Frivolously Sincere

I am acutely aware that I am an old fart. This comes home to me when I view all these celebrities taking the Ice Bucket Challenge on TV or on social media in order to donate to ALS (Lou Gehrig disease). To me, this bit of popular silliness has a lot of grandstanding wrapped in the velvet doublet of generosity. Why, if I want to donate to the worthy charity, do I need to dump a bucket of ice water over my head? I've always admired people who generously give to a cause anonymously ... instead of putting their names on a neon marquee along with their donated amount.

(Yes, I often donate using my real name ... because the amount is so small, I am clearly not braggadocios.)

Plus there is an element of public shaming in this Challenge ... if you don't accept it you re a skin flint. This is kinda like a chain-mail message which you have to send to ten people or you will get leprosy ... or not win the Irish Sweepstakes. If every one who passed these messages on to ten friends won the Sweepstakes, then the prize would be smaller than what had been paid for the original ticket. I guess what I'm saying is that the element of rationality seems to be ignored when one bows to peer pressure. This factor is clearly manifesting itself with the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Now, with this huge windfall of generosity, can we expect ALS to be cured soon? The skeptic in me says that much of these frivolously sincere donations will be wasted. Easy come, easy go.