My friend James has recently begun public blogging - he's a very intelligent and insightful person and I highly recommend his blog!  He recently posted about his experiences volunteering for Santa's Anonymous.  Mrs L and I had similar experiences (although definitely not as quasi-porn movie) to James when we had a chance to volunteer at the Mustard Seed.  It also gave her and I a chance to reflect on how lucky and blessed we are to be as fortunate as we are.  I'm not going to swipe her wonderfully thought out and introspective post, but I do suggest you read it when you have some free time.

I ended up serving stew at the Mustard Seed for a little while (until my shoulder was ready to fall off) that evening and it definitely, as Mrs L said, was in stark contrast to the dinner we were at the very next night.  Nothing is a study in contrast like serving homeless people stew one night and then being served venison and lamb the next.

I can't speak for all developers here, but by and large I think software developers/engineers are a fairly fortunate lot.  We are earning steady paychecks and our work environments (though some are more demanding than others) are not invoving outdoor physical labor.  We all have warm(?) homes to go to at night and we're not fearful of where our next meal is coming from.  Many developers, in fact, lead a lifestyle and earn a salary that is well beyond the salary of the average person of their age in Canada.

My experience at the Mustard Seed was my first one - it was definitely an eye-opener for me and an experience I will be eternally grateful for.  I didn't have to give any money to the Mustard Seed - I only had to volunteer about 2 to 3 hours of my time. 

It may be a little late in the season for it now, but I do recommend if you do get a chance, please take some time out to help the Mustard Seed, Santa's Anonymous, or some other related charity.  If you've done it before or currently do it, you already know how rewarding it is to know that you are helping and serving somebody in some small way.  If you never have, I promise you it has the chance of giving you a very different perspective on things.  It's easy to think you've got it bad until you see someone who actually *does* have it bad!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.