This week's nominees for the Eighth Circle of Hell (the Seventh is for the merely violent:
Indianapolis police have received reports that one or more people have been going door to door in Indianapolis soliciting money for an injured officer
Lt. Jeff Duhamell, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesman, said Sunday that police had taken several calls during the weekend from residents reporting such solicitations. He said IMPD has not endorsed any such collection and advised residents to call police.
IMPD Patrolman Jason A. Fishburn, 29, was shot in the head July 10 while chasing a man subsequently charged in connection with three recent homicides. He remains in critical condition at Wishard Memorial Hospital.
Give money to people and causes you select. Don't trust people who just show up at your door.
(I myself belong in Level 6 -- the City of Dis -- reserved for heretics, according to the Dante's Inferno Test, although Levels 2 and 3, for the lustful and gluttonous, were apparently tied for a close secod. Test yourself, if you dare.)
Comments
Indianapolis police have received reports that one or more people have been going door to door in Indianapolis soliciting money for an injured officer.</I.
For some reason, I'm reminded of the Henny Youngman joke about the guy who comes up asking, "Would you give me $5 for a sandwich?" and Henny says, "I don't know - let me see the sandwich."
About 20 years ago, a friend told me that he'd started to budget his charitable giving. Each year, he takes a look at various charities, and selects one deserving charity, instead of handing out $20 here and $20 there to anyone who asks. Makes sense.
This year, I'm giving to Mennonite Central Committee, even though I'm not Mennonite.
They are often the first in a disaster area. They don't attach strings like "Sing a hymn, and then we'll feed you," and they don't label everything "This is a gift from MCC". They aren't asking to be appreciated; they just want to help. And their administrative costs are very low; virtually nothing for salaries, and they get shippers to donate services, etc.
After 9/11 and Katrina, I doubt if I'll ever again donate a penny to the American Red Cross. And the local humane shelter isn't humane.
It's kinda hard to say no to little kids selling stuff door-to-door, though.
I find it much easier to say no to the teenage kids dumped off by van in the neighborhood to sell magazines, though.