gallop pole

[Sandy G]

I'm not really a heartless old bastard when it comes to Starvin' Chilluns & all; I just wonder how much good you REALLY do for 'em when you give to one of these big charities... I got hooked into giving to the ASPCA once, they sent me a picture of a rather elderly Doberman "In reduced circumstances", & as I had a Dobie at the time, I bit. I sent 'em $50 or so, & I soon got DELUGED w/ propaganda from EVERY charity, coming & going. I'd estimate I received at least 3X in cost junk as what I sent into them...& I doubt that my money bought poor ol' Dobie a Beggin' Strip... One thing that ticked me off was that once you gave a little to 'em, there were never-ending requests to send more, more, more...They basically rode a good horse into the ground. Buddy Hackett had a pretty good riff on charities, too. He was a "Backslid Jew", & some outfit begged him to send $10 or so, & they'd plant a tree in Israel for him...Over the years, he sent several thousand dollars, he figgers they oughta have a Buddy Hackett Forest over there....So, he sends a letter-"Dear Jew in charge of Trees, Please send pic of my Forest", & they send him back a letter, "So sorry, your Effin' tree died..." It was a helluva lot funnier when Buddy told it, but point made is that these big-time organised charities I guess should be viewed w/a pretty jaundiced eye, IMHO.