eventually,” she said.  So she’d either bunk your purchase with other produce you’ve already bought, or you have to bring your own.  I now stash a few paper bags I saved from other vendors in the pouch of my wheeled duffel bag/cart thing for her.

Last weekend, because of the Long Beach Grand Prix, I didn’t even want to go near that side of town.  So, I went to check out the new farmers market on Clark and Spring instead.

My friend has warned me that this market has less produce but more food, merchandises, and entertainment.  I knew what I was going in for so I left the rolling cart/bag in the car and just shouldered my tote.

Music blasted from a van parked by the bouncy house.  Okay then. More of a fair than a market. But alright.  Then, the train almost ran me over.  Passenger kabooze towed by a golf cart, I guess.  I thought originally was for kids but it turned out to be people mover.  To move people from one end of the parking lot which wraps around this office building to the market itself. Seriously? People can’t WALK around the building?  At Alamitos Bay, I see people walk the lot end to end. Not a train in sight.

So far, this wasn’t promising.  But I was committed.

What surprised me the most, however, was the plastic bags offered by the vendors.  I was so used to the paper bags that the appearances of plastic was jarring.

My eggs came in a reuse foam egg container, not the paper crate held together by rubber bands.  Again, not I was used to. But kudos for reusing the foam container.

The worst offender that way was the salad and herb guy.  Obviously, the pack-your-own-salad greens would have to go into a plastic bag–a clear plastic bag for food but about the size of the bag you carry off the loot from Target.  My meager salad selection filled only a quarter of the bag.  I added a bundle of thyme to my purchase the last minute, so I asked him to just go ahead and throw that in my salad bag.  He put the thyme in another plastic bag the same giant size and put THAT in my salad bag.

I had a feeling that if I asked him to remove the thyme and save a bag, he’d just chuck into a trash can anyway.  So I just got my stuff and left.

Only 2 years into my switch to reusable bags, I found myself staring at people loading up their grocery carts with plastic bags. A mild loathing bubbles up inside me when I see people buy one easy-to-carry item and take it out in a bag.

And here’s a guy who used giant plastic bag to hold a tiny bundle of thyme to put in another giant plastic bag for me without even batting an eye.  Even the mushroom lady even admitted that not only her not giving us bags an environmental responsibility, it was also a good business sense for her–no bags wasted.  This guy was just giving away his plastic bag farm.

That was the final straw for me for that farmers market.  I am not going back.

With all my ranting here, I am still not completely living bag-free.  I still take bags from Target when I go shopping there instead of bringing in my own which we save for around the house use like lining our bathroom trash bins or packing shoes for travel.  We try our best to not bring home more bags than we need to.

It is such an easy habit to pick up, using reusable bags.  With all the free bags people are giving away these days, there are no lack of supplies for bags. Heck, I have to donate half a dozen away recently I had so many.  The trick was to remember that you have them.  For the longest time, I’d put them on the back seats of my car so I would remember to use them.  Once I get into the habit of taking the bags in with me, then I moved them to the trunk.  It is now second nature for both Brandon and I.

However, refusing to accept unnecessary bags is harder.  Telling people you DO NOT want bags takes a little more courage and getting used to.  You’ll have to first be assertive about not wanting a bag and not be embarrassed when asked, “Are you sure you don’t want a bag?” or the awkward “Oh, I don’t need a bag, here take it back” bag removal.  It’s only a bag. Don’t let people make you guilty for doing the right thing!

In a larger scheme of things, what I’m doing is just a drop in the ocean when it comes to taking environmental responsibility.  But I’m doing my part nonetheless.

Now, your turn.

Guinness. Calamari. Yankees. All things Gregg loved. (Photo: @davidmoyle)

My friend Gregg (@fstop23) died last week after a battle with cancer.

Since his diagnosis in October, he had put up a great fight. But cancer, being a cheating, murderous mother fucker that it is, got the upper hand mid-March.

His death completed the “it comes in three” circle for me personally.  (Remember 2 former coworkers from earlier this year?)

Folks have been writing wonderful things about Gregg and how his life and death impact them.

I wrote about three drafts of this tribute/story about Gregg now and I couldn’t publish any of them.  His death reminded me of my own mother’s.  It’s not fair to him or to anyone else to talk about how I feel and how I’m dealing with it.

But one thing I can share with you and I can share it well.

A rant.

I’m angry at the unfairness of it all.

