volunteers

no thanks to obama and his "stimulus", i haven't been able to find a job. well, my dad has me working at his office as a secretary, but that's a family business, so that doesnt count. also, it doesn't help my case that for my intended major, currently listed as pre-pharmacy, i need 60 hrs of community service PLUS 30 hrs of behind-the-counter work.

since the economy is tanking, collectivism is the new black, and while my mom traditionally sent me and my brother off to summer school in the past, i can't go now cuz im 3000 miles away from school to have anything count! so to get me out of the house, my mom made me go out to volunteer. as of today, june 21, i volunteer for 1 hour at the northfield township food pantry in glenview, IL for 1 hour on thursdays, and come tuesday, i'll be volunteering almost full-time at a greek nursing home in wheeling, IL.

the greek nursing home is actually not bad. i was actually looking forward to working there cuz the environment is happy and the locality is clean and smells good (unlike most other nursing homes). plus, im orthodox christian too. even though im a different breed of slav and i don't know a word of greek, at least we have the same religion.

the food pantry, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. its located in an office building, but because its a government building, the inside is dingy and depressing. the food area itself holds alot of food-mostly canned and boxed (or bagged) stuff. there is a row of industrial fridges that hold milk, dairy (including yoplait yogurt, which is $2 a carton where i live!), eggs, some fruits and vegetables, and stuff like that. there is also a big freezer that holds frozen foods, as well as ice cream.

but the biggest shock came when i opened the freezer to put stuff in, and there, sitting in neat columns in the back, was lou malnatti's pizza. lou malnatti's is a chicago-area pizzeria that makes the BEST sausage deep dish in the country, but it's not cheap. the large pizzas usually run about $25, whereas the little ones are like $10. i couldnt believe the sight of that expensive pizza in a food pantry. while i heard the lady in charge saying to some kids that walked in that all the food in the pantry was donated or purchased with donated money, i couldn't help but think what leeches the recipiants of food pantry items are. why should i be forced to buy cheap, preservative-filled crap that could potentially kill me because it saves money, when those indigants-many of whom are able-bodied-get name brand expensive stuff for free?! i was sorely tempted to take a box of lou malnatti's and hide it in my purse (i have kinduva big purse), but i didn't. it would have started to melt and a wet purse would look suspicious.

the poor in this country get treated better than the poor everywhere else in the world. that said, i don't wanna hear them bitching about how we as a society don't do enough to help them.

tamtam