It's been a long time . . .

 . . . since I've visited this blog.  More than six months have passed.  Sometimes there's just nothing to say or perhaps it is expressed in another way.  But today I'm posting something.  It originally came out as a letter to the editor in my local small town newspaper, but here it arrives as recordkeeping.  Some things need to not get lost.

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Letter to the Editor of the Pemiscot Press

Rivergirl Reflections

from Annie Jeffries

Anyone who has lived to my age completely and entirely knows the ins and outs of kids and adults fundraising.  We all remember back to mid-century and girls selling Girl Scout cookies.  Then schools, in general, got involved with fundraising to augment shrinking education dollars.  And, we all know the teachers who spend their own money to create a stimulating learning environment for their students.  Whether it’s scouting, business and social organizations, schools, churches, or whatever, we all have experienced the “Would you be interested in buying . . . “ question.  We did it.  Our children did it.  Our grandchildren and in some case, great-grandchildren are doing it.  And we are supporting and helping them in their fundraising endeavors.

 

Fundraising, from the general public, has become woven into the fabric of our day to day lives.  Friends, family, booths at local events, and places where people gather are all in the sights of fundraising and there is nothing wrong with that.  As long as the person doing the approaching is polite, I don’t have a problem with it.  However, the person selling a raffle ticket, for example, has a reasonable expectation of a courteous response.  A simple “No, thank you”, is always the right response if you are not going to say yes. 

That being said, a couple of recent incidents have come to my attention that were so egregious that I just could not keep my mouth shut.  Some place along the line of our ever evolving social media world and 24 hour newscycling, we have lost our manners. Using the word “manners” may sound old fashion but, say what you will, that is exactly what it is.  How we address people – is it polite or impolite?  Too many thoughtlessly people say hurtful words and then let them fall where they may.

Two friends recently, on three separate occasions were reduced to tears when a simple “No, thank you”, would have sufficed.  It could have just as easily been me as the target since we all happen to be involved in the same fundraising activity.  It wasn’t but since I’m not one to keep my mouth shut anymore, I’ve decide to call out bad behavior.

It is NOT OKAY to threaten, aggressively question, spout idiotic opinions that have nothing to do with the reality of a particular matter, or intimidate someone.

It is NOT OKAY to brush off anything she has to say back and reduce her to tears. 

It is NOT OKAY for people around you to remain silent and let you get away with bad behavior.  “Oh, that’s just so and so being so and so” Does. Not. Cut. It.  You are as shameful as he was because you remained silent.

It is never okay to be disrespectful, discourteous, impolite, inconsiderate, abrupt, deliberately thoughtless, or ungracious.  Being nasty is inexcusable and just makes you plain rude.  In the future, just say “No, thank you”.