now for a crazy lady rant

this one has been sitting in my head for over a month now.. and it resurfaced after reading Jake's blog today.

nothing in recent history has made me want to become a card-carrying-smash-the-state-anarchist more than watching 'Insane Celebrity Yachts' and 'Insane Celebrity Entourages' back to back.

seriously.

additionally, a few weeks ago, i had several people call me and tell me to quick!quick!turnonmytv!! that homemakeover show was on. the one with the guy who's in the commercial for my cell phone (if i didnt love my phone, id chuck it at him).

anyway, they were making over a house for a family with a 12yr old boy with cerebral palsy. this kid was clearly more afflicted than mine. but apparently all of my acquaintences (and a couple of friends) felt i needed to see this. so they jack up their double wide and move it for some habitat for humanity thing and build them one from scratch on the same site. they spare no expense. this family got every frill. every piece of high tech, high end adaptive equipment was included. shit they bought the teenage daughter a new wardrobe.

this show.
pissed.
me.
off.

its great they could do so much for this family. however. i think of myself. i think of all the families i know that have kids with issues.. that struggle. shit, my insurance won't even cover the lift to get the Sprout out of bed and into her chair or onto the toilet.

if they had just given that family "nice" stuff. maybe a fancy lift in lieu of a track system that would suspend the kid from the ceiling thoughout the house? a damn sauna in his bedroom? those things are all very nice, but they are so very over the top. if they gave the remaining money to help other families.. they easily could have hooked up twenty families with what they did for this one. I don't begrudge the family. It just feels dirty to me.

thats the kind of gift giving that makes the giver feel good. they should feel good, they did a good thing. but its all show and flash. they can now pop their buttons about how much they gave. its not the kind of giving that actually does good. its a publicity stunt that managed to help *one* family, and grab a crap ton of advertising dollars for the broadcasting company.