Day 6 (7WJ) – Misguided Intentions

I was REALLY tempted to skip writing tonight because looking back at my day I wasn’t overly impressed by what occurred. But while it was a day like most days, I had a few successes.

I walked/ran 3 miles again.  That’s 13 days out the past 15.  Yay me!  But my foot feels bruised so I hear the bike in my future tomorrow.

I also participated in one of the kick-off’s for my grant.  It is exciting to be able to do something different, that can make a difference for children.  But then I wonder, how much freedom do we really have?  I’ll leave that for another day but we  got a few ah’s and it went over well.  Actually, any time you can pay teachers for their time to do something extra, they really appreciate it!

In the middle of the day, I represented the college at a luncheon.  It was an effort to connect the leadership of the university with that of the county.  It was well done and fairly well attended.  Wait, I guess.  It was clear that no one wanted to look like they were being too extravagant.  Buffet and plastic cutlery.  But the food wasn’t bad….I’ve had far worse in much fancier surroundings.

During the meet and greet portion of the event, I met a local developer.  He talked about the huge buildings he is developing and how he plans to spend the next few months escaping the summer heat.  He also told about the VERY successful golf tournament he just hosted for the purpose of, well, here’s where I’m kind of lost.  He was either wanting to help the homeless or clean up the city of them.  Frankly, I think it was the latter.  He laid out his plan.  That within a particular boundaried area, they would offer them free food, and then they would collect them up and take them to facilities outside the area.  He said that this would continue and each night there would be fewer and fewer homeless who would show up.  This, in his opinion, was the answer and the success of the tournament was proof that everyone was on board.

I wanted to commend him for his good intentions, but I couldn’t.  And as he moved on to get to know others, I turned to a colleague who was equally puzzled.  You can’t solve a problem by relocating it elsewhere!  He didn’t care about the problem, he just didn’t want it around him, in his high-priced area.

Recalling the event, I am even more stunned than I was when it was occurring.  Is he really that oblivious to the problem or a way to solve it?  Does he just want to lure the homeless way and put the city under a bubble?

But I wonder if that’s the strategy I often resort to when I’m solving problems.  Do I just want them to go away so I won’t have to deal with them.  Do I prefer to remove rather than resolve?  And is removing really doing anything?  Guess today was worthwhile after all.