Don't throw away the non-descript envelope!

Non-descript envelopes and descript ones!

Okay, so today, I received an email from my INGDIRECT account, the tag line reads, "Get your eStatement and view Bright Spots, your quarterly newsletter". Yeah! Eager to take a look, I tried to log-in to the http://www.ingdirect.com/ site. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I forgot the pin! My son made a couple attempts at even recalling the pin and resorted to calling the rep. Luckily, we called at 7:56pm, they close at 8pm. The representative was especially sweet and helpful to us. I learned that we will not be logging onto the site tonight however, as the pin will be mailed to us in a "non-descript" envelope in five to seven business days.
We decided to take a good look at the newsletter and see what we could glean. One not so stunning "tip" stood out, "To live like you do now, you will need to put away 10% of your salary starting at age 25". It looks like I am 18 years too late! And I am not quite sure that my lifestyle is one that I am particularly looking forward to maintaining. Was rather interested in breaking free of the one bedroom apartment, with the PC on the kitchen table and the faded Arctic blue vintage (hey, its at least 22 years old) BMW parked under the street light.

We also have great news but not sure how to move forward on it. Oyster got nominated at his school to attend an "elite" program offered by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC) http://www.cylc.org/. Inside the beautifully appointed envelope with its official gold and blue foil seal, is a letter to the parents and one to my son. So much hoopla, the envelope weighed in at a small cell phone. Now, I am one of those parents who would love to write a check and send him off to Washington D.C. to participate in this "exceptional, interactive program and powerful experience", but is it really? To part with the $1,840 for tuition not counting round trip airfare for 6 days is a bargain right? It is no wonder that the package also included an eleven page "Strategy For Success: A Guide To Community Fundraising." I love the fact that the strategy is two pronged, Plan A-bake sales and Plan B-Find Potential Sponsors. What can you possibly bake in four weeks part-time to raise almost $3,000? Trust me if I knew that now, I would enter the baking business to make a living! So, the alternative is to train up our leaders at a young age to begin a quest for "sponsorship funds" aka begging for money. I guess that is what "leaders" do. Even though we are not asking them to stand on a street corner with a sign, we do it in the name of what? Hmmm. The more I think about this the more I dislike the whole thing. Is this another way to guilt parents and to teach our kids to want things we simply cannot afford with our own money or teach our kids to use other people's money for their gain? Either way, it is not settling well with me right now.

Perhaps, you have another take on this you would care to share with us. Do you know any kids who have personally raised the $625 a week to afford a $500 a day trip? Was the trip worth it? Or is this one of those "Who is Who in America" deals, where you pay nothing to get into the book, but if you want a copy, you spend the bucks, a kind of shrine to self!
Would love to hear from you.