after caring for my ailing boyfriend all weekend, I feel a shadow of the flu coming on. by a shadow, I mean that it’s not a full-fledge illness, just random symptoms that come and go like the tide of the ocean. one minute my throat will hurt, the next my body aches, or I have a mild fever and my face reddens. I am sluggish all around, but I can attribute my sore throat to yelling at people to buy hot chocolate today.
they donate a dollar, and they get hot cocoa with all the fixin’s, y’know, marshmallows and whipped cream (plus the all-important complimentary lid to prevent spills and lawsuits).
the proceeds are going to a toy drive we’re holding for one of the poorest inner-city areas in the nation. our goal is to make sure that every child taking part in this parish will have at least one toy to open on Christmas morning.
my commitment this week was not to be judgmental of others, but it’s difficult when the more well-to-do people walk by with friends. They wear designer clothes, carry designer handbags, and have expensive cellphones clipped to their belts, Uggs usually adorning their feet. They say quietly, but audibly so that we hear: “Oh, I don’t have any money on me – I just spent it all on ____” or “I’m poor, not those kids.” It’s really heartbreaking, but there are some people who donated and didn’t even want the hot chocolate, so I can’t generalize my fellow peers entirely on the basis of a few selfish individuals.