Why Gregg?  Why now?  Why rare cancer? Why did he has to suffer so much and so long? Why wasn’t he to one to beat this thing?  I mean, the man was one in a million as a human being, why can’t you give him that one in a million chance to beat cancer too? Instead, you have to give him that rare disease nobody knows what to do with.

Why him?

I know I was cooing about how awesomely God/Universe/Karma/Fate/Circumstances has lined things up for me. But did It have to take Gregg as a payment for this cosmic alignment?  Or is this just another way of the Universe to teach me to fly into a brand new world through an emotional turbulence?

Universe deals out tough love, I guess.  I can’t blame It for that.

But I for damn sure will blame cancer.

Fucking. Cancer.

It has taken two of the people in my world now and gotten on my bad side.

The man who would have been here to mentor my professional leap of faith is gone.

The friend who’d swoop in to go do those things I like to do that Brandon doesn’t necessary want to do–like watching Avatar the second time but in 3D IMAX–is gone.

The kind of friend who took pity on this Carole King fan and took me to the James Taylor/Carole King concert at the Hollywood Bowl is gone.

The guy who would show up to watch USC game with me even though he couldn’t care less about college football.  The twitter buddy.  The photography partner.  The gracious party host.  The Yoda of technology and innovation.  The best of a friend anyone can have.

All of that. All of Gregg.

Gone.

Fuck you very much, cancer.

/rant

Alas. The first cold of 2011. The game changer.

I made New Year’s Eve dinner of 40 clove garlic chicken to feed James and Aurora and her sister Lee.  I took pictures of everything as it would be my first post for HmmFoodGood for 2011 according to Goal #5.  We sipped some wine and hung out until 11:30 before Brandon and I shambled home before the drunks got back out on the road.  We kissed at midnight and promptly crawled into bed.  So, no. I wasn’t out at a raging party.

The next morning, we were summoned back for Aurora’s famous crepe breakfast.  We came home to a few hours of television followed by a nap.

You know it was never good when you woke yourself up choking on your own phlegm.

What the f…?

Where the heck does THIS come from?  I was not even close to sick these past few days.  No signs of it. No scratchy throat. No itchy inner ears. Nada!

Here I was, stuffy, phlegmy and overall miserable after the nap.  And it went downhill from there.

Sunday was all coughs and fever so I wasn’t going to play the piano.  There went Goal #2.

Monday was all fever as the massive stuffy nose/head replaced the cough. My hair needed a wash but I wasn’t about to work out.  There went Goal #7.  I did, however, not watch TV and instead read my book.  So, score for Goal #1 and #4…although a lot of TV was watched during the time I was couch-bound.

Tuesday was milder version of Monday.  Since I could use anything to make me feel/get better, I asked Brandon to bring me chicken soup and therefore brushed off Meatless Tuesday and Goal #10 to keep it up.

Wednesday I dragged my butt to work.  I figured I could use all the sleep I can get so I opted to nap in the morning instead of working on the blog.  There went Goal #8.  I also left my lunch at home so I had to go out which, as you will find out soon, led me to break Goal #10 again.  Date night also didn’t happened as I was half alive.  So tacos and TV was it.  I didn’t quite break #Goal 6 though, more like shifted it.

Thursday, having felt much better than the past few days, Brandon and I redid date night and went out to silence my cravings for Hooters wings once and for all.

Friday started with a nap on the bus and all the intentions to eat my leftover, but then my boss and I took our new colleague to lunch for her birthday.  So I did buy 2 lunches in a week and therefore broke Goal #10 BUT I did order a Cobb salad so that made up for sticking with Goal #3.

Yeah, pretty much I’m doing the year over starting tonight.

That means, I have to fit an active activity into the day tomorrow before I wash my hair.  I wonder if the long walk from one end of the parking lot to the farmers market will count…

Two girls fighting over one guy, it’s always some trashy cat fight.  But when two boys fight over one girl, it’s romantic.

Interesting, right?

Well, obviously the whole Twilight thing with vampire Edward and werewolf Jacob fighting over Bella. Girls and their mothers swoon.  (As you know I’m Team Jacob for a few reasons and more reasons). But a wealth of triangles in the show I’ve watched recently has brought the whole thing to my attention.

Over on the other vampire spectrum, I’ve just finished True Blood Season 2 on DVD.  Sookie and Bill are obviously committed to each other, but that doesn’t stop Eric from making his moves on her…including moves to get rid of Bill altogether. (Note: I’m watching True Blood on DVD so I’ve just finished Season 2 now and switched to Team Eric. Don’t tell me anything!)

