Hawaiian Luau

The tickets are pricey
but the cause is a good one.
Anything that enriches
a child’s life is vital.

The décor was creative
palm fronds and native masks
sand pails with flip flops
beach balls and towels.

We had a margarita,
a taste of ribs and cole slaw,
and then the real shake down began
at high velocity and pitch.

We were lectured on how we
should pay much more than the worth
of items auctioned because it’s
for a good cause. My head began

to pound from the diatribe over
each object on the block. She shouts
you can do it, dig deep, you can do it.
I begin to feel like the gopher in the game

where you wield a mallet and try to bash
the little critters as they crawl from their
holes. Ouch, bam, more, bam, ouch,
give more, bam. Four long hours later,

the happy faces that walked in were
changed into contemplation and glassy
eyed compliance to the plea for donations
for the kids. Now we were in long

lines to wait to pay for our guilt ridden
pledges. I know there has to be fund
raisers, I see the need, understand it,
have more than one myself but surely

there is a better way? One that doesn’t
drain you but makes you feel good.
Perhaps if I would have won something
I would look on it differently. Perhaps

if there did not seem to be so many
situations just like this one in my life
right now I’d feel better about it. I
feel like an evil being just admitting this.

I don't want to be coerced,tricked, shamed,
or guilted out of contributions. We give
more than our fair shares to causes we believe
in and I do feel good about those.

Judy Roney
April 25, 2009
Event