People on the local parenting message board are posting irate tirades about a grandma who asked for help around Christmas, was given gifts by charitable folks, and is now selling the gifts on FB for $10 and $15. To me it’s clear that the woman must be in real need if she’s bothering with FB sales to get such a small amount. But everybody is piling on her, calling her horrible names, and acting deeply wounded.
I’ve seen such mean-spiritedness come out around Christmas that I’m stunned. A man with 12 kids asked for help. “Moocher! Scammer! The best gift for him is a vasectomy! The kids must all have different mommies, and they are probably all loose women!” go charitable neighbors. Why can’t folks just scroll down and move on if they don’t want to help is a mystery.
Teary stories abound of how people donated gifts only to discover that the recipients returned them for cash. Because, apparently, it’s beyond the pale for the indigent to need cash. “They will spend it on drugs and alcohol!” Because on this FB page we all compensate by reading Proust while listening to Shostakovich and can’t imagine why anybody wouldn’t just do that instead of doing unhealthy things.
If even on Christmas people can’t keep the inner jerkwad in check and remember that a charitable donation is not a ticket to police the lives of those who asks for help, then that’s not good at all.
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