Hoo-Boy... "And the Gringos Eat Their Young"

What the hell is wrong with people? Stuart Jackson started an organization called "Charity Expat Socials" with the idea of having a get-together with a bunch of people, pay a $10 entry fee, and then all of the money or profit from the event gets donated to some nuns who run an orphanage. What's wrong with that? The problem is that there have been several groups called "Ex-Pat Socials" that have formed over the past few years, and there has always been some degree of political infighting over the way they are managed. Basically it all comes down to conflicts in personalities between the organizers. When the groups started getting larger then (obviously) there was more money involved, so there were suspicions that people were getting kickbacks for bringing in business and filling the restaurant on what would normally have been a very slow night. Normally for me that would fall into the "who cares" category because it's just business. But now it seems like this is just a conflict of personalities. (more)

Crap. The Entire Morning Wasted: See what happens when I let myself get sucked into this kind of stuff. The day is half gone and I'm no closer to taking over the planet than I was at 8:00 am. Anyway, this morning Stuart Jackson from GSL Real Estate posted the following to several Yahoo! Email groups:

• I was advised by a very educated man here in Panama that maybe it was not a good idea to start the Charity Ex-pat Socials because `never a good deed goes unpunished'. Thanks for the advice Don, I thought that perhaps because it was charity, people would realize that it was all for a good cause without anyone making a profit.
  
  
• Of course, as often happens, it would now appear that people don't like it when the limelight is taken away from them and their wrong doing is brought into the open. The only negative response to the fund raising night for San Jose Malambo Orphanage has come from Laura Alexander of the Ex-pat Explorers.
  
  
• Laura Alexander has posted a message to all of her email group, `The Ex-pat Explorers', stating that she is unaware of who we are and whether or not we are genuine. She also states that we should have asked for permission to use the name `Ex-Pat Socials' in our URL, unbelievable!! Laura Alexander does not have any control of Ex-pat Socials and needs the permission of Hall Hunter to send the emails for her group `Ex-pat Explorers' to the ACTUAL Ex-pat Socials group.
  
  
• She has never had control of any email addresses because this access was taken from her when she tried to `Railroad' Kookie Kahn into complying with her request to make the socials a profit making business. Laura Alexander was not around when the `Ex-pat Socials' were started, but was left to take them over because no-one was able to work with her attention seeking personality. There is no confusion as mentioned in the email of Ms Alexander. Everyone who attended was fully aware that the event had nothing to do with her Explorers group and was there to show support for a good cause.
  
  
• Well, to put the record straight we told Hall Hunter, the only person on the Ex-pat Socials committee who has been there from the start, about this project in December 2006 and got his blessings to go forward with it, as you would expect from any decent human being.
  
  
• Hall and Jan Hunter, who started the Ex-pats with other friends in August 2004 have always been first in line when it comes to giving to charities.
  
  
• Further to this Ms Alexander also posted our charity event on her bi-monthly update one week before it happened, so why would she do that if she thought it was underhanded and didn't know if it was genuine. We were of course grateful for this because we managed to make a few more people aware of the event and raised more for the orphanage. It was decided to hold the event on the 29th January so that it did not interfere with any other Ex-pat events. This was simply to try and get as many people there as possible.
  
  
• Mary Sloane, who is one of the respected members of the Ex-pat Explorers committee, actually turned up on the night of the charity event and made a donation. She was fully aware of who had organized it and saw the money being accepted for the orphanage. She also saw the two nuns from the San Jose Malambo Orphanage there to accept ALL of the donations made. I note that Ms Alexander was not there on the night to make any kind of donation and has not forwarded one since that time either. There were 78 people at the event and we raised $930.00 plus gifts of children's clothing and feeding bottles. The Ex-pats in Panama have always spoken about helping local charities and that is simply all we are now doing. Some have bought books and will travel there this week to start teaching the children English.
  
  
• Other people have offered to teach basketball and swimming at the orphanage, to travel and help with the setting up of computers for the children, take them out on days to the beach, cinema etc.
  
  
• There is no-one listed as `in charge or the boss' on the web site for the charity group because it is not just the idea of one person.
  
  
• Many people have helped with this fund raising effort and no-one person is seeking any kind of glory. The web site is www.charityexpatsocials.com if anyone wishes more information on how to help the orphanages. The people who helped to put this event together, just in case anyone needs a name, are Mike and Linda from City Grill, Steve Heintz, Lynda and Stuart Greatbanks, Ilda Rodriguez just to name a few. Since the event happened we have had many requests for information on the next event, because everyone felt it was an enjoyable evening and all for a good cause. The next event will be in the last week of February and the date and location will be announced on the web site.

I Told 'Ya, Stuart... Stuart told me about his plan back in December 2006 and I told him he would take some heat for trying to do a good thing. In any case, I'm going to do anything and everything I can to help this organization out, becuase it is a community group that's coming together to do some charity work and to help an orphanage, and no one is making money from it. Now, with that having been said, I have a long tradition of "advertising" or helping to promote every community group, the Elks, AMSOC, Navy League, Expat Socials, missionaries, and anyone else who's doing good things and bringing people together. And, I will continue to do exactly that.

