I'm privileged to serve on the board of an agency that provides food, shelter, counseling, clothing and other emergency services for thousands of people each year. Part of our duties include "Learn the load" days where we work in different departments of the agency to better understand what we're responsible for administering.
Today I'll be working in the food pantry. By the end of the day we'll have distributed 4 tons of food. 4 tons. The doors open at 9am, people start lining up long before and this morning it will be a chilly wait.
I also read this story about the Denver Rescue Mission and their worry they won't have enough turkeys to distribute this Thanksgiving.
So I remain dismayed as to the media's obsession with the cruise line passengers "stranded" because of an engine room fire. Much of the coverage focused on the delivery of Spam to the ship while it was being towed. (Thank you US NAVY and the crew of CVN 76) It was the lead story this morning on one of the local stations here in Denver.
The lead story?
Don't mis-understand, I've been on cruises and would be as upset as anyone if something similar happened to me. But in this case there were no injuries, no one went hungry, everyone gets a refund plus a free cruise to make up for the inconvenience. Plus get on Network TV.
It all has be wondering what's worse. Being "stranded" on a cruise liner, or lining up in the cold to get something to eat. Even Spam. These folks are families, so very many just the victims of circumstance. I remember one morning seeing a mother and her two kids pulling a wagon full of groceries as they left the food bank. The kids were excited, not because they just got a new video game, but for the fact they had something to eat.
Think about it.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We start the conversation about you"
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