In Pursuit of Women (To ask or not to ask?) Part 6

Dear Anonymous Reader,

It's been a few days (or weeks...maybe)...seems I'm not procrastinating as much as I used to (except for that English paper...it's been procrastinated like a mo-fo).

At any rate, these next few "In Pursuit of Women" installments may not be in the particular order in which they occurred. I can think of at least 5 girls I liked throughout high school, but for the life of me, remembering the exact order or grade when I liked them is sketchy.

Not that you really care about those details anyway, but there ya have it.

This next girl is significant because she's the first girl I asked out...who I didn't really think I wanted to go out with.

Heck, I probably didn't even really like her all that much.

Yeah, how often does that happen?

We were both in band, and from early on in whatever school year it was (maybe Freshman year), I could tell there seemed to be some sort of interest on her part. I honestly don't remember much aside from the fact that I enjoyed the attention, but like with most all girls, she didn't fit what I thought I was looking for.

And, honestly, I think she got on my nerves more than anything.

But that aside, we took a band trip to Corpus Christi later in the year. Most of what happened is fuzzy (aside from the monstrous stick man I made in the sand the next morning), but one night as everyone took a walk on the beach, I think someone told me this girl liked me and that we'd look cute together...or something of the sort. All I really remember is knowing I didn't want to ask her out, but I felt bad, so I did anyway.

And naturally, by this point, she was probably put off by my obvious lack of interest, and so she took the power into her hands and said no

I felt rejected, for a moment, but then I remembered that I didn't really want to go out with her anyway, so I was thankful. If she would have actually said yes, then I more than likely would have found myself in an extremely awkward position the very next day when I woke up and realized I was "dating" some girl I didn't even like.

Awkward for me, and a jerk move for me to pull on her.

My dad gave me some great advice once based on a personal story of his I won't take the time to go into, but it basically goes like this:

"Don't ruin your life just to be polite."

There's a big difference (I hope) in caring for a person vs. knowing they're the sort of person you actually want to spend the rest of your life with. Thanks to our schizophrenic hormones, those lines can sometimes become cloudy...very cloudy.

Figure out what you want, where it counts, and don't worry about anything else until they come around. It's better to live alone learning patience and how to enjoy life than be stuck with someone you can't stand...or who can't stand you.

In short, and in conclusion, don't settle, and don't be the one settled for.

Sincerely,

-Sean

Kony 2012 (Make him...what?)

Dear Anonymous Reader,

Sometimes procrastination is a very good thing.

I'm sure by now most of you have seen or heard of the Kony 2012 (Make Him Famous) viral/social networking movement/trend/fad/whatever-you-feel-like-calling-it. If you haven't, here's a link to Invisible Children's 30 minute vid followed by a short summary:

A non-profit group known as Invisible Children aims at bringing Joseph Kony (war criminal and leader of the L.R.A., a rebel group who desires to see people follow the 10 commandments) to justice in 2012 by "making him famous." Their reasoning is that if everyone in the western world (or world in general) knows who Kony is and what he's done, then people will be forced to do what it takes, to back (or create) whatever policy it takes, to assist the Ugandan Government in bringing him down. So on April 20th, it's I.C.'s hope that thousands (if not millions) of young people across the nation (and the world, if possible) will blanket their cities in posters, t-shirts, and other such merchandise to make Joseph Kony undeniably famous. 

Simple enough?

It's never that simple.

The first night the video aired over vimeo/youtube, I watched Facebook/Twitter lit up like a proverbial Christmas tree as people joined the cause to see justice brought to the people (and especially the children) of Uganda.

So like everyone else, I watched the video. And despite my general skepticism, I was touched and wanted to know more about the issue at hand...as well as the other side of the story.

As a side note (for context of my position, not for boasting), I already give to a couple of charities that run various programs in Africa and Asia. So my interest and position on Invisible Children and their methods didn't suddenly appear in reaction to the hype. 

Needless to say, there's a lot to the "other side of the story" that most that night did not take the time to consider. Emotionally invigorated by talented cinematography, the unintentional mob mentality (my own opinion), and the hope of doing something good for a group of people that need it, a great many signed on to bring Kony down in 2012.

Now before you get ahead of me, I'm not against Invisible Children or their desire to see a war criminal brought to justice. That, without argument, is a very good and necessary goal. I also can't deny that some of the programs I.C. provides, and especially the awareness they raise about issues that would otherwise go unnoticed, are commendable.

I am, however, for this issue, against their desired method. But more than that, I'm against the general population's lack of further research and consideration into the potential repercussions of April 20th.

Some have tried to argue against I.C.'s position by pointing out poor money management, their current lack of financial accountability, and other such fiscal related issues. To Invisible Children's credit, they've addressed these questions with grace and transparency. My problem isn't with how Invisible Children spends the money they're given. They have the right and freedom to do with it what they will.

My problem is with how we spend our money. And is I.C. the proper place at this point?

So far, over half a million "action kits" have been purchased from I.C. since this campaign started. At $30 a pop, that's over $15 million dollars.

That's almost twice what they made for the entire year of 2011.

I.C. freely admits that they're not an aid organization, they're an advocacy group. That's great. People need advocates.

But does I.C. properly reflect the current issues in Uganda (or Africa in general), or do they have their own agenda of good intentions that unintentionally leaves Africans misrepresented and angry?

In my own opinion, spending millions of dollars on "action kits" and littering cities with tomorrows trash ends up being a gross waste of money and proverbial "clanging cymbal."

More-so, when April 21st rolls around, the general population will awake (in the West anyway) to cities littered in red talking about a man they've already heard of online and in the news.

Redundancy at its best.

Thus, millions of tax payer dollars will go to cleaning up the streets (since posters only last so long, especially in the rain), and for the price of redundancy, millions of dollars which could have gone to direct aid and efforts not only in Africa (there are great many other organizations out there) but at home (tax payer dollars which fund local programs) will have been wasted to retell the world something they already know:

Kony sucks.

Meanwhile, the actual voice of the Ugandans go unheard and unassisted because we youth thought it a better idea to pay for chatter about an issue than for actual aid for the many issues they may indeed face.

From a Christian perspective, it's along the lines of telling the world, "There are hungry people! Feed them!" without actually giving the hungry any food.

Dead Faith.

But more importantly, we fail to do the research so that we can understand what we should actually be doing to assist those in need (and do they even need our help in the first place...or are we making matters worse?).

We've merely been told what to do, and like sheep, we blindly follow.

Procrastinate, for once, on this issue, and do the research to see where your money and efforts can best be invested. If you conclude it's with Invisible Children, great. But it's a big world; take the time to look around.

Sincerely,

-Sean

There are a lot of different sources for the information I've posted. This guy, however, has done a lot more research than I have, and has compiled resources here. Please take a look.