And Here's the 'What The Hell' Part: The people moving to Panama have one thing in common - the English language. We come from all over the globe and have a full and complete range of backgrounds, histories, experiences, and life stories. Some personalities will click and become lifelong friends. Some will instantly repel, because that's just the way it is. The point is that there are quite literally thousands of people moving to Panama, and there is more than enough room for "social" events of all shapes, flavors, and sizes, and for any reason. People tend to gather in relatively like-minded groups and so what? As far as I'm concerned, it's all good. What I don't get is why people have to snipe at one another or pull people down. The idea is to help out the next guy, pass on your knowledge and wisdom, help the newly arriving expat find 9-inch pie tins or a can of cranberry sauce, or whatever. Connect, communicate, and celebrate. Life's too short, and this is supposed to be fun.

Deep Respect for Rino, Alberto and the Tamburrelli Family: I've known Rino and Alberto for a long time. And, I know that Laura Alexander and the Expat Socials organization have done several of their events at Rino's and Alberto's restaurants. I explained to Rino what's going on, and here's what he told me:

• "For these events we set up a cash register set up at the door and every person who comes in pays for their own food. The price is usually $12 per person for an 'all you can eat' buffet. The bar and drinks are not included in the price. I can only speak for myself and my restaurant, but I can tell you categorically that Laura Alexander and her organization has never asked for a dime or any kind of a return in favor or a free meal, nothing. As a matter of fact there are a lot of people who organize groups and bring them into the restaurant, and they usually want something in return. In this case, Laura has never asked for or received anything from me for these events. As a matter of fact she usually fights with me to get a better deal, lower price, or better buffet for her participants. I'm going to call my brother Alberto right now and see how he runs things at his restaurant and I'll give you a call back."
  
  
• "I just talked to my brother Alberto, and they run things the same way. There's a cash register set up by the door, and anyone that comes in pays for the buffet right there. They don't sell tickets in advance so there's no exchange of money there. Anyone who wants to order a drink from the bar opens a separate tab that they have to cancel themselves. And, anyone who does not want to eat off of the buffet and would rather order off of the menu runs their own bill. As far as we are concerned, in Rino's and Alberto's we are not paying any kind of commission or any other type of payment to Laura Alexander or anyone else from her organization."

I Accept That at Face Value: As far as I'm concerned, that's all I need to know. If Rino tells me something to be true then I simply accept it. I don't have any reason to think otherwise. And basically, I trust Rino and he falls squarely into my "straight shooter" category of good dudes. In addition, I personally don't care about the infighting for control of the expat social thing, nor do I think it makes any sense to shoot spitballs over the use of a name (like "expat" or "social"). And, the restaurant business is a business, and I think they should make a fair income for a good service. Finally, I'm trying to get as far away from these kind of cat-fights as I can because they are a waste of time.

I'm Starting My Own Social: I'm going to call it the "Dirty Old Horndog Gringos with Money Expat Social" event. Cover charge is $50 per head (excuse the pun), and participants will be seated around a large table. Heterosexual men only, please. The price of admission covers your meal, plus the meal of a lovely young lady who will be seated next to you. The food will be a buffet (mostly pasta, which is cheap) and all the MD 20/20 you can hold. Make no mistakes about it, this is a business venture and I'm only in it for the money. Afterwards there will be a fleet of limos (ok, maybe more like Toyota Tercel Taxis) who will take you and whoever anywhere you want to go. C'ya next time. The pictures will go on the website in the "adult swim" section. From now on you can call me "Pimp Daddy Don" and I just gotta get me one of those gold medallion things and an $80 baseball cap. I bet I can put my kid through college doing this...

Oh Yeah, Back to the Nuns... Sorry, I got distracted. See what happens when I hang out too much with Marty and George? Anyway, you get the point. Folks can get together, talk over chips and beer, meet, make friends, have fun, and the money goes to help orphans. It's a big town, and there are lots of room for all kinds of "socials," expat or otherwise. It's all good.

And This Is the Part I Don't Understand: I just went to the webpage for the "Expats Socials" and saw this announcement: "IMPORTANT NOTICE: Although it has been said "Imitation is the best form of Flattery", the group presenting themselves as "Charity Expat Socials" are NOT affiliated with our Group." Now I'm confused. Is this group affiliated - http://www.pcityexpatsocials.com/? You know, there are a lot of websites using "expat" and "social" out there. Funny how that works, eh? It seems like every time there's an event this thing trans-morphs into something else. If Laura Alexander is making a business out of organizing expats to go on tours or out to lunch or whatever, that's called "being a tour guide" and I wish her good luck.

Whatever: Yes, no good deed ever goes unpunished. Now, I've got to get back to work. All of you old retired guys with nothing to do but shoot cannon balls at the other people in this country who speak the same language can do that for the rest of the day, and good luck with that. Yeesh. Man, we're talking nuns and orphans here. Amazing stuff. I will continue to support any and all social events through free publicity. The only thing I would ask in return is a link on your webpage because traffic keeps food on MY table. In the meantime, I'm putting together my own deal to help the orphans. Details coming soon. And finally, nuns are cool... Cheers.