The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Time Versus Money

by Dessa Rodeffer
Quill Editor/Publisher

6 October 1999

What ever happened to time? We all know there was a lot more of it back when.

Our fathers and mothers walked five to ten miles to school every day, and had the time to do it. But today, most of us do not have time to walk. And most of our athletic children do not have time to walk to school, either.

The once-a-week boys ball games have turned into several games a week for both boys and girls teams.

On addition to homework and extra activities, students often have part time jobs in town, and out of town, to gain them some money.

In most families, both parents are working.

In most families, dads have had to take on more responsibilities at home since mom is working. It becomes a dual affair of running after the kids, buying the groceries, even cooking the meals.

But something is lacking, and it seems it is "time."

Time with the family, with the church, and especially with the community. It seems that volunteers are hard to find these days, and for legitimate reasons.

It's not anything we working women and men want to ignore, but where do we find the time?

Several lately, have talked about the lack of volunteers needed for various jobs.

Most recent on my mind is Tom Edmonds at the recycling plant in Stronghurst.

It seems that Tom set out in good faith to do his part in volunteering for the city.

He offered to manage the recycling efforts for Stronghurst and the county in order to save himself and other taxpayers a bundle of tax money.

It was figured, he said, that if recycling was not done as mandated by the state, then the county would be forced to hire a professional such as Pack-A-Way or Blue Bag, at a very expensive cost.

This would add an average of $500 to property owners' Real Estate tax bill each year, he said, plus local expenses of the towns would have to be passed on to each resident to recover their costs.

But Edmonds can not find any volunteers to help him. There have been a few assigned through the courts on probation, and such, but not enough to help out in any significant way.

Edmonds is falling behind in his farm work, because of his commitment to the community and to all the residents of Henderson County.

He is unhappy with the lack of support in volunteers which he initially felt would be helping him.

His long hours of volunteering is costing him money at home, and it is beginning to look like he is losing ground with his efforts to save money.

Time vs. Money....which is more important? Should Tom call it quits and prepare to pay $500 or more in taxes a year? Would he be able to make it up in fewer hours?

How about the rest of us? Can we afford higher taxes plus a monthly recycling bill? Would it be a lot more cost efficient for us to give up some time each month, say 2 to 4 hours?

What do you think? It's our time, or our money.