We'll fund vaccines and throw in the social stereotypes for free!

[mrissa]

Gmail is not letting me log in; this is annoying, but it says they're trying to fix it.

You know what else is annoying? United Way's print ad campaign. Again, or still. They've got pictures of people saying that they did certain things -- "I pulled 33,000 kittens from burning buildings!" -- and then it says it was through the magic of donating money to United Way. Except it's not 33,000 kittens. It's stuff like -- well, here are the examples I remember:

A bearded, long-haired guy in a leather jacket: helped preschoolers with their social skills
Two middle-aged women: built houses for the poor
(the latest one to spark my wrath) A Hispanic guy with a goatee: helped a bunch of kids get their teeth straightened out

Because everybody knows that those longhair freaky types shouldn't be allowed near children, and girls can't build houses, and Hispanics can't be dentists! Thanks, United Way, for allowing us to pay someone to have humanitarian skills we would lack if we were walking stereotypes!

As I was sitting at a stoplight boggling at a bus that had the one with the Hispanic teeth-straightener on its side, I saw that it had a set of wrenches in the background. So I think the idea was supposed to be, "Mechanics aren't dentists." But it came out, "Them Mexicans ain't dentists, but they'll fix your car up real good!" Oh yah. Much better.

I would like to send -- oh, let's say, all the women from my folks' church's Habitat for Humanity housebuilding team, plus all the Hispanic dentists and orthodontists in the suburb we lived in when we were in California -- after the idiots who came up with this campaign. The leather-jacketed shaggy people, being generally amiable, even-tempered types, can babysit for the housebuilders' and dentists'/orthodontists' kids while they go kick ad agency butt. "United Way: we will play on cheap stereotypes, so give us your money." Great. Thanks. Just what I wanted.

Comments

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

I really have a problem with paying as a substitute for service, myself. Giving to charity is good and important, but working with your own two hands is also important. It doesn't matter what you do, you just need to do. That is one thing we are going to try to do better with the cub scouts next year. They were pretty short on service projects this year. All they did was toys for tots. Well, excuse me, suburban soccer moms and dads, but asking your parents to swipe a piece of plastic for a new toy you can drop into a barrel is NOT service. As for the United Way, they do give a lot of money to the charities they support, but they also have a large bureaucracy, and I am not a fan of all of their causes.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I remember my mom being just livid in the '80s: teen pregnancy was on the rise, so United Way cut the funding to the Girl Scouts. We never did get that one: it wasn't that teen pregnancy was on the rise among Girl Scouts! And what about the Boy Scouts, or was parthogenesis involved somehow? Damn those teen parthogenesists!

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

Well, they give nothing to the boy scouts anymore. I think their only virtue is that they get money from people who don't normally give to charity. But for those who give regularly, there are much better choices.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I'm not comfortable with how they get the money from people who don't normally give to charity. I've seen too many people pinched in high-pressure office situations, where their jobs weren't quite on the line, and yet...being a good team player...ew.

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's true.

[scottjames.livejournal.com]

Yes. That.