Neutral Thread, or ~ML

[RMDC]

I already have a cause to which I devote my time, energy, and money - fighting human trafficking. Dumping a bucket over my head is a waste of water that could be used to drown a pimp. And I absolutely agree with cirestan. The important efforts are the ones done consistently and without fanfare. While I do appreciate that a gimmick can heighten awareness for an otherwise invisible issue, the bucket has tipped into overdone meme territory, the realm of fail compilations and parodies.

[MeiTow]

Amusingly I posted this on Facebook earlier today.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6040435/al ... ity-donate

[QueenBex]

I have one charity I donate to and support at a time, something that is personal to me. But the charity guys on the street still make me feel guilty.

[RMDC]

Amusingly I posted this on Facebook earlier today.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6040435/al ... ity-donate

The infographic in that article about what charities get money vs. what diseases cause the most deaths per capita is especially telling when you consider that Susan G. Komen For the Cure - the leading breast cancer charity and the one which owns (and litigiously defends) the trademarked pink ribbon and the phrase "for the cure" - gives shockingly little money to actual research, pays its administrators like rock stars, actively lies about women's health issues, and fails to support women with life-threatening breast cancer to instead focus on the low-hanging fruit of women with easily treatable success-story cancers. Here's one good blog post about Komen, well-written and linky in the right places, that scratches the surface. This one goes into more detail about the difference between more benign breast tumors and metastatic cancers and Komen's problematic position on the topic.

[Eliste]

I got nominated for the ice bucket thingamabob. On the one hand, I like supporting charities when I can afford to. On the other hand, I'm very muchly not into celebrity-driven fads. Do I do the challenge and donate money I don't really have to a cause I've never heard of? I kind of don't think so. Eh.

I'm so glad somebody else is not doing it. Growing up in the desert, its difficult for me to be so wasteful of water, I don't particularly have the money for it, and the weather here has turned something fierce. I've seriously been considering turning the heating on this week and from my Facebook I'm not the only one. The idea of standing out in the freezing cold to dump even colder water on me really just doesn't appeal.

I've decided instead I'm taking up Vin Diesel's challenge and Planting a Tree for Groot. Its a message I can get behind, doesn't involve freezing my arse off, and will have a longer lasting benefit to society.

[Yurtle]

Hey guys. First of all, I am not telling anyone to donate or not to donate. That is a very personal choice and a challenge should not dictate that for you. But this campaign was meant to be about awareness. ALS is a terminal illness and one that people don't know much about. Once you are diagnosed, you generally have 2-5 years left to live. All I ask is that you read about it. And don't use this challenge to promote another disease or tragedy. But I am certainly not saying to not promote other things. Just don't spin it off of this one.

For me, it is exceedingly personal because my dad died of ALS. He was diagnosed when I was 23 years old and only lived for 2 years after his diagnosis. In that time, his decline was very fast. He went from not being able to really grip with his one hand, to not being able to use his arms at all, to not being able to walk. Before long, he was in a wheelchair and only a few months after that, he was basically confined to the house because he had zero mobility. Your body just deteriorates around you while your mind is still completely fine and active so he knew everything that was happening to him. He had to be put on a feeding tube because the muscles in his throat could no longer work and he was choking. He couldn't talk. Near the end, even breathing was hard as everything shut down. It is a terrible disease. He was always such an active guy. A strong man. The kind that could and would "fix" everything in the house whether he got it right or not. So for me, seeing that decline was especially hard.

Now, I am not saying that there aren't other awful diseases out there, and ones that are even less known than this one. Just do the research about it. That's all. I also agree that this campaign has become gimmicky and I don't like that either. The reason the ice bucket thing started was to give people an idea of how your nerves and your body reacts when you have this disease, how your nerves tingle and hurt. It's a shock to the system. My dad was in pain all the time. I understand about the water waste. And honestly, I didn't do the challenge myself when I was nominated. I don't believe in all the video posting but the campaign did something. It got the name of this disease out there. I'm also not telling you guys this for a pity party. Bad things happen to everyone. Everyone has their own story of something like this. I just needed to bring up my own side of the awareness piece.

So, I've put this out there. Feel free to disagree. Don't do the challenge if you don't want to. Donate to another cause that is closer to your heart, that's absolutely okay. Just try not to trash it too much because the thousands of people out there that are affected by this are affected and it hurts.

[Eliste]

Yurtle, I am so sorry to hear your father had ALS. It truly is a terrifying and dreadful disease that is deserving of help. I really believe it is a cause worth helping, however I have issues with how the current awareness is going about. Not the cause, the process.Besides the water issue, which is something that I truly do have issues with, I also dislike the peer pressure aspect. It may have started out as awareness campaign, but when you get nominated, that's not how it feels.

Peer pressure is something I've always struggled with. I have always hated it and do my best not to participate in things that perpetuate it. I don't pass on chain letters. I don't republish viral things on facebook. I avoid, whenever possible, putting other people in a position where I may have be pressuring them, implicitly or explicitly. When I got nominated, that's what I felt, peer pressure. I did not appreciate that. I've been fighting illness all week, its so cold outside that multiple people I know are turning on their heating in August, we don't even keep ice because our freezer is so small, and on top of all that, we are barely paying our bills now that I'm not working. Then comes something that I *have* to do, within a timeframe that doesn't allow for waiting for warmer weather or convenience, pay either for the priviledge of participating or else pay extra for "failing" at it. I don't like the peer pressure aspect of that. If the challenge didn't have the peer pressure feel, I'd be much more inclined to do it. But saying I now "have to" really bothers me.

I do believe ALS needs and should have support. When the challenge first started, I did the research. I read up wanted to donate immediately. I didn't because of the aforementioned paying bills issue. But now I find it difficult to understand how, at this point in time, a bucket over my head will help. I'm a nobody, and if people haven't heard of the challenge at this point, its unlikely that my doing anything will raise awareness further than has already been done. From what I've seen of my facebook feed, this has done the rounds through both sets of friends on both continents. Increasing the chances of making myself sick is therefore likely to just do that and nothing else.

[Yurtle]

I completely understand and agree with you! I don't like the peer pressure that results in the challenge either. My cousin nominated me and I refused to do it. I don't need to justify myself to anyone about whether I do it or not and neither should any of you! You read up on it. I appreciate that so much!! Please don't do this and potentially make yourself sick because of it!!

[Eliste]

I completely understand and agree with you! I don't like the peer pressure that results in the challenge either. My cousin nominated me and I refused to do it. I don't need to justify myself to anyone about whether I do it or not and neither should any of you! You read up on it. I appreciate that so much!! Please don't do this and potentially make yourself sick because of it!!

Got challenged on Monday. Crunch time for me giving in was Tuesday. Having missed the deadline I no longer particularly feel the pressure anymore. Although, naturally today's weather is a lot better. Still chilly, but at least its not raining again. Its been so dreadful here. I've actually worked from home because I couldn't stand the commute in the wind and rain. Feels like winter already.

[Yurtle]

Ugh! Keep bundled up!! Want me to knit you a scarf to keep warm?