Showing posts with label people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label people. Show all posts

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Human Nature an Money

 This is just my random thoughts about people and money.  Sometimes people and money can totally deify logic. Sometimes be transparent can back fire big time.  Let me explain.

I have planned a luncheon. In the past I have taken the cost of the meal, tax and added the 18% tip plus 5 or 10 dollars rounded up to the nearest 5 or 10 dollar mark for the fund raiser portion and people did not blink.  No one complained.  

In a group I belong to money has been an issue all year. Plus the place we are having the luncheon has a nice discount for those over 65, which is most of the membership. If I had paid for all the meals at once, I would have had to pay the under 65 price plus a drink which is higher. So I naively thought that everyone would like to save a little money, since a lot of people I know drink water with meals they would also save the cost of a drink. So I asked for a 5 dollar reservation fee to cover miscellaneous costs of the luncheon with the balance going into the nonprofits bank account, and everyone could choose their own options when they arrived. In this case trying to save people money, a fundraiser and being transparent has turned into a big mess. A lot of hurt feelings and talk about unjust fees. That I am being greedy, please note that the $5.00 will be going into the non-profits bank account. That I don't know the value of money and so on. The funny thing here is that if they take the over 65 price with no drink that would cover most of the $5.00 reservation fee.

My take away on this whole fiasco is too skip the options and being nice. In the future all planned luncheons will be a single price even if it cost people more money. All luncheons will include the cost of the meal, drink, 18% tip and the fund raiser portion rolled into one price. No options on cost. Only main course options from a very limited menu.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Understanding People

Sometimes I really don't understand people. Take yesterday for instance. I listened to a speaker from a local charity. She talked about all the good work her group was doing helping children. this was perfectly acceptable. Then she went on to criticize the very people her group was helping use racial overtones just because the people her charity were helping were not like her.

I would like everyone to remember "That all Gd's children are special ALL the time." and that we are all Gd's children. No matter what your religion or race we all bleed red. No matter your economic standing we all bleed red.

I am not saying that you have to like or agree with all other religions or cultures. The really important thing is that you have to RESPECT all other cultures and religions. All cultures have provision for helping the elderly, frail and less fortunate among us. Not everyone can be the top 1 percent , the math just does not work out that way. So we do have to work together to make this a better world.

In an ideal world we would all have a roof over our heads, food on the table, enough clothing, heat or fire wood for a cold winters night. Even health care. But the world is not perfect and we need to help one another through life. We come into to this world alone and leave this world alone. In between we need to help and care for one another. "For no man is an island".

So as the holidays approach try to be a little kinder. If someone is looks great, tell them. A kind word or action go a long way. Donate things you no longer need to charity, its good for the environment, your closets and your wallet. Live life and treat other people the way you would like to be treated. Yes, it the whole Golden Rule thing. I am an idealist who has been tempered with reality, so come join me in my world for a while.