Monday, August 18, 2014

Why I Did the ALS Challenge

If you've been on the Internet in the last week at all, I'm sure you've noticed the sudden influx of videos of people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads.  And I'm sure you've noticed the backlash.  Because nothing can happen on the Internet without there being an enormous backlash of some sort.  (And I can't do anything without thinking about it for ages and without writing about it.)

I was kind of dreading being tagged to do this challenge, for so many reasons.  When the challenge started, it seemed kind of funny and cool.  I originally saw it being posted as "Dump a bucket of ice water on your head and donate $10 to any charity, or don't dump the bucket and donate $100."  Now, I typically see "Dump as much ice water on your head as possible in the most creative way as possible."

I felt like it lost it's original purpose as it became a trend, and I tend to balk from trends.  I didn't understand where the donation part went.  I didn't want to be part of something that was trendy just for being trendy.  So I did what I do when confronted with a dilemma: I read.  A lot.  I read a lot of articles, both for and against the challenge.  (For your own amusement, here's one against it-- though the author changed his mind slightly later-- and here's one for it.)  I read up on ALS.  Prior to this, I didn't even know what ALS stood for.  I only knew (vaguely) what it was because of Steve Gleason.  At least I now know that it stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and have a more general understanding of what the disease does.

And then I thought for a good long while about why I didn't want to do the challenge:
  • It was trendy.  I don't typically like being part of trends.
  • The donation is the most important part of this, and people seem to be forgetting that.
  • I would be judged by my friends who are against it.
  • I would be seen as a follower, even by people who are for it.
And then I thought for a good long while about why it might be a good reason to do it:
  • Say what you will, but enough people dumping a bucket of anything on their head will raise awareness for any cause.
  • It worked: the trend brought ALS to my attention and caused me to do research and learn new things.  It also inspired me to donate whereas I probably wouldn't have before.
  • The call to donate is greater than the call to dump a bucket of ice water on myself.  But $100 is not in my budget at the moment.  $10 certainly is, and I can do better than that, so why not do a fun combination of donating and the challenge?
  • Wait, wasn't one of my main reasons not to do this was my fear of being judged?  Slow your roll with your pride and vanity there, Erica.  That's as good a reason as any to do it.  Lighten up.  Dump some water on your head and don't be poised about it.  Geez.
  • Be swept up with something for once.  And don't care what anyone else thinks.

There are so many conflicting opinions, about everything, not just this.  I do so much research about things that I often don't form any solid opinion, because I see both sides clearly and don't prefer one over the other.  What's worse, though, is that as a result and without a solid opinion, I simply don't do anything.  It's not so much because of apathy, but because I don't want to offend someone.  That's the worst thing to me.  I don't want to offend anyone, so I don't get involved.

So this time, I got involved.  I dumped water on my head, which I personally think won't do anything, but maybe it will convince someone else to do it and thus donate.  Hopefully this sudden flurry of donations headed towards ALS research will have an impact.  I simply wonder what trend will strike next, and how I-- and the Internet-- will react to it.