![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Walking for the Greater Good
Mar. 13th, 2005 04:46 pmMy legs ache from the Houston AIDS walk this morning. Luckily I'm only lightly toasty since I asked Jerry (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
goofycubb) to bring the sunscreen with us, and for the most part it worked. Still, towards the end of the walk, the 80 degree temperatures were making it a little tiring.
Jerry had done some fundraising for the team his mother works for, the American Express team. Walking with Jerry, Jerry's mother and brother, we were all wearing generic American Express community partners shirts that could be used at any volunteer event. Many other corporations had similar shirts in the crowd, though a few, had special AIDS Walk duds. I remark on the MAC Cosmetics shirts that were both AIDS related and generic to the day, stating "Everyday is World AIDS Day ay MAC".
If I'm still working at my same employer next year, I should get a team together. I wonder why it didn't cross my mind. It's sad it didn't occur to anyone else. If nothing else, we certainly have enough GLBT people at work, though they've never been very vocal. Of course, there's never been a real reason to be, there's been nothing to gain, anti-discrimination policies and partner benefits have been de rigor at our company for a long time, won by people at other large financial companies a long time ago. Our company was just keeping up with the human resources Joneses, so to speak.
After Jerry cooked breakfast for us, and his friend James, we went out to Sam Houston park downtown to get registered and get ready. There was the same energetic aerobics instructor there was two years ago when I did this, limbering people up. There were all sorts of people out there, some with family, and kids and dogs. There was Channel 2 and the Clear Channel Radio Stations. The other media seemed to stay away. Still, I'm not sure why Clear Channel brought out the conservative talk radio van, I saw the low-payed intern was taking a lot of grief from walkers as they passed.
Jerry's brother Bart remarked at how much smaller this was compared to the AIDS Walk in the Bay Area, where he's from. We explained it's not a big deal here, and most people would rather not hear about AIDS. In fact, I'd be surprised if the whole thing gets barely a mention tonight on the news. Still, if only a handful of people hear, then it's all for the better.
I didn't have a run-in with US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee this year, like I did two years ago. I find here kind of funny. I remarked, "Turn on a camera, and she'll be there." Still, she does do the walk, and I respect here for that. Still, as she was speaking before the crowd before the walk, she was talking about getting funding in Washington and said, "We need more funding to prevent the spread of HISD!" Of course the local school district has seen better days, but she did quickly recover and correct herself by saying HIV.
So, several miles down on the hard concrete for a good cause, and my donation has been made, doing my little part. Still, I know we aren't treating this as seriously as we once did (see James' (moved posts today about the rise of statistics in Dallas - Scary). Prevention is possible, and it's all about education, responsibility and not giving into stupidity about hiding the truth.
I'm either going to sleep well, or cramp up like crazy tonight. Yikes!
goofycubb) to bring the sunscreen with us, and for the most part it worked. Still, towards the end of the walk, the 80 degree temperatures were making it a little tiring.Jerry had done some fundraising for the team his mother works for, the American Express team. Walking with Jerry, Jerry's mother and brother, we were all wearing generic American Express community partners shirts that could be used at any volunteer event. Many other corporations had similar shirts in the crowd, though a few, had special AIDS Walk duds. I remark on the MAC Cosmetics shirts that were both AIDS related and generic to the day, stating "Everyday is World AIDS Day ay MAC".
If I'm still working at my same employer next year, I should get a team together. I wonder why it didn't cross my mind. It's sad it didn't occur to anyone else. If nothing else, we certainly have enough GLBT people at work, though they've never been very vocal. Of course, there's never been a real reason to be, there's been nothing to gain, anti-discrimination policies and partner benefits have been de rigor at our company for a long time, won by people at other large financial companies a long time ago. Our company was just keeping up with the human resources Joneses, so to speak.
After Jerry cooked breakfast for us, and his friend James, we went out to Sam Houston park downtown to get registered and get ready. There was the same energetic aerobics instructor there was two years ago when I did this, limbering people up. There were all sorts of people out there, some with family, and kids and dogs. There was Channel 2 and the Clear Channel Radio Stations. The other media seemed to stay away. Still, I'm not sure why Clear Channel brought out the conservative talk radio van, I saw the low-payed intern was taking a lot of grief from walkers as they passed.
Jerry's brother Bart remarked at how much smaller this was compared to the AIDS Walk in the Bay Area, where he's from. We explained it's not a big deal here, and most people would rather not hear about AIDS. In fact, I'd be surprised if the whole thing gets barely a mention tonight on the news. Still, if only a handful of people hear, then it's all for the better.
I didn't have a run-in with US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee this year, like I did two years ago. I find here kind of funny. I remarked, "Turn on a camera, and she'll be there." Still, she does do the walk, and I respect here for that. Still, as she was speaking before the crowd before the walk, she was talking about getting funding in Washington and said, "We need more funding to prevent the spread of HISD!" Of course the local school district has seen better days, but she did quickly recover and correct herself by saying HIV.
So, several miles down on the hard concrete for a good cause, and my donation has been made, doing my little part. Still, I know we aren't treating this as seriously as we once did (see James' (
moved posts today about the rise of statistics in Dallas - Scary). Prevention is possible, and it's all about education, responsibility and not giving into stupidity about hiding the truth.I'm either going to sleep well, or cramp up like crazy tonight. Yikes!
