[speaker001:] [Noise] [TV or radio] So what do you think? Should they, uh, should young Americans be forced to do a year of service?
[speaker002:] I don't, I don't think they should be forced, but I think they should be, I guess, encouraged to, to do some kind of public work, I guess to, just to get them, I guess involved with community maybe, you know, just community activity. If nothing else, see how the city works, stuff like that.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I think something like the Peace Corps is a bit harsh.
[speaker002:] Yeah,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] No kids,
[speaker002:] I [LAUGHTER] kind of, I think so, too. I think that's a bit dramatic, but, but other than that I think it's, it's a good idea to get them involved in city and community activities and, you know, like the, uh, shelters and, uh, [breathing] [lipsmack], that kind of, thing,
[speaker001:] Vol-,
[speaker002:] helping out, uh, volunteering, I guess, if they can.
[speaker001:] Yeah. I think it's a little harsh to say that they should have to spend a year or two.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I, I, I'd force them. I think that, uh, I think it would be, I think mo-, I think a lot of kids actually do a lot of work and no one just realizes it.
[speaker002:] Your right, I do, too, I think they start out young, like in, uh, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts [Noise] [like a video game]
[speaker001:] Right, exactly.
[speaker002:] doing s-,
[speaker001:] I was a, I was a Boy Scout. As part of being a Boy Scout, you had to do, you know, projects all throughout and then to become
[speaker002:] Ex-,
[speaker001:] an Eagle Scout you have to spend a, do a yearlong project.
[speaker002:] Right, that's, see that's what we did in Girl Scouts and that got you involved real good and it, I think it starts kids out on the right track and then it lets them decide if that's what they enjoy doing.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Something,
[speaker001:] I think, I, I, now I think people generally volunteer.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] That there's no problem with getting them to,
[speaker002:] [Throat clearing].
[speaker001:] do stuff.
[speaker002:] I do, too. I think, I think a lot of people, a lot more people volunteer than, than, uh, than we, than get credit for it as, you know, like in hospitals and, uh, and the shelters and stuff like that. [Sniffing] And even if it is a couple times a year like at the holidays, I mean at least they're getting out and doing it and [throat clearing] you know, helping, helping out. I think that's good and,
[speaker001:] Well, we have a funny commercial around here. It says something like, if people were to give five,
[speaker002:] [Sniffing].
[speaker001:] hours a week or five percent of their salary,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] we could, they could solve all the world's problems or something.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] So,
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah.
[speaker001:] I guess if we all give five hours a week or five percent of our salary we could, uh,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] or just, or just gave, or, or, or just forced our kids just to, to, force kids to serve for, uh, parents, I guess.
[speaker002:] Yeah [LAUGHTER]. There you go.
[speaker001:] Substitute. My, my,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] yeah, my kid will do four or five hours this week for me. No problem.
[speaker002:] Yeah, it sounds pretty good [LAUGHTER]. That sounds good. I've noticed a lot of, uh, [throat clearing], different organizations in our community, uh, pick up, like on the highway and stuff, and I think that's pretty neat. They, uh, go along and have so many miles I guess of highway to take over
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and they clean it up.
[speaker001:] I've seen that. Yeah.
[speaker002:] And keep it clean. I think that's I pretty good idea. And I think, you know, again I've seen a lot of young kids doing that and I think it gets them prepared to, to learn how to volunteer as they get older. I know I did, you know, in Girl Scouts and everything and after that in high school I would volunteer at a nursing home and stuff [sniffing] like that [throat clearing].
[speaker001:] They, they,
[speaker002:] So,
[speaker001:] just started trying to get them, something together l-, l-, like, like that around here from, for, from the community because, uh, we had a big ice storm
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] uh, very, very recently. You don't sound like you're in the north. You sound like you're in the south somewhere.
[speaker002:] Yeah, I'm in Texas. Where are you at?
[speaker001:] Yeah, uh, I'm in, uh, New York.
[speaker002:] New York.
