Fun raising . . .

Saturday. Sofa. Coffee.

It is dark this morning. Apparently the days became shorter without me noticing.

But there is just too much to keep notice of these days. Surely I can be forgiven for not noticing the creeping darkness . . .

Just kidding. I'm not going there this Saturday morning, although I kind of like where it seemed to be heading, so I'll save it for later.

The problem is, I am happy this morning. Not a problem in the sense that I want to change how I feel. It is a problem in the sense that I don't really want to take on any heaviness this morning, be it political, social, cultural, theological, or even in the troubling area of edible plants. That significantly limits my options for a topic. It seems I often have this problem for one reason or another on Saturday mornings. I like it when the reason is happiness.

I think everyone within a hundred miles should go to Lipscomb, Alabama today for a hot dog. Since the town no longer receives revenue from bingo it is in a severe financial bind. So, today there will be a hot dog fundraiser in Lipscomb. They need to raise $250,000.00. That's a lot of hot dogs. Buy several. They'll keep in the freezer.

Perhaps the efforts of the fine folk of Lipscomb should be a positive example for us all. Local governments are suffering from the federal budget cutbacks and important services are being lost. So maybe it is time for some fundraising. Other than writing more traffic tickets . . .

In Oneonta, for instance, there is an intersection at which one could grow old waiting for the green light. Be sure and check your drivers' license and license plate expiration date before approaching this intersection because there is a possibility of expiration during the unexpected wait, maybe the license, maybe you. I envision city council members on roller skates hawking cold drinks or coffee, sandwiches, magazines, a gallon of gas, and possibly license renewal, voter registration or long term care for those who were not aware of how long this light stayed red . . .

Yard sales, bake sales, 10k's, karaoke contests, fruit cake sales, it's so much better than having a workable tax system and code.

But another idea crosses my mind this morning, at the risk of dampening my happiness. In some places, like my sweet home Alabama, it would be much more expedient to raise money for government services by selling public offices to the highest bidder. The only difference in the way it works now is that the money used to buy the office would go directly into the government's treasury and we wouldn't have to suffer through all the political advertisements. . . okay, there are still a few kinks to work out, but for a real discussion of this problem see this 2007 article in Harpers.

Enough of that. Almost took a negative turn.

But I am still happy so I better quit. I'll get meaner about things next week. But not hateful. That's a subject for another day. . .just not today.

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