Over in the land of Castle, Kate Beckett and Richard Castle obviously have the hots for each other but nobody made the move. At some point she started seeing the other guy. So, yep. 2 boys fighting over her there for a few episodes.  Frankly, I’d have Nathan Fillion and Michael Trucco fight over me any day.

I’ve started watching SyFy’s Haven. FBI Agent Audrey came to town and immediately got two hottest boys in town wrapped around her fingers. Her partner Nathan and the bad boy Duke already had some bad blood going but now they fight over her too.  While Nathan quietly goes about admiring Audrey, Duke makes his intentions very clear.  In this fight, Eric Balfour’s Duke wins by a landslide.

Then, of course, Jane Austen’s novels.  Well, not really a triangle but there’s always a girl and a flashy handsome boy who have seemingly fallen in love but there’s always another guy in the wing waiting to come in to be with her after the flashy bastard breaks her heart.  A guy who would lay his life on the line for her even if she doesn’t love him…yet.

And looking back even more: Sleepless in Seattle has an engaged Annie falling for Sam, Love Actually has Mark quietly in love with just married Juliet, Battlestar Galatica has everyone nice and tangled but most importantly Kara/Sam/Lee, and, of course, Pretty in Pink Ducky watches Andy goes off with Blane in the end.

What is it that make these girls so special that boys would move the earth for them?

Well, I guess being pretty to start with doesn’t hurt anybody.  I’m sure hot chicks have that dilemma all the time.  A pretty girl walks in the room and at least 5 guys are already interested. How many after that would really go the distance?  I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s a good start.

Many of us don’t have to worry about that.  Heck, many of us already have trouble landing A man. LOL.

But what is it with the love triangle that intrigued us girls so much?  Is it because we all wanted to be desired?  If you can make one guy falls in love with you, then more power to you if you can have two?  One must be an incredible person and more than likely gorgeous to be worthy of the love of two men, so we all want to be like that?

Hell. I don’t know.  I for one don’t understand the logic, but that doesn’t stop me from swooning over these stories.

Hey, I’m a girl too, the last time I checked.

Is there a point to this post? I don’t know. I guess I’m just fascinated with this whole girl-based love triangle deal and didn’t quite realized we’re surrounded by it in fiction.

Does this happen in real life? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such story.

But I guess that’s what make it even more fascinating to us all.

We don’t hate kids.  And we make great auntie and uncle.  We just like to play with them and hand them off to the parents at the end of the day.

We adore Brandon’s two nieces age 8 and 11.  We can hardly wait to hang out with Aurora and James’ 2-year-old Dresden and baby Chloe.  Olaina and Justin’s Ella is still too little to play with but we didn’t mind hanging out with her too.

I’m quite sure the fact that they are relations–or practically relations, our tolerance and patience for them are a lot higher than for that of complete strangers’ kids.

However, we don’t offer to baby sit the kids on our own.  Well, Brandon is okay with taking Dresden to the park for an hour or two, and Little D and I get along swell playing inside the house.  But overall, we never want to be left alone with the young ones for more than a few hours at a time before our patience run out and our heads explode.

We chose to be child-free for a reason.  And our friends know it.

Yet, it’s a constant question we have to dodge here and back in Thailand.  My dad especially.  I haven’t the heart to tell him, so my answer is usually, “I don’t have the money.”  My mom’s friends know I didn’t want kids.  Actually, and quite surprisingly, they were supportive of that choice.

I started to realize I didn’t even want kids back in college.  I still remembered the first time my ex-boyfriend mentioned our future children.  That freaked the fuck out of me out but I played along.  Hahaha. Yeah, sure, honey, a boy and a girl, right? Wonderful.  But in my head, Holy shit he already talks about KIDS?! God I can’t have kids?! I don’t want any kids!!

You can’t imagine the relief when Brandon brought up early on when we started dating that he didn’t want kids.

So far, our choice to be child-free has never been a problem in our social life because we can still hang with our friends who have kids.

We had Aurora and the kids over for dinner often.  And we were perfectly okay with going to the movies with Brandon’s nieces when we were in New Mexico.

On those certain days we weren’t up for kids, we politely decline the invitation for their company.  Most friends understand.  Some don’t.

We are child-free BY CHOICE. And that choice includes choosing to not be around a child when we don’t feel like it.  Because if we want to be with a child all the time, we would’ve chosen to have one.

