“You Need to Make Money to Say You Don’t Want Money”

I volunteer at a place called God’s Love We Deliver — an ironically non-religious organization that makes meals for people with AIDS (this is a plug). Tonight, I wrapped bagels in cellophane and eavesdropped on my bagel-wrapping neighbors. One told her coworker about her idealism when she graduated from college — she worked for the Elie Wiesel Foundation pursuing “acceptance, understanding and equality.” Then she realized how many loans she had to pay back. Now she works for an IT company.

“You need to make money to say you don’t want money,” her coworker responded.