Wishes

Today there is a lot of buzz here about a local online discussion forum. Someone from the Booming Metropolis area started a new thread asking people to post their wishes, and asking those who could grant them to do so. The result has been quite fascinating.

Admittedly, in order to find the gems, you do have to sift through 70 pages of people asking for a wealthy benefactor to pay off their astronomical credit card debt, presumably so they can go right back out there and rack up some more. And there was also the middle-aged man who admitted that his wish was to have a couple of hot 20 year-olds come sit in a hot tub with him (in his defense, he did also want someone to come fix his wife's car. Husband of the Year!). Some of the posts, though, really tugged at the heart strings.

I wanted to cry for the out-of-work mother who didn't have enough money to cover the costs of her child's expensive prescription medication, and hug the dozens of people who pledged amounts large and small to ensure that this child continued to receive it. Ditto for the woman wanting to get out of an abusive relationship for the sake of her kids, and for the sheer number of people unemployed and just wanting to work, and those who were desperate to lose weight or quit smoking before it killed them. Reading through this stuff made me realize just how good I have it.

When I got to the post from someone who had lost the support of her entire family because she'd come out of the closet and just wanted a safe, private place to to marry her partner, I very nearly emailed the Captain and informed him that when he got home this spring, he'd be standing at the end of our driveway in his army boots, bouncing homophobic party-crashers while I walked around our ramshackle backyard in heels and a headset, barking orders at the caterers. Luckily (for the Captain. I am devastated), a couple of other people with acreages far closer to the city, and likely in far more appropriate condition for this fairy-tale event, had the same idea. It's probably for the best. When I imagine my dream nuptials, they don't usually involve wedding pictures with my dog pooping in the background, being down-wind of the sewage ejector, a runaway cow crashing through the fence, or a filthy and excited Rosemary's Baby swinging from the trees.

The generosity of people is a heartening thing to see. I lost more than an hour of my life reading people's wishes and seeing others make them come true, but I can't say that hour was wasted.

Still keeping it simple over here. More to come!