Monday, January 21, 2008
so it took them a couple weeks / months to get their shit together, so what ? they're being responsive now, anyway:
From: service@laptopgiving.org
Sent: 2008.01.21 05:58:54 Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Your Give One Get One Donation
Dear Donor,
We are contacting you in regards to your Give One Get One donation and the shipment of your laptop. Your donation is in the queue for laptop shipment.
Please expect to receive another update from us by Wednesday, 1/23, with information on when you can expect to receive your laptop.
We appreciate your generosity and patience.
Sincerely,
OLPC Donor Services
the various snafus that they have been having sure caused a lot of upset. in retrospect, it's a "well, what did you expect?" kind of thing. unfortunately, it still adds to that program's bad pr, despite that a lot of it can be chalked up to the usual "ugly american"-ism.
there are people out there who have called lawyers, state attorney generals (or is that "attorneys general" ?), have spent hours on the phone for weeks, bombarded every inbox they could find at the partner organizations, filled forums... all this over a $200 missing slightly late item. good god - i can blow more than that in two weeks at the local bar. and i guess we've forgotten the days when all mail order items took "6-10 weeks" to be delivered. damned instant gratification world.
which kind of makes one ponder the reality that motivates the creation of this and other programs. i've said it before - there's now enough aggregate wealth on this planet to eliminate poverty - and so many associated conditions. and for most potential contributors, this would hardly make a noticeable dent in their lifestyles. (yet it seems most of what support does exist comes from the global middle class that is rapidly being wiped out. makes one wonder if it ever really existed - it hasn't, in historical terms. wups, another post.)
well, fine, but then there's ayn rand's warnings, and that's something to be considered as well. and our recent experience in iraq. you can't simply "give" economic, political, personal security. educate, you say ? thus, the olpc program.