My wife favored me with another one of those obnoxious viral emails. You know the ones– “Send This to Three Friends for Good Luck!” The remarkable thing is, this kind of stuff flies in the face of everything she believes in. She sent it to me “just in case.” Not only does it fly in my face, too, it drives me nuts. I grapple with the ordeal of appraising my fellowman, asking,”Who are all these lunkheads that buy into in that crap??” It was sent to my wife by her sister who always forwards us these moronic intrusions, along with Reader’s Digest cartoons, frisky kitten pictures and faith-promoting stories, usually involving the love of a child or a ripoff of the Gift of the Magi. The worst are the ones with LDS settings. My bishop sent this to me and I’ve been doubly blessed since… In all the years my sister-in-law has been dumping these steamy loads in our virtual yards, she never stopped to consider that the lucky emails never once worked for her– she is one unlucky broad. And, of course, it’s never occurred to any of her recipients (at least to any actionable degree) to tell her just how unwelcome her e-pollution is. I’m sure my wife is afraid if she did say something, her sister would stop sending her any mail, period. I even suggested getting some people together for an Instant Message intervention, but that idea was met with one of my helpmeet’s classic “you really are out of your mind” looks. The irony is, my sister-in-law is extremely faithful in her ward. Do I tell her these electronic glad tidings are false idols in disguise? Magic beans for the cow? Lotto for losers? For anyone who banks on Kismet or any Judeo-Christian spin on life, does it make sense to find relief in a fortune cookie?
When I’m blue or feeling unfortunate, I’ll force myself out of the funk by looking for people who need help. What do you do when your mood’s in the dumpster? Keep the eyes and ears peeled for a service opportunity. Be it a new mom or sick neighbor who could use meals brought in, a car-less person who needs a ride, helping a buddy carry his gargantuan sofa sleeper up narrow stairs & around impossible corners (did that sound too autobiographical?), whatever. Doing service for someone else is like working out– it goes against your nature, but after it’s done, you feel a great deal better.
Certainly better than after sending a chain e-mail to a bunch of sort-of friends for luck.
3 responses so far ↓
1 xoxoxoxo // Jan 12, 2008 at 12:13 am
Bingo again…are you sure you aren’t one of the voices in my head?
JUST today-cliff note version.
Selling house. Buying another. Six kids, two dogs, not enough Valium in the world.
My husband’s company sold off their old (a whole whopping year old) computers to employees rather than haul/move/damage them all in transition to new building. We took advantage of the downright shockingly low prices to upgrade an elderly friend’s computer (which is something like 9 years old…I had no idea they lived that long being married to a techno-God) for Christmas. Only we couldn’t take possession of it until this week and we still need to load it full of photos and fun stuff that her old one passed out downloading etc. before we ship it.
Today-after 142 calls from our real estate agent, 10 emails from our financial guy, and end-of-term hairpulling to get ADHD son’s work in for credit-let’s just say that I was NOT in harmony with the Spirit, the neighbors of the Spirit, or the Spirit’s Avon lady’s husband.
SO-I spent the day working on the upgraded gift, photoshopping images, wrapping it in a bright red ribbon and taking a photo to email to her because I wanted to “give” it to her today-when in reality I will have to bubble wrap it like an Eskimo child and ship it two states away. Just knowing how she’s going to react…what a blessing this very small sacrifice (for us) will be to her and her elderly parents…filled me with laughter and love and peace that cannot be described. And the KIDS got into it too.
It wasn’t anything we hadn’t already been planning. It wasn’t a sudden service project etc. But focusing on IT…and someone else…today put my frustrations into instant perspective and my mood (and homicidal urges) did a 180. I agree completely-service is the cure for many ills.
2 David // Jan 12, 2008 at 12:29 am
Very cool story, and what a great endeavor for those folks. BTW, the Eskimo child wrapping reminded me of little Randy in Christmas Story– “Maaa–I can’t move my arms!”
3 xoxoxoxo // Jan 14, 2008 at 5:44 am
LOVE that movie. Had my four year old daughter out last week after a night’s snow dropped about 8 inches and she decided to do a “snow angel”. She was trying to get up without messing up her masterpiece and started howling at the top of her lungs “Help! I can’t get up!” while she rolled back and forth. I was torn between being helpful and going inside to find the mini cam so I could document her portrayal of Randy for FHE. (I helped…but only because I wasn’t sure where the camera was….lol)
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