A Dark Comedy masquerading as a Charity.

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Last night was an event that I could not help but laugh at, in slight dismay, because of the caricatures of dignitaries and actors who came out on display. There were no less than 4 congressmen, a former governor, an ambassador, some actors and a movie director that I never heard of; except for the governor and one congresswoman.

It was an American middle eastern charity event to raise money for the recent flood victims of which 1600 died and over 20 million dislocated. Tables were going for $25,000. My husband's company does business in that country and he was asked to speak. The businessman and organizer is a down to earth, good heart-ed man that my husband knows well.  I am sure he started the ball rolling on this charity but
it definitely is the making of a Dark comedy.

Action!  Roll 'm

My husband is on the speaker's list, but the person who put the list together probably never heard of my husband's company so they gave him the title of his boss from the parent company. A television reporter is doing interviews for a news station and my husband runs around hunting down reporters and announcers to make sure they do not address him, as the boss of the entire  company.

Maybe it's a cultural thing to exaggerate.

The first thing that strikes me as extravagant is all the food. Ramadan brings all the very hungry Muslims to the evening appetizer table before we enter the dining room.
It is two buffet lines of fried vegetables and meats for a full meal, but this is only the appetizer.  When we enter the dining room there are 10 medium bowls of different spicy vegetables and a large basket of flavorful breads. I am thinking this is a dinner with tapas style proportions; but the servers do not stop here. They continue to bring out more plates of food and desserts as the guests drop open their mouths  in view of the astonishing amount of food streaming through and to all the tables. We know we cannot eat another bite, it appears; however, the eyes are bigger than the stomach; or so it appears before we finish our meal.

This is a Charity for starving people?

A very young middle eastern actress is asked to present the 10 or more speakers for the evening; but before her entrance, someone of her B rated importance also needs an introduction. Who would be more fitting to introduce a relatively unknown middle eastern actress than an Anglo-Saxon woman.  Upon taking the podium, the actress states loudly to the mostly middle eastern crowd that her presenter " obviously doesn't know my name."  For that matter, neither do we, being, also Anglo-Saxon.

She directs our attention to a screen that starts out with a one minute plea from our favorite voluptuous, tantalizing pink lips ( not those lips) crusader, Angelina Jolie.   As if,  a film of drowning and dead children in flood waters isn't attention-getting enough.
After our slightly one minute, opening teaser from Jolie, the two large screens flash slides of  incredible devastation of the flood waters and the human desire to survive through all the mud and debris. People are hanging onto their children, pulling them out of the water while dead bodies go floating by.

Should we stop eating?
No. It's not as if they are in the room with us.

The actress's voice changes from a normal even-tone; and probably wanting to demonstrate her acting talents, she resounds the theme of the evening, with her middle eastern accented, high, off- pitch sounds of a dying cat. From empathizing with the plight of the hungry children; she went straight into an exuberant, giggling, promotional for her upcoming film in October. Look for it in cinemas near you.

You can tell it's an election year because every district congressman is on hand to talk about everything but the starving children. Congresswoman Maxine Waters
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rep-maxine-waters-denies-house-ethics-charges-complicated/story?id=11443279 who is under investigation, spends 30 minutes reading off the entire list of speakers and thanking everyone for coming. Clearly she thinks this charity is for her Legal Defense Fund. Her comic grandstanding brings a burst of laughter from our table from which she directs her attention to say,
 " I know you are laughing at me....and not listening to anything I am saying...."
which brings more laughter because we are listening to what she is saying and still waiting for her to mention the flood victims; as she continues on thanking the sheriff, the congressmen and the list goes on....
The auctioneers are trying to impress the "little people" to give more money.....
    ...."What's wrong with you people? Why don't you want to buy a ride in a Roll Royce to any restaurant you want ? Just bid $3,000. It's going to feed starving people. The little children who are dying. This ride would cost at least $2,000.  No!  $5,000!!!  Why isn't anyone from that side of the room bidding?
Being in California, I want to ask if that ride includes driving to New York City since he said any restaurant.   
    ...."I can see that some of you women are wearing Gucci shoes and I know your husbands can afford to give more money. You men should donate money equal to what your wives are wearing on their feet.

I look down at my $35 Stein Mart shoes from which the shoes next to mine, I am told only cost $10.
  "Wow! What a deal! Where did you buy those?" 

As the evening wears on, the auctioneers yell out for more money to feed the poor and hungry children in a far away country that is being washed away. I see their little hands reaching out through the
large projection screens to the table of uneaten food lying before me.

"May I have a doggie bag, please?"