[speaker001:] Upstate New York, yeah.
[speaker002:] Oh, gosh.
[speaker001:] And, uh,
[speaker002:] [Sniffing].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [Sniffing] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Long way, uh,
[speaker002:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] And we just had a really big ice storm. And, basically, half the trees in, in our city, I'm in Rochester which is, {F uh
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] right upstate. } Half of the trees in the city, uh, are no good anymore.
[speaker002:] Oh, no.
[speaker001:] [Lipsmack] That's how bad it was. Everything is just down everywhere.
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] You know, we had three hundred thousand people without power.
[speaker002:] Golly.
[speaker001:] You know, it was, and, you know, and, and they, and we didn't have power for a week and there are still people who don't have power.
[speaker002:] Are you serious? [Breath].
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah, it's been, it's been, it's been ten days already and there are still something like ten thousand people without power.
[speaker002:] Oh my God, how do they live?
[speaker001:] and were officially, yeah, and we're officially in a state of emergency. Funny thing is the news, the national news how they covered it. Uh, [lipsmack]
[speaker002:] Yeah. I haven't heard a thing.
[speaker001:] Yeah. I think it made about three minutes on one of the national news stations or something and,
[speaker002:] [Breathing].
[speaker001:] and we've been in a state of emergency for over, you know, for ten or eleven days.
[speaker002:] Lord.
[speaker001:] You know. We just got our phone back today, uh,
[speaker002:] Go-, [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] and, and, they're you know, putting out ads now for people to come volunteer,
[speaker002:] [Throat clearing].
[speaker001:] or to have their organizations come,
[speaker002:] [Throat clearing].
[speaker001:] volunteer to help clean up the streets.
[speaker002:] Well, that's good. That's great.
[speaker001:] Because we have, you know, every-, everywhere that a tree is down people need help and,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] we're all, all, a lot of older folks need help getting,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] their yards cleaned out because they can't afford to pay anyone and they,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] and, and they certainly can't carry it themselves and,
[speaker002:] Right [Sniffing]. *slash error
[speaker001:] So,
[speaker002:] That's one thing we do at our church is, uh, [throat clearing] we have a group called Hearts and Hammers, and we go along and, I'm really not sure how we find the individuals, but we find older people that cannot afford to fix up their homes that n-, desperately need it, and, uh, we go along with all the material and in one day, more or less, go in and say, roof, paint, fix whatever we can.
[speaker001:] Oh, that's great.
[speaker002:] Yeah, and spend a day doing, that's really neat. I mean, it's not a lot because you're just doing a house at a time, but you know, every little bit helps.
[speaker001:] And is that supported by all donations to the church and so forth or,
[speaker002:] Uh, yeah. They, uh, [throat clearing] luckily we have a, a man who owns a building company.
[speaker001:] Oh, so he,
[speaker002:] So he donates a lot, not everything, but a lot of the material. Then what he doesn't donate we just go out and buy.
[speaker001:] That's real nice.
[speaker002:] [Throat clearing] Yeah.
[speaker001:] [Noise].
[speaker002:] And it's not, you know, we don't promote it a lot outside the community because we don't want recognition for it, you know
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] Right.
[speaker002:] so much as, we just want to help people out. So it's real neat.
[speaker001:] That,
[speaker002:] It's,
[speaker001:] that's real good. And I, and I bet it gives you a real good feeling
[speaker002:] Yeah, it's
[speaker001:] to be doing that.
[speaker002:] like I say, it's not a lot, but it helps people. Like this last couple we helped, you know, they were in their eighties and she was bedridden and, I just, you know, just tears your heart out to
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] to see this kind of thing and you know, if you can do any a little bit, it helps, so [sniffing],
[speaker001:] That's, that's, uh, that's real good.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] We had, uh, we had organizations like that in college, you know. We had a community service group in college that had all sorts of different groups and some did like that, some did elderly visits,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] some did, uh, some did, you know, Big Brother, Big Sister, stuff like that. And I'm convinced that, that, that at least twenty-five percent of our school participated in some sort of a, some sort of group. You know,
[speaker002:] Gosh.
