Do They Know It's Christmas?

Lately, I've been thinking. (Yeah, yeah, first time for everything, very funny.) What I've been thinking is that I have it pretty good. I've got a new gig, an apartment hunt to look forward to, I found a Diane von Furstenberg wrap skirt at Filene's Basement that was originally $225 that I paid $50 for, my health is pretty good, so forth. Then, I turn on the news.

And I hear about how troops are being sent back to Iraq without adequate rest. Bickering about the troop withdrawal possibility/timetable. Chris sent this article detailing the infuriating method the Army uses to deny wounded soldiers treatment. Then you've got the whole Walter Reed abomination to think about.

In short, the world seems to be a pretty shitty place right now. After reading The Nation's article, I was physically shaking I was so angry. Then I thought about what I've done lately to help people. And in short, I came up with nothing.

I used to volunteer when I was in high school, not for the pleasure of helping people out, but because I had to volunteer to stay in the National Honor Society. They got wise to this trick, and now kids have to already have done community service to even be considered for the Society. I ended up tutoring elementary school kids, which was a good time. But then I got busy with college and lost my volunteering streak.

Now that things are looking up for me, I think I should get back to helping causes that mean a lot to me. But I'm not sure which cause means the most to me. I think about helping out at Planned Parenthood. Then I think about helping abused or neglected kids and women. What about doing calls or writing for a political campaign? Which campaign? Perhaps a pet shelter. (Bad idea. I'd end up with 15 cats.) Save the whales, save the Bay, save the Earth, save the Troops, elect Hillary, elect Barack, stop global warming, cure ALS, cure cancer, stop hunger...

In short, I'm not sure what to do. So if anybody's got any good ideas, drop your knowledge in the comments.