Crisis Management Styles

I just spent 4 hrs. running the weekly errands and going from grocery store to store for the best coupon deals. It's a hassle every week and reminds me how much I want to move back to civilization - maybe someplace I can ride my bike to get fresh produce daily. Ah, dreams. But the irritating thing about the checkout (and this is not a recent trend) is being asked at each stop if I want to donate my change or the reusable bag refund to some charity or other. I bought those bags and use them religiously to save money (and the planet) on a very limited income, but that's not the point.

It's how they make you feel when you say no; after all I'm a charity case. This week it's Haiti, and while I sympathize with those poor people, we did nothing to help them all the previous years. In fact, it's our policies and capitalism that have brought them to living in hovels. But it goes beyond that and I'm tired of news organizations reporting no other news all week and stating what heroes we all are - because we pull together in a crisis. Where are those team players for the 1 in 20 Americans who will go bankrupt and lose their houses due to medical calamities? I am NOT Scrooge, but charity, as Mom taught me, should begin at home. And, oh yeah, Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh? Shut the hell up, you deranged old bigots.