Lachat.com

We laud anybody who has the heart and motivation to pursue community service. Some people give so much of their time to worthy causes. Institutions, such as churches and schools, try to inspire the youth to volunteer their hours for the greater good of society. When that fails, they resort to bribery. If you want to excel, you want that scholarship, you want that awards ceremony, then you'd better get out there and start supporting the community. People may think these tactics are effective and that those eager high school students will continue their good Samaritan efforts after the school bell rings no more. But are we doing more harm than good in using such tactics? Charity should be a selfless act, not rewarded, no thanks necessary. The schools, in all their eagerness to just get the students out there, may be setting up the students for failure, or worse, to expect rewards for community service. After all, you can lead a horse to water...

This is a parody of A California Couple Moves East to Get Away from Earthquakes. The original story has floated around by many names for over a couple decades now. I originally saw it in paper form that my Dad brought home from the office. I posted it on my first web site in 1995. However, the parody of this story takes place and was written in 2002. It chronicles the struggles Eric and I faced in the first 8 months of living in Hawaii. A lot has changed since then, but I still wince at the story.

Anyone who drives has at one time or another been locked out of their car. Homeowners, likewise, experience that sinking realization when you discover you've left your house keys at the office. Or just as your reaching for the newspaper, in naught but your bathtowel, the door slams closed, on your towel. We've all experienced something similar, the frantic pat downs of pockets, the pleading that you left some door or window ajar. However, most people do not approach their front door at 10 feet high upon a slippery aluminum ladder.

It began raining outside, but not hard. What the tiny droplets lacked in size, they made up for in number. Swirling clouds of water blew this way and that, making its main direction indiscernible. Still, there was enough water coming down to get a person wet, should one wish to venture outside. Occasional gusts of wind rolled the moisture into billowing sheets of wetness. These gusts made it seem as if entire clouds of the water had forgotten they were on there way to the ground, and instead followed the passages and boulevards, any open space really, before resuming their eventual decline.