Annoying Campus Crusaders

This morning as I was driving to work I heard this piece about voluntourism in Thailand after the tsunami. Interesting, nothing groundbreaking. People have been headed over there since Christmas to do some good, and really, we know part of the motivation is to go to a part of the world they might not otherwise get to go to (not that they don't care about the people there - they do). But there was this snotty teenager from Campus Crusade talking about their work there. And she said something along the lines of "These people (Thai buddhists) have been praying to spirits to protect them their whole lives and the spirits didn't protect them, so they are now open to Jesus, the true God." (Not verbatim obviously).

This girl was clearly a nice girl, trying to support her cause. But she missed a key point. Bad shit happens to Christians too. What about people in Florida whose homes were devastated in hurricanes in years past? Or more recently? Or in Mexico? Surely some of those Christians prayed to God to keep them safe and discovered that, in fact, they still lost their homes,etc. Why is it that the Thai people need to be converted exactly? Their "spirits" didn't betray them anymore than God could be said to have betrayed Christians whose homes or lives were destroyed in hurricanes.

Sadly there is nothing about being a Christian that protects you from bad shit happening, as we all know. Anyhow, I just thought this girl was stupid and had to mention it.

I'm at work doing basically nothing. I've been struggling all week to write this brief on paid family leave in California, but I cannot figure out what it needs to say. So I'm backtracking and trying to learn more about the Family and Medical Leave Act, the California version of said act and where paid family leave fits into it, figuring that will provide some necessary background for me and others who read this brief. I did successfully (I think) write a brochure this week on where to obtain publicly funded women's health services. Its geared towards low-literacy individuals, and I think it turned out pretty well.

I like my job this summer. It sometimes has dull moments and it can be sort of lonely, being the only intern, but I have definitely learned a lot and I really like the people I work with - they are all really nice and smart. I just wish it would turn into something paying after graduation. Because I really don't relish the idea of working for a firm, even one that gets called one of the best places to work. Because its not. Sure you may get great benefits - good health insurance, great maternity leave and so on, but you have to work your ass off to get that, to the tune of 70-80 hours a week. So once you use up your maternity leave, you don't see your kid. And before you use it, you don't see your spouse, unless you are fortunate enough to work in the same office as them. And that doesn't appeal to me. Even if I thought I could do that, hardly any of the firms do anything that I can even fake an interest in. A few do, and I'll send my resume to them, but I really would prefer to work in a place where I feel like my work makes a difference. Sadly I am getting the impression that my student debt will not allow me to do that. I know I could go work at some firm and make a lot of money for a few years and be mostly done paying back my loans before I am 30 but I feel like I'd be giving up some of the best years of my life, not to mention I don't think I'd be in very good shape - when would I go to the gym?

Nothing very exciting planned for the weekend. Nat and I are going to the beach on Sunday, so tomorrow will be get shit done day. I need to pack stuff up and get it sent back to Davis, and be ready to move my stuff to Nat's apartment at the end of next week before the fam and I head to Bakersfield for the family reunion weekend.

Only two weeks of work left. Four until classes start. And hey, they only raised tuition to $24000! But before classes resume I have ten wonderful days planned at Mom's, poolside with my pets the entire time I hope (with my luck it will rain and be horrible the entire time).