Posted by Joe Baker on May 23, 2003 at 16:49:43:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: a dumb post here posted by and whatever... on May 23, 2003 at 16:14:32:
Oh, they do fund raising, but who are the kids gonna sell all that stuff to? They aren't supposed to go door-to-door for safety reasons (I support that policy), so they can really only sell it to family. Especially families like mine, that are new in town and don't really know many people yet. In order to raise $1600 for my son's trip, he'll have to sell something like $2500 worth of candy and other crap I don't need. So yes, there are fund raisers, but they're more expensive than just forking over the cash.
Some would say I should take the fund-raisers to work, but that's just a quid-pro-quo at best, and really inappropriate in my opinion. I could buy stuff from my friends' kids, they would buy stuff from mine; in the long run, I come out the same as if I'd bought it all from my own kid.
Selling $50 or $100 to extended family in years gone by was annoying, but okay; Aunt Judy would buy $10 worth, Gramps would buy $20 worth, etc.; but are grandparents now supposed to fork over $250-$300 for stale popcorn tins?!? Aunt Judy retired last year, and I'm not so sure she can afford $200 worth of Christmas cards.
The bottom line is that these organizations should be focused on teaching and playing music, not on exotic travel.
Joe Baker, who thinks music can be played just as well close to home.