[speaker001:] ac-, activity like that.
[speaker002:] That's great. That's a lot.
[speaker001:] You know. Twenty-five, I don't know. Twenty-five percent? [speaker A asks someone else in the room]. Yeah, my wife was big in that [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] That's, that's a lot of kids, though.
[speaker001:] And she thinks, {A yeah, } twenty-five percent. It, it was a small school [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Oh, [LAUGHTER] well,
[speaker001:] But, uh,
[speaker002:] still that's a, you know, that's a good chunk of kids.
[speaker001:] Yeah, but, I mean, a, a, a lot of people would get involved and, you know, because there were all different,
[speaker002:] [Sniffing].
[speaker001:] organizations to do. There was Big Brother, Big Sister,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] they had a yearly auction, they had a dance marathon for charity or, to, to support that,
[speaker002:] [Noise].
[speaker001:] group.
[speaker002:] Yeah. That's neat.
[speaker001:] Such that, you know, lots of people got involved that way.
[speaker002:] That's great.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] That's great. But, uh, like, I'll agree with you, though, I don't think they should have to do a year [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah, no, neither do I.
[speaker002:] [Sniffing].
[speaker001:] I think it should be completely optional and
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] you know.
[speaker002:] I don't think that, some people I don't think have, uh, a year in them to volunteer if you know what I mean. They're not worth it [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah, they're not worth a year. Or some people unfort-, just, just can't even afford it,
[speaker002:] [Noise] [paper unraveling].
[speaker001:] you know, whatever. I mean,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] the Peace Corps doesn't pay very well. You know?
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah, that's true, that's true.
[speaker001:] People get shipped off and then, you know, and then, and then their parents, I have a, uh, a, a friend whose, whose son is in the Peace Corps in Guatemala, or daughter is in the Peace Corps in Guatemala right now.
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] And, you know, he and his wife just went off to visit her and, you know, I know I could never afford to go visit a kid in Guatemala.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I couldn't either.
[speaker001:] You know, so [LAUGHTER],
[speaker002:] I couldn't either.
[speaker001:] so I think, you know, and, and, and the kid's certainly not making much money.
[speaker002:] Right, right.
[speaker001:] So I can see where that, that,
[speaker002:] [Sniffing].
[speaker001:] may be a problem.
[speaker002:] Yeah. I just know one person that's in the Peace Corps and, [throat clearing] I mean, she's a teacher and, and just wanted to do it. She'd been a teacher for a while. Just decided she wanted to do it, so. I mean, I'm grateful for people like that, but,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] I don't see how they can just,
[speaker001:] Just take off a year.
[speaker002:] Yeah, just,
[speaker001:] [Noise].
[speaker002:] pick up and [lipsmack] head on out.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I don't,
[speaker002:] I wish I could do something like that, but [breathing] I can't, so [LAUGHTER],
[speaker001:] Yeah, yeah, well neither can I, so, I, I, I, I, I, I,
[speaker002:] [Sniffing].
[speaker001:] did my service before and I'll do my little community service throughout, but never
[speaker002:] Right, that's the way I am.
[speaker001:] never for a year again.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I know the feeling.
[speaker001:] So, so I guess our vote is no [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] That's right [LAUGHTER]. We're against it [LAUGHTER]. That's right.
[speaker001:] Well, it's been nice talking to you again.
[speaker002:] You, too, and I hope everything works out up there.
[speaker001:] Well, yeah, we're, we're slowly getting everything back together again. You know, it, it's taking time, but
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] everything, you know, we got lucky. We had no damage to our house or anything so,
[speaker002:] Good, good, that's great.
[speaker001:] The rest will just have to come with time.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Well, good luck.
[speaker001:] Well, good luck to you, too.
[speaker002:] Thanks.
[speaker001:] Bye-bye [Noise] [TV or radio].
[speaker002:] Bye [Noise] [like video game].