I belong to a lot of different communities.
I have a Facebook page where “friends” from high school post inane stuff to show how cool they are with this new technology. I work with several different departments on campus teaching materials to students that, hopefully, helps prepare them for life outside the ivory tower. I have family scattered across the world. And I have a refuge from the insanity that is our current democracy right here. Generally, I don’t write diaries, and my comments are rather few and far between. But I find myself needing to contribute to this community.
A few days ago, just as finals were underway on campus, I got a text from one of my former teaching assistants - now in grad school. He was considering dropping out of school to get a job to help his family. His sister has been diagnosed with cancer, was fired from her job at Wal Mart, had just delivered her second child, and had received a notice of eviction from a landlord who discovered he could rent the house at a greater price to another family largely because the sister’s husband had, over the last five years, fixed all of the defects of the home and replaced most of the malfunctioning equipment (furnace, water heater, dishwasher, etc.). The student was despondent because his sister’s family was being evicted around Christmas and there was nothing he could do to help. In addition, the family was having to find new homes for their two dogs since they would not be able to easily rent other living quarters by posting a pet deposit most landlords require. I talked with him and told him that dropping out of grad school with just one semester remaining was probably a poor choice. He told me that I was sounding just like his mother, but without the threat of bodily harm to him if he did quit.
Two days later I heard from him again. It seems as though his sister and brother-in-law had qualified for a program that would pay for the closing costs for a home purchase, and all they needed to come up with was $1,500 applied to the down-payment. They had been able to raise $1,000 but needed the remainder within two days. He asked me if there was anything I could do to help. I checked my balance at the credit union and told him I could only help to the tune of $300. I gave him the money and the next day he told me his brother-in-law had been able to get the remaining money from co-workers who were impressed that a stranger like me was willing to assist people I really did not know. (I don’t speak Spanish, and the student’s brother-in-law and sister do not speak English.) For that family, Christmas has now turned into a celebration of moving into a new-to-them home that they will actually be able to build equity in, instead of a time of sadness of having to move to someplace where they will have to start over without their friends, and live with the knowledge that if they try to actually improve their living quarters, the landlord will find a reason to shaft them.
Strangely enough, the next day I checked into this community and read a diary talking about subscriptions here. Since I am on a pretty good broadband access at work, I have never really considered getting a subscription. Yes, it’s true – I’m cheap. But I got to thinking: I get a lot from this place. I have used diaries as the research basis for lectures I have given to students that sparked a lot of class discussion. Usually, several students will tell me I am wrong in my facts, only to have them admit within a week or two that my facts were correct. This place really is like getting the newspaper two weeks early. The only shortfall in this is that Marcos doesn’t do a real good job of publishing the winning lottery numbers two weeks early. Since I got paid again, I figured I would give myself a subscription and thereby support the site with a financial contribution. But then I got thinking about how much this community has actually given to me, and I decided to give a gift subscription. I have now given two anonymous gift subscriptions and purchased a subscription for myself. My life has been enhanced by this community in ways so numerous that I cannot even begin to list them. Two regular contributors to this community have received ad free access and the work Marcos has been doing for so long has been financially benefited. I figure $300 is money well spent. Now, if Marcos will publish the winning lottery numbers two weeks early this place will be complete.