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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 30 2021, @11:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the sorry-this-was-not-posted-earlier-today dept.

It has been quite a year so far. A new Covid-19 variant was just discovered. The economy is lurching along trying to make the best of things with supply shortages and delivery challenges. There seems to be a new challenge to face wherever we look.

Then again, there are those on the margins who were already struggling to make ends meet. The first to be let go when times are tough and the last to be rehired — through no fault of their own. Having a college education is no guarantee of success. (I have experienced homelessness, personally.) Health issues, automation replacing manual labor, an economic downturn when a major employer closes, a car accident and medical expenses... most of us are living closer to the edge than we realize.

Today is the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving and for the past nine years has been known as GivingTuesday. For me, it serves an an acknowledgement of my own mortality. That I will not live forever and I am just one unforeseen event away from being dependent on others to survive. I just heard on the news yesterday that a lung transplant (e.g. for someone who came down with COVID-19) costs $1.2 million. There goes your life's savings.

If at such times I would need to rely on others to get by, why not reach out right now and try to help someone else in a spirit of gratitude for what I have today and to help someone else who is struggling and is in need.

Monetary donations are one way to help. So is spending an evening at a soup kitchen. Volunteering to share your skills and knowledge to someone else. Even something as simple as resolving to smile and wave to all you meet on a walk. Such simple acts have no cost, but to someone who is having a rough day they can be priceless.

SoylentNews was founded by people who donated their time and talents to help a community. And continue to do so. So, look a little farther afield and help someone else today. You, and they, will be glad you did!

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by acid andy on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:11AM (1 child)

    by acid andy (1683) on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:11AM (#1201033) Homepage Journal

    Thanks martyb. That's one of the most vaulable, thoughtful things anyone's written on here. Now more than ever we all need to do what little we can to look after one another.

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by mcgrew on Wednesday December 01 2021, @03:52PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Wednesday December 01 2021, @03:52PM (#1201162) Homepage Journal

      It's sad that such a day is actually needed, for the 95% of the population who are money-worshiping greedsters who wouldn't let Lazarus have a bite to eat and would rather let him starve to death.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:48AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:48AM (#1201037)

    For being here.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by nostyle on Wednesday December 01 2021, @04:06AM

      by nostyle (11497) on Wednesday December 01 2021, @04:06AM (#1201083) Journal

      Expanding the sentiment you express...

      - Thank you to all the volunteers for keeping this site going.

      - Thank you to all the posters who post in good faith with ideas that enrich us.

      - Thank you to all the posters who post in bad faith and remind us that the world is a work in progress.

      - Thank you to all the moderators who add a bit of order to the conversation.

      - Thank you to all the lurkers who are able to find bits of wisdom here and spread them out into the world.

      - Spammers get no thanks - sorry.

      --
      Bonus points to those who give more than once a year.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:51AM (#1201038)

    I don't ask for much. Just mod me up.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by jelizondo on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:56AM

    by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 01 2021, @12:56AM (#1201039) Journal

    No man is an island entire of itself; every man

    is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

    if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe

    is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

    well as any manner of thy friends or of thine

    own were; any man's death diminishes me,

    because I am involved in mankind.

    And therefore never send to know for whom

    the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

    MEDITATION XVII

    John Donne

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by MIRV888 on Wednesday December 01 2021, @03:31AM

    by MIRV888 (11376) on Wednesday December 01 2021, @03:31AM (#1201077)

    Kindness is contagious.
    We as a people can do better than this.
    Thanks.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday December 01 2021, @02:01PM (6 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday December 01 2021, @02:01PM (#1201136) Journal

    Remember to take care of yourself, too. You can't help others very effectively if you're a wreck.

    And in taking care of yourself, it's good to ask others for help; asking someone you know to help you is like giving them a gift because we all want to feel useful and needed. That's important to remember during the holiday season when so many can feel so down.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Common Joe on Wednesday December 01 2021, @04:48PM (5 children)

      by Common Joe (33) <{common.joe.0101} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday December 01 2021, @04:48PM (#1201176) Journal

      And in taking care of yourself, it's good to ask others for help

      I wish I could agree with you, but the sad fact is that sometimes asking for help can bring your more misfortune. I've had that more times than I can count. I eventually learned to stop asking as I've found it's better to almost always better just muscle my way through it. It's put me at a severe disadvantage in many areas of my life. But those are the cards I was dealt.

      With all that negativity said, I do occasionally find people who want to help and do. I want to give a shout out here to Immerman who helped me through a really stressful and particular tough moment in my life starting exactly two years ago. After circling each others comments for years on Slashdot and then on Soylent News, I wound up connecting with them here about a problem I was having and we chatted privately about it for several weeks after our initial connection. Immerman, if you read this, I want to thank you again for you help. It meant a lot to me.

      And I'm thankful to see all of you on here -- especially the regulars. I feel very much at home here on Soylent News. I don't say a lot, but after having quite a few crappy years, I always felt like I could login to here and belong to a community that actually cared about things that mattered to me.

      • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday December 01 2021, @07:46PM

        by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 01 2021, @07:46PM (#1201237) Journal
        To me, that is one of the most rewarding comments I have read on this site for a long time. Thank you.
      • (Score: 2) by martyb on Wednesday December 01 2021, @07:58PM (2 children)

        by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 01 2021, @07:58PM (#1201243) Journal
        I agree with what JR said! Thanks so much -- you really made my day!
        --
        Wit is intellect, dancing.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Wednesday December 01 2021, @10:17PM

        by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday December 01 2021, @10:17PM (#1201286)

        You are most welcome, it was a pleasure.

        And thank you for your comment. It warmed my heart in a way I hadn't realized I'd been needing.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @09:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @09:27PM (#1204412)

    You wouldn't understand good days unless you've had bad days. It can take a bad event to just realize what you truly have.

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