I live in a place where people range from comfortable to wow-is-that-a-Murano-glass-chandelier-in-your-toddler's-bedroom?-rich. And because of all the perks of living in such a place - the safety, the amazing public schools, the proximity to cultural events, the fact that no one wears house slippers to the grocery store - I try to ignore all the things that bother me about living in such abundance (I didn't say I always succeeded. I just said I'd try.)
But I can't ignore this one.
There are a few places that I tend to visit nearly every day. Because my life is exciting like that. Anyway, two of my local places have put out jars to collect change for the people in Haiti. Both places are reputable and reliable and will donate the money without a doubt. If they had any money to donate.
In one place, the jar is empty. In another, where it has been up for a week, it is nearly so.
I would like to think that all of my neighbors have driven their Porsche Cayennes and Ranger Rovers to their banks so that they can wire thousands of dollars to Haiti. I would like to think that they are all too busy using their credit cards to carry change to put in the jars. I would like to think that they just haven't noticed the jars.
But the jars are rather obvious. In one case, there was even an email about the jar. And who doesn't keep change in their car?
Every day, when I drop in all the change I can scrounge up, I keep hoping that the jars will be full. Maybe I'm obsessed with them because I can't write a huge check or volunteer for Doctors Without Borders. Maybe they just seem so important to me because helping to fill them is all I can do. Maybe this is why I'll never own a Range Rover - I can't save money worth a damn.
Would this bother you? Does the idea of the empty change jars in what is literally one of the wealthiest counties in the country bother you? Or am I just being bitchy again?
