I shouldn’t feel guilty but I do

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If you live in North America, I’m sure you’ve heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Per one of the websites, “The challenge involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness. People can either accept the challenge or make a donation to an ALS Charity of their choice, or do both.”

Of course The Daughter and all her friends think this is cool (pardon the pun) and are challenging each other. I’m pretty sure they’ve missed the point. And up until today, I’ve avoided it. Alas, as was inevitable, my name got called. But, to be honest, I don’t have a sense of humor. A sometimes sarcastic wit, perhaps…but my funnybone is very low in humor (perhaps there is a vitamin for that). Anyway, I have no desire to pour a bucket of ice water over my head, so I chose to donate.

So why is it I feel so guilty? The friend that nominated me is a little disappointed I didn’t opt for the ice, and The Daughter insists I still have to do the ice, but wasn’t it a choice? ALS as of today has raised something like $4.2M. That’s in cold hard cash, not cold hard ice (or would that be cold hard water?)

I made a donation to a good cause, but I feel guilty. (But no, I’m still not going to pour a bucket of water over my head.)

6 thoughts on “I shouldn’t feel guilty but I do”

  1. You have nothing to feel guilty over, Charlotte. You made the donation and that’s the most important part. I know many people who are not doing the challenge, opting to only donate. I had to send your post to my sister, since her family was giving her “flack” over not doing the challenge, too. 🙂

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  2. I loved Patrick Stewart’s response as well. I, too, have been nominated. I chose to do both the ice bucket and the donation for a bunch of reasons–mainly because we can’t afford a generous donation, so the ice bucket is my way of making up the difference. Does that mean I think less of people who only donate or only do the ice bucket? Absolutely not! You have NOTHING to feel guilty about. It’s all about raising awareness and/or money for a great cause. Do what you can or what you’re comfortable with, at least you’re choosing to contribute. That’s what matters!

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  3. If you get challenged, you EITHER made a donation OR get ice water dumped on your head. Doing the ice water thing is actually a way out of making a donation although I’m sure a lot of people are doing both. I believe if you do the ice water thing, then you get to “call out” other people. But here’s Patrick Stewart being his usual class act to put an end to your guilt: http://guardianlv.com/2014/08/ice-bucket-challenge-accepted-in-unique-way-by-patrick-stewart-video/

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