I had planned to make my next blog entry about life after death, but sometimes the matters of this world must intervene.
Many of you probably know my wife, Jamie—in fact, a lot of you came to my site through hers. (I know this is true because I have Sitemeter.) She has enjoyed sharing her knitting, and her life, with you for quite some time, and she has received a lot of positive feedback from Buttercupia.
As I noted in a previous entry, Jamie broke her leg in January, which required six surgeries and a long rehab which is still continuing. She came back home in April and returned to work two weeks ago. She walks with crutches and is slowly…slowly…getting better.
Yesterday, she learned that, due to a clerical error, she had been getting paid for time that was supposed to be devoted to unpaid medical leave. As a result, there has been a substantial overpayment, and she will not receive another paycheck until August.
I’m sure many of you know what would happen if one person in your household was suddenly without income for two months. Let’s just say that Bananarama didn’t know a damn thing about a cruel summer.
Last night, I wandered into several sites devoted to cyberbegging. That’s right. People actually beg for money on the Internet, usually with a sob story that may or may not be true. In most cases, my money’s on “not”—but you never know. When I read one spiel from a woman who claimed to have lost her front teeth in a “domectic dibute” [sic], I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
As a descendant of unreconstructed Ohio krauts, I am very uncomfortable with begging. I heard speeches about pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps before I could tie my shoes. But there are situations where begging is not bad. If it weren’t for begging, public TV would not exist, Jerry Lewis would be just another washed-up comic, and kids would find Halloween pretty boring.
Is this one of those situations? I’ll leave that up to you.
Jamie has a link to a PayPal account on her site (just look for the word “Ranunculus”). If you’ve enjoyed her knitting pictures and patterns, if her smoking cessation entry helped you quit, or if she turned you on to a favorite site through her extensive list of links, now would be the perfect time to let her know. And thanks.
May we be in the position to do the same for you someday.
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