My community service today

[wellstone dem]

This morning I got up, I had the day off, and read the paper on-line. There was a letter to the editor from a 79 year old woman who couldn't get to the bus stop because her stop was in the middle of the block and the snow plow had cleared the street, but it was no one's responsibility to clear the stop.

http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090119/OPINION/101190044&s=d&page=3#pluckcomments

I read the comments about whether the city or the bus company should clear the snow. And then I thought, "what the hell? Barack said to help!" I grabbed the shovel and got in my car, I expected someone would have been there before me. But I got the pleasure of shoveling the bus stop clear. It felt really good. This woman can get to the bus safely, and will never know who did this. I will be back periodically to clear it again.

I headed in to work, I work for a non-profit and got my part of a grant written.

Then I went to a MLK event. It was my day off, I didn't want to go, but it was MLK day, and I had RSVP'd when I was still looking for something to count for my Obama service.

I got to sit at a table with homeless men talking about affordable housing. We came up with the following 3 GREAT ideas.

#1 Have a 3 strikes policy for renters who have made mistakes. And then give a tax break to Landlords who will rent to people with one or two strikes.

#2 Have a timeline on how long LL's can look back a rental histories. i.e. 3 years without an eviction should be long enough.

#3 Make sure there are enough advocates to make sure the law is followed.



Not bad for one day. I feel pretty good. Thank you President Obama.

[Booster]

1. Not bad indeed & I'm feeling pretty damn proud of you.

:hug:

[FrenchieCat]

2. Excellent!

I was going to help beautify a block, and decided instead to clean up a Pre-School.

I worked there from 9:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.
The place was immaculate when we left.
I was in charge of cleaning the kitchen! :)

[wellstone dem]

4. You cleaned a kitchen! You ROCK!!!!

Great job.

[FrenchieCat]

11. I'm good at cleaning kitchens.......

It wasn't so bad.

Losta little finger prints from the kids though all over the cupboards.

Plus I cleaned the inside of the drawers......

[liberalmuse]

7. Oh, that is not an easy job...

especially at a pre-school. Awesome! I love reading these stories. It makes my heart want to burst and just flow out of my chest.

[liberalmuse]

3. Thank you for sharing!

It's inspiring! I collected 67 pounds of food and dropped it off at a food bank. I asked how the donations were today and they said fantastic! I told her I planned to be back soon, and she told me that by the end of March/April, they'd be hurting again. The lady I spoke with is also excited for tomorrow. I knocked on one door to get food and heard these voices, 'Father, who is at the door now??? Can you get it? Father?' After a few minutes of listening to a back and forth behind and feeling as if I'd invaded their privacy, I was about to bolt when a kindly 80 plus year old man came to the door. I asked if he'd like to donate some food for the food bank, and he said, 'Sure!', then he disappeared and I heard his wife as she tried to find some money and was ultimately unsuccessful. At one point I had visions of him coming back with a rifle. I did not want to die before Obama got sworn in. Then I realized he could not possibly hold and cock a rifle before I could escape. However, he did come back with a shitload of canned goods. His wife asked, 'Father, did you give her the tuna?' I was like, 'I don't want to take your tuna if you need it.' In the end, it was all good, LOL.

[wellstone dem]

5. 67 Pounds of Food!!! That is terrific. What a great story.

Thanks for sharing.

[CoffeeCat]

6. When you cleared that snow...

...you planted a shade tree under which you will never sit.

And THAT is the most beautiful of all actions, any human being can take.

You rock! :)

[ChazII]

8. Random act of kindness

and one that will be appreciated by all in the community. Your post made my day a bit brighter.

[wellstone dem]

9. What struck me most, is that no one else had done it.

It took 15 minutes. It was no big deal.

It reminded me that I should never take for granted that someone else will do the right thing. You know, it would have felt even better to get there, and see that someone else had already shoveled.

[ChazII]

10. Hopefully one morning

you will show up with your shovel in hand only to see the job has been completed.