Thankful For Decorated Christmas Trees?
Have you ever been able to visualize what a career is going to be like? Have you ever given thought to how people are going to respond when you answer their calls for help? Well, I did, and I've been very disillusioned over the reality versus what I envisioned. You see, I'm a social worker. I decided on the field because I wanted to help people improve their living conditions. I wanted to support the service providers of those in need and I wanted to assist people in giving their children a vision of a better lifestyle for themselves and their offspring.
I believe I have, over the years, achieved this with some clients and providers. However, when I first started out, I did not foresee the fact that there are some folks who prefer to live the way they are rather than take the risks of changing.
I became disappointed with some people’s response to services and assistance when it came to the holidays. This occurred the first year I was in county social work and it continues to this day. I am now employed by a non profit agency and the response has remained the same.
During my first year working for a government agency, we had a variety of wonderful holiday donations from groups, companies, retailers and individuals. We received gifts for families that ranged from full turkey dinners to electronic items to decorated Christmas trees. The two individuals in our agency that had coordinated the donations did a great job collecting high quality items. Folks that needed help with holiday gifts, food and even decorations, filled out forms indicating the age of each family member, their clothing size and wish list. The case workers for each family then coordinated with the managers that collected the donations.
Three days before the holiday one retailer donated five decorated Christmas trees. They were quite beautiful. They had been on display in the store. This retailer wanted needy families to enjoy them. The arrangement was that the decorated Christmas trees could be picked up after four o’clock on the afternoon before Christmas Eve. We decided to choose from families that lived near the store and had the means to pick up the tree. A new foster home that was providing care for four siblings was nearby. The children had been placed with the family only a few days before Christmas. The foster family was doing a remodel so they had not been able to unpack their holiday decorations, so I asked them if they would like one of the decorated Christmas trees.
The trees had been adorned with lights and different ornaments. One was in a Victorian theme, one had traditional bulb ornaments, and one had a nature theme. The family agreed to take one home, but instead of being happy and cheerful, they complained that it was not the same size as they ordinarily have and the ornaments were not as nice as those they had packed away. This was on top of all the other complaints I heard from families about the quality of donations or of wanting to have ham rather than turkey for their Christmas dinner. Why can't folks be thankful for what they have?