Volunteering

Here we are again and this time we're having to put up with some pretty diabolical weather conditions, conditions that we're told have very little to do with global warming. None the less, people are having to suffer, once again, at the harsh hand of nature, which as we can see from the images on television, can be quite devastating. Here, it doesn't help those who are suffering the full brunt of the storm, when they learn that it has absolutely nothing at all to do with global warming. To me, the end result is precisely the same.

A piece of news that particularly caught my eye last week, was this old chestnut about those who volunteer their services to aid others. I get more than a little cheesed off when I hear government ministers saying that more people should volunteer, or more especially, those that are unemployed. Let me just say something before I launch into my own opinions about this subject.

When I was younger, I once volunteered to work for a local charity, where I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself with the work I was doing. Further, I was in a position where I could offer about forty to fifty hours a week for nearly three years, sharing my experience with a handful of other volunteers. I received a great deal of pride and enjoyment from the part I played in earning this charity close on half a million pounds for their tremendously good cause. Now please, don't get me wrong. But if I had been forced to do voluntary work, which actually negates it being termed as voluntary, then I doubt that I would have appreciated being told I had to do it, or else.

Why is it that it is nearly always those who would never do it themselves, who are those who shout the loudest, saying that others should be forced to do it? Another relevant point to me is this, why is it that when the media interviews someone about the voluntary work they do, it's usually a woman? Be honest, how many of these women would do voluntary work, if they weren't either well off themselves, or didn't have a wealthy husband to provide for them? What if they actually needed to work for a living. Would they then still have the same attitude towards voluntary work?

If I was a much younger man, my priorities would be in looking after my family and myself. To those who should know better, this takes money, the currency we all need if we're going to live comfortably. Taking part in any kind of voluntary work, means setting aside a certain amount of time and commitment, the very same applies in keeping a family together. So, if a person can afford to give their time to voluntary work, good for them, you'll probably enjoy it like I did. But please, all of you self-righteous people out there, don't expect anyone to put voluntary work before working for a living.

Finally, everyone who works for charity and is unpaid, do our society a great and wonderful service. If most of you out there had to work as hard as any of these fine ladies and gentlemen, you'd most likely prefer to be paid for doing it considering the hours they put into it. So, let's leave voluntary work precisely this, voluntary.

Onto another subject now, although it is something I'm used to speaking about in the absence of Froggy. It's human greed. Right at a time when governments are spouting about global warming and the need to curb our rate of atmospheric pollution, which means reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, they announce a complete turnabout, albeit indirectly. The media said last night, that countries around the world, and by this I mean Europe, Russia, the USA and so on, are now battling to exploit the resources (Fossil fuels) from underneath the polar ice cap. I guess that this had to be expected sooner or later, but what shocked me, was that these self same countries would be willing to go to war, if this was the only way to secure this wealth for themselves. Amazing!!!

Going to war in order to secure this kind of wealth is total lunacy. What happened to all that talk about reducing our dependency on fossil fuels? Was this just another government lie? Either we do away with the need for fossil fuels, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 we release, or we don't! Seems to me that our government simply doesn't take global warming seriously enough.

Where are you, Froggy? You're needed...

Time for a spot of gardening, so, take care of yourselves, bye for now....

Bob (Writing on behalf of Froggy.)