the extra $50

ok, so yesterday was payday....and yet again i had extra money......from my recently acquired non-fastfood lunch habits....and so i donated that sum to a worthy cause that came along at the right time....meaning when my checkbook was out......and i feel good about the donation...a kentucky-based cause...in fact, i have already planned out my next move.....for the end-of-october opportunity......for this good cause i may just up the ante.....there is a fellow in my health class....a classmate of one of my children...who works with the salvation army's after-school program......and i do believe that it is right and good to support his efforts.....given that he told me that he believes he is doing the work God intends for him to do......gentle readers.....i have spent years pondering all the good causes i would support if and when i ever won the lottery.....and it has only recently occured to me that i can do small things to support others right now.....maybe not as profoundly as the nobel winner who started a microloab bank with a $27 loan to 42 weavers in asia..and certainly not as well as if i had millions in the bank........but giving support to those who need a boost with small tributes is what i can do in the here and now.......along these lines i took advantage of a teachable moment yesterday.....when i took my youngest out to lunch after her cross country meet.....i left a gnerous tip in cash on top of the exact change needed to settle the bill...and my youngest gasped, and asked why i was leaving so much money....hah! as an ex-food service person, i always leave extra cash for tips out of respect for those who can still do this sort of work.....but i digress......i explained that a tip was a gift to the server for good service...to which my daughter asked what sort of service one gets at a buffet.....to which she added....'if you've got money to give away...why don't you just give it to me?'........which means she has lost the point somewhere in my explanation......that there is more to life than how much extra is in it for me.....and it will be my mission to convert her from a me-me-me existence to a them-them-them state of mind..............