PROJECT 俗な慈善事業
～利他バッグを携えて
Let's try secular altruism.with RITA-BAG.
Altruistic (pronounced “Rita” in Japanese)
利他がいいらしいじゃん。
Give Give Giveの3乗、陰徳を積む・・・が開運の秘訣みたいでさ。
今昔ともに俗物極まりない大人である。若かりし頃は賭場でバイトをし、ファッションに浪費をし、社会人になって大抵の大人と同じく商人になり、酒を飲み、今は煙草を禁煙中の中高年が何をするか・・・
日常的にできることは大したことではないだろうが、やればまあ役に立ったな、と思える。
そこで、いつでも利他できるようなグッズを入れておく袋というかバッグがあればいいか、という思いで考えたのが「利他バッグ（altruistic bag）」（そのまま）。
別に無印のクリアケースでも100円ショップのポーチでもスーパーのレジ袋でも何でもいいんだけど、俗な大人は若かりし頃の浪費の証・浪費の勲章であるブランドもののバッグやポーチを持っているかもしれないので、それを使ってもいいかな、と。テンション上がるし。
今のところ、この利他バッグに入れるものとしては
・予備マスク（ないと困る場面がある）
・絆創膏（剥がれにくいとより良い）
・カイロまたは冷却シート（真冬・真夏は気温で具合悪くなる人見かけるし）
・のど飴（部屋の乾燥で声が出にくくなる中年多数ｗｗｗ）
・両替金（飲み会のおつりとかで必要になったり、買い物先のお店に負担掛けないために用意しておく）
・立替金（いつ買い物頼まれてもOK）
あたりを考え付いた。他人にもあげたり貸したりできるのはもちろん、自分でも困ったときは使えるからね。
両替金・立替金は、高齢知人から頼まれごとしたときって現金勘定じゃん。そういうときも使うんだよね。しかも、こういうの仕事でお世話になった人だったりするからね。こっちとしても不義理はしたくないからパシる。
まあキャッシュレスな時代だから、意識してないとなかなか現金持ち歩かないもんね。
で、これくらいのレベルなら、世話された方も引け目感じないだろうし、あんまり大仰だと、やった側が自慢気に言いたくなるし、これだと陰徳にならないしねえ。
あとね、しばらく大人やってると後ろめたいことの二つや三つあるじゃん。その免罪符みたいな感じでもあるね。
返しきれてない恩。
やっちゃいけないことも大らかな心で許してもらった恩。
あと、博打で勝ったら何割かはどこかに寄付するとかね。
（酒飲みながらミッドナイト競輪して、勝ったお金そのまま全額地元のボランティア団体にそっくり振り込んだときは酒の力を実感したね。4,000円くらいだったけど）。
アイキャッチとなるようなものを作りたいんだよね。個々人の数あるバッグ（ポーチ）の中で、これが付いていれば「本日の利他バッグ」と分かるようにね。
心にRita嬢を。
with Ms Rita in my heart.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Apparently, altruism is good.
Give, give, give cubed, accumulating hidden virtue... seems to be the secret to good fortune.
Both past and present, I'm an extremely worldly adult. When I was young, I worked part-time at a gambling den, squandered money on fashion, entered the workforce, became a merchant like most adults, drank alcohol, and now, while I'm trying to quit smoking, what does a middle-aged adult do?
It's probably not a big deal to do on a daily basis, but when I do, I feel like I've done something useful.
So, I thought it would be nice to have a bag or pouch to store altruistic items in at any time, and that's how I came up with the idea for the "altruistic bag" (just like that).
It doesn't really matter if it's a Muji clear case, a pouch from a 100-yen shop, or a supermarket plastic bag, but worldly adults probably have brand-name bags or pouches that are proof of their wastefulness in their youth, a badge of honor, so I thought it would be okay to use one of those. It'd also get me excited.
For now, I've come up with the following items to put in my altruism bag:
- Spare mask (there are times when you need one)
- Band-aids (the more durable the better)
- Heat packs or cooling pads (I see people getting sick from the heat in the middle of winter and summer)
- Throat lozenges (a lot of middle-aged people have trouble speaking because of the dryness in the room lol)
- Money change (I'll need it for change at parties, or to avoid burdening the stores I shop at)
- Advance money (I can use it whenever someone asks me to buy something)
- Donations to local volunteer groups
I've come up with these. Of course, I can give or lend it to others, but I can also use it when I'm in trouble.
Money change and advance money are used when elderly acquaintances ask me for favors, so I use them in cash. And they're often people I've helped with work like this. I don't want to be ungrateful, so I'll just give them to them.
Well, in this cashless age, it's rare to carry cash around unless you're making a conscious effort.
If you do something at this level, the person being helped won't feel embarrassed, but if it's too extravagant, the person doing the helping will want to brag, and it won't be considered a hidden good deed.
When I do a favor for an elderly acquaintance, I usually use cash for exchange or advances. That's when I use it, too. And it's often someone I've helped with a job like this. I don't want to be ungrateful, so I just give it to them.
Well, we live in a cashless age, so people don't carry cash around unless they're conscious of it.
So, if it's this level of favor, the person being helped won't feel embarrassed, but if it's too extravagant, the person who did it will want to brag, and it won't be considered a hidden good deed.
Also, once you've been an adult for a while, you'll have a couple of things you feel guilty about. It's like an indulgence for them.
A favor I haven't been able to repay.
A favor I received from someone who was generously forgiven for things I shouldn't have done.
Also, if you win at gambling, donate a percentage of it somewhere.
(I really felt the power of alcohol when I went to the bicycle races at midnight while drinking, and transferred all of my winnings to a local volunteer group. It was only about 4,000 yen, though.)
I want to create something eye-catching. Among the many bags (pouches) that people have, if they see this, they'll know it's "Today's Rita Bag."
With Ms. Rita in my heart.