Cheer

Yesterday I made a trip into what I call the real world, the world I left close to 50 years ago, the world where a huge majority of North Americans live - the city. After so many years of a fairly quiet rural existence, cities tend to overwhelm me - the crowds, the noise, the traffic, the contrasts between opulence and poverty. But this trip was well worth the effort. What a unique experience! It's amazing what humans can do with their bodies. I'm not talking about Olympians -  I'm talking about girls (mainly) of all ages working hard together as a group to build routines to present before judges in the sport of Cheer.

 

My idea of cheer stemmed from my grade 8 cheer leading experience, shouting cheers, bouncing around with pom poems, and urging our football team to victory. But, judging from the number of participants in the three separate competitive Cheer events held yesterday, it's obviously different now, and more popular than I ever imagined.

 

Cheer is very active, requires lots of cooperation, balance, and  practice (3 nights a week). It is a lot like gymnastics but concentrates on tumbling, cartwheels, throwing wee girls like my granddaughter up into the air, dropping and catching them, and is done as a team. There's a zillion different levels and I never did get them straight, basically it seems like the higher you fly the more advanced the level. There's moves that are not allowed in lower levels. It is a judged sport, like figure skating, so it's hard to make your mark, but the team my granddaughter is in did make a mark, second place in their division! (Did you just hear me CHEER!).

 The music (I'm showing my age) was really loud and sorta had a sassy, don't get in my way, I'm cool attitude. The competitors knew the songs, you could see them singing along. I never understood a word. The announcer was also loud and hard to understand, the seats were cramped and hard, and the entire show was long, long, long - too long for an elderly woman such as me. (Yes, I'm almost being forced to admit that I am elderly, not because of my age but because the escalators were broken and I had to rest on the way up the stairs, while the cheer girls practically flew up them.) But it was worth a trip to the metropolis to see that little gal so happy, so proud, and so accomplished! And yes I know, I sound just like a grandmother.

  

Shopping Bags, Christmas Cards, Labels and Pens

When the hype started several years back regarding the use of plastic grocery bags I dutifully purchased some black cloth bags and have since tried hard to remember to bring them to the store with me. But things have changed. Black is out, colorful patterns are in! Why? Charities have jumped on the bandwagon. Now we can feel doubly good - we can buy bags for a suggested price of $25-$50 (more or less) without having to go anywhere to purchase them. Without even asking, charities have made sure that plenty of designer grocery bags will arrive in your mailbox. If the charity has your name and your husband's, and an incorrectly spelled name (meet Mrs.Mary Tiptop), you can even get three for the price of, well... three.

The first time I got one of these colorful bags (two of the same actually, Mrs.Tiptop and I both got one) I was pleased. It was quite pretty. It came, I think, from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Now I have six lovely bags. It seems that the company that sells these bags did a fine job of getting quite a few charities on board with this promotion. Unfortunately I am one of those people who is struck by guilt if I keep and use one of these unsolicited incentives, so I've sent a few bucks away for each one - and for Christmas cards, labels with misspelled names and old addresses, pens, stickers, note pads, calendars...  I haven't sent Christmas cards for years but I'm paying for them. I wonder when one of those promotion outfits will think of selling packets of birthday cards to the charities? Those I could use.

 

The problem is I am now on every charity list out there. I get donation requests every mail day. I am bombarded by sad hungry children staring deeply into my soul, big envelopes holding small items which must cost a premium to mail, reminders that I haven't sent any dollars for unwanted and unsolicited appeals. Some charities encourage you to adopt a pet or a child, giving you pics and choices, letters, progress reports. I tend to wonder if these are real, and why a donor needs to get so much feedback - I guess it's all designed to make us feel good about our goodness. 

Then there's the phone solicitations, pesky telemarketers refusing to hang up after you've said no and suggesting amounts of $100 or more! If that's a bit too much this year, they'll say, perhaps a bit less, maybe $50?

The way I see it, between postage, promotional materials, follow up reminders, new appeals, glossy brochures showing their great charitable works in action, 800 numbers, administration costs (don't forget those big salaries)...well my wee donations are probably eaten up by all this. There surely must be a better way. My favorite charity never phones, simply sends out a letter each year in a normal sized envelope with no glossy brochures or "gifts" within, thanks me for my help in the past and asks if I'd like to give them $20 again this year. This charity will always get my money. They're spending it on their charitable work, they are not pressuring me to commit to more than I can afford, they keep their administrative costs low, and they send a donation receipt for tax purposes. 

I asked the postmistress what to do about the barrage of unwanted solicitations. You can't return them to sender; they are considered to be advertising, and that's exactly what they are. You are under no obligation to buy. She suggested using the prepaid donation envelope inside to send a note asking them to remove you from their address list. If you still get stuff, oh well, you've received a no-strings-attached gift. And those phone calls, isn't that what Caller ID is for?

I've decided to subscribe to that old adage - "Charity begins at home". There are plenty of small non-profit organizations in my area that would be grateful for any amount I send their way - unsolicited, my decision, no pressure.

 

Northern Spring