Tsunami Giving

I've been watching the mad race to one up each other with reports on tsunami giving. Haven't we learned by now that it's not the size of the gift but the motive behind it that really matters? Evidently not!

One sixth-grader's gift-giving motives came into question this past year. The AP reported on this recently <http://http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142982,00.html>. It seems a middle school teacher in South Carolina discovered, during a parent-teacher conference, that the cubic zirconia necklace given to her by the parent's son was actually a one-carat diamond necklace the sixth-grader had pilfered from his mother's jewelry box. The boy probably was suffering from puppy-love and, though the end didn't justify the means, his intentions were probably genuine.

We don't need to be questioning one another over the amounts we've given to assist in the relief of the suffering ... if the motives are genuine.

One benefit of the national and international brinkmanship is that it's driving up the totals.