We respect parents.  We do.  I mean, we can barely stand up to Dresden’s rambunctiousness for a few hours and Aurora has to do this all day with Chloe clinging on to her?  Holy crap!  And then there are friends and single parents who also work full time on top of being a mom/dad.  I mean, seriously.  How do you guys manage all of that?

Props. Mad props to you, parents.

We respect also your choice to have children. And we thank you for bringing your wonderful kids into this world and even share them with us sometimes.

We hope that you respect our choice to not have children–or not be with one when we don’t want to–as well.

But what about the everyday?  Where did that overflowing of generosity and kindness go?

Last week, my bus buddy was sitting with a bunch of other commuters waiting for the bus.  There was no room to sit so I was standing around the corner.  Once these folks got up to get on their bus, I moved in to sit down. There was a purse laying next to my bus buddy and I knew for sure that wasn’t hers.

I asked anyway, “That’s not your purse, is it?”

My bus buddy gasped. “Oh my gosh! I think that lady left her purse!”

A young Asian chick standing right by turned to me, “Oh yeah, she went on to that bus a second ago.”

My bus buddy and the Asian Chick kept looking at the purse and looked around.  None of them wasn’t going to pick it up, it seemed.

So I did.

The Asian chick put her nose to her blackberry and started walking away.  With much interest, my bus buddy watched me moving in to investigate the purse that laid right next to her.

It’s like watching “What would you do?” show on ABC.  This is the show that fake a situation to see how people would react.  At this juncture, it would’ve been a show where nobody was going to do anything.

I went through the purse, found a wallet with all kinds of IDs with no cash or credit card. There was a cellphone holder in the purse and fortunately no actual phone itself.  So at least she has her phone.  I found her insurance cards with her company on it.  While on my bus, I looked up the company and and called.  I told the receptionist I had recovered this lady’s wallet.  She gave me the lady’s cell phone number and took mine.

My bus buddy signaled at me from the back of the bus to see if I actually made a connection with the purse owner, and I nodded.

The following morning, the purse lady called me and we met at Starbucks.

Apparently, she was on the phone talking to someone the entire time and didn’t realize one of her many bags had slipped off her shoulder, and soon after that her batteries went dead.  That also explained why the neither the receptionist or I could get a hold of her that evening.

“Can I hug you?” she asked.  LOL.

Now, of all of this ordeal, here’s what  I don’t understand.

Both my bus buddy and the Asian chick were just staring at the purse.  Neither one was going to pick it up.  I mean, what if I wasn’t there?  They were just going to leave it there?

I mean, the Asian chick definitely was going to leave it there since my bus buddy sits right next to it, I’m pretty sure. She was already started to move away after she told us, people who stood next to the purse, that she had seen the owner left to get on the bus.

Would you want someone to look on by if that was YOUR purse?

This isn’t even Haiti, folks. It’s somebody you stood next to not more than 5 minutes ago.

I’ve seen this similar thing happen before.  Someone dropped something without knowing it. 10 people saw it and nobody was going to tell that person until one brave soul did.  A person came running to the bus yelling for it, 10 people turned to look and heard him but did nothing.  Once in a while, someone helped yell or wave or something but not always the case.  On the crowded bus, nobody was getting up for anybody.

Seriously. Where did the human decency and kindness go these days?  We’ve become such a “Me Me Me” society. I mean, even the giving to the disaster, for some people, it’s  because it’s trendy at the time, not about they actually care.

Thailand had a celebrity-packed fundraiser for Haiti with drew quite and outrage. Um, helloooo there are Thai people who need help just as much and you’re sending your money where?

The giving and the kindness suddenly become a hip thing to do; not THE thing to do.

I’m sure there are still decent human beings out there who would always do the right thing and step up to help.  I know at least 3 guys on my bus who would’ve given up their seats if the bus is full. I know that Brandon and Justin and his friends would step up to help those in need of help.

I mean, yesterday we were walking back to our car at the farmers market. A lady was loading stuff into the truck and there was a huge cart full of stuff on the floor next to her.  Brandon gave me the keys to the car and he himself ran over to the lady to help her put all of that into the truck.  Loads of people walked by doing nothing.

These little moments when a door is held open, a dropped item returned, or a seat given up that restores my faith in humanity.  These moments are what keeping me from becoming a complete misanthrope.  (Right now, I’m just a little bitter, heh.)

How about you? Have you seen any act of kindness recently? Or perhaps you’ve done something good yourself?