Wednesday 11 October 2000

Pic of the day: Archive foto from last winter. The shop is where I tend to buy my clothes. High quality stuff; a bit above my station, as it were. But there you have it. I have cut down on it, really.

"Trust me"

Got a letter in my physical mailbox today. I throw away unadressed advertising unread, just as I do with my e-mail. But when it comes to physical mail, it actually costs quite a bit to print all the catalogues and what not and have them distributed. So I don't have a sticker on my mailbox saying "no ads". Oh no. I am very happy that they spend their money on catalogues that I never read. Because that means they are losing money on me. This fills me with a deep pleasure inside. Wish I could do that with spam e-mail too.

But I do read any letters adressed to me personally. Well, at the very least I open them and glance at them. In this case it was from Medecins Sans Frontieres, who I already had some sympathy for, for various reasons. But not as much sympathy as they presumed. They presumed too much. This happens, and now it happened to them.

***

"Dear friend" said the letter, and in all honesty, I am not their enemy. But friend? I am a total stranger, and that does require a slightly different approach. I appreciate their attempt to enlighten me about their heroic efforts to combat disease and disaster. As my long term readers may remember, my best friend (a medical student) has been out in the bush all of last month doing similar kind of work. I can sympathize. I was all ready to send them some money to support their work. But they did not want that. Or rather, not just that.

They wanted me to commit myself to a monthly donation, for an undefined period of time. Uh huh. "Dear friend", you just pushed the wrong button.

I do not allow regular draws from my bank account. Ever. It goes against my whole view of life. My principle is: Make no commitment, for tomorrow is not yours. Anything can happen, and often will. That's why I tend to give only vague promises about anything more than five minutes ahead in time, sometimes less.

And I most definitely do not make any commitments on the first date.

***

It's also the whole impression you project. I understand their explanation that they need a regular supply of money. It must bite big time to be stranded in the heart of some war zone and then the money runs out! But I also understand the implicit distrust: "If we don't get an automated draw on their bank accounts, they will forget it soon enough, fickle humans that they are. Can't trust the lower castes to manage their own money, after all."

I don't allow anyone a backdoor to my money. Of course, the government grabs my tax money before it even leaves the employer. But then again, the government is historically the continuation of the schoolyard bully. There is no reason why there should be much trust between a government and its subjugated people.

Now that's a strange thing to say, given that I work for the government myself. (Albeit in a sneaky and indirect way, maintaining their computers.) Then again, why did you think I am neurotic? I don't even trust myself, much less my employer. Or even Medecins Sans Frontieres. In general, I don't trust anyone who don't trust me. And, as I said, that includes myself... :)