Drinking at LPA Events

[Guest guest]

This is subject seems to be a typical non-important subject that

people in LPA get tied up in.

First, this organization (LPA) is no different than any other

convention/organization that enlists the services of hotels,

restaurant's and many local business to provide there members with

all the amenities as everyone else enjoys. It is the hotel/

restaurant's responsibility to observe state laws when it comes to

serving minors. If you want to take the subject of big brother

shouldering everyone's personal responsibility to another level then

the LPA should not have any conventions in hotels that allow smoking

rooms. After all I'm sure there are underage smokers and I'm sure

and that would be another topic for weeks of discussion.

Second, if you eliminate or restrict something you will end up in a

worse situation than if you monitor and allow. History is case in

point (prohibition) The illegal act made it more appealing and

people who wouldn't have normally participated did and it was

unregulated and uncontrolled. via vie (out of control)

Maybe this organization should spend more time concerning itself

with issues that really matter for the greater good such as focusing

on health issues, employment options and education possibilities. I

know that LPA does a much on health issues but when it comes to

providing employment help and educational help it is in the stone

age. People pay $30 a year LPA dues and get a magazine full of

social activities of members with little information that people can

use in practical everyday life. How about a magazine like AARP, it

focuses on issues related to it's members not on there social lives.

If anyone is offended by my editorial then they truly don't

understand my point. If you understand my point please don't let a

minute pass without voicing your own opinion.

LPA should be considered a social organization more than a general

organization for Little People. If we had an organization such as

AARP in our corner I would pay double $30 a year to be a member

since they truly are the voice of the members. They are herd from

Washington DC to your local state capital and it's members are just

as capable of voting and having there voice herd as we(Little

People) are. The focus should be on what LPA can do for it's

members besides be a social event organizer.

[Guest guest]

Mark, are you, or have you been a member of LPA?

Because your response really sounds like someone who is not a member, and is

making a judgment about the organization without having all the facts.

Comparing LPA to the AARP is ludicrous. Apples to Oranges.

To qualify for the AARP, you have to be over 50. How many people in the US

qualify by this criteria? Millions? I bet at least a 100 million.

To qualify for LPA, you have to have a genetic form of dwarfism. Here we are

talking, who knows? 20,000 - 40,000?

According to their website, the AARP has 35 million members. By contrast, there

are roughly 10,000 in the LPA database. The AARP is larger than LPA by a factor

of at least 3500.

Sure, if we (LPA) had that kind of membership, then perhaps we could have a

permanent office on Capital Hill with a 1000 lobbyists; our own employment

division; a full-time paid staff with our own office building; a million-dollar

PR machine; and a budget in excess of 100 million dollars per year, etc. It sure

would be nice.

But given the rarity of dwarfism in society, the limited resources LPA has, and

the fact that 99.9 percent of all work done in LPA is by volunteers, I think we

do a DAMN GOOD job of supporting little people. We have one of the best medical

advisory boards of any non-profit health-related organization. We have a

tremendous grass roots commitment to reaching out to new members. And our PR

capabilities have drastically improved over the past few years. In addition, the

social aspect of LPA is critical (where else could I dance eye-to-eye with a

beautiful woman, or compete on a level playing field in athletic events?)

Plus, unlike the AARP, LPA must deal with all aspects of dwarfism: physical,

psychological, sociological, political and even spiritual. All the AARP focuses

on is age-discrimination and employment.

So, I for one, take offense at your disregard for LPA. It has been a very vital

and important part of my life, and I am one of the many volunteers who has

dedicated money and time into serving this organization. LPA has made

tremendous accomplishments on behalf of little people, and YOU reap the rewards

of those accomplishments, whether or not you are a member.

You don't have to join us, but please don't disrespect us.

Bill Bradford

LPA Life Member

[Guest guest]

Mark --

I am going to interject my personal opinion here, but so that you know where

I am coming from, I work a lot with people who happen to be AARP members.

Also, AARP's primary interest is insurance. At root, it's an insurance

company. That's why they supported the Medicare bill. AARP pissed off a LOT

of people by supporting that bill, but it saves them some money.

> If you are offended by my opinion then I guess that is a personal issue.

My point was not to compare AARP to LPA on equal ground but only as what

they do for there members. And to correct you AARP does much the same for

it's members, senior people have the same needs as anyone else, they want to

meet, interact and exchange information with others like themselves and yet

they have medical and social issues that need to be addressed.

Oh, like the prescription drug benefit? Lemme tell you something. The

capacity in which I work with elderly Americans is as a billing

representative for a home healthcare provider. I'm here to tell you, the

prescription drug benefit was a solution in search of a problem. Seniors who

are really in such dire straits that they have to choose between food and

medicine do have multiple options, if they choose to seek them out. AARP's

clientele is significantly comprised of people choosing between medicine and

a vacation.

> I had been a member of LPA for over 12 years and came to this conclusion

of finding little useful information and little need for being a member. I

agree that social interaction and being able to meet and compete with your

peers is important and in an all 5 foot and above world that can be a

challenge so LPA does do a great job in championing social events, athletic

competition and health issues but that is exactly the point I stated in my

posting. I know for a fact that the REAL world for almost everyone on the

planet doesn't revolve around regional conventions and national conventions

that happen every year or every few months and if that is what LPA is all

about then fine my point has been made twice.

No one is saying that the world " revolves " around those things. But it's

nice to have a week in a dwarf-sized world. If I enjoy it, what's it to you?

> Health issues that LPA is involved in may in fact be top notch but in my

opinion the organization needs to take a much more broader look at all

issues that involve it's members.

Let's see ... like attempting to rectify ignorance in the general

population? Done. Information-sharing among members? Done. Advocacy? Done.

(Matt Roloff has personally interceded on my behalf over an accommodation

issue.) Discrimination? Done. Just because we're not on television every

month doesn't mean these things aren't happening.

> I've been to LPA functions and in MY judgment nearly everyone there was

sitting around belling aching about how they are left out and how they are

looked down at and how the MAN is screwing them.

By and large, I would say you are attending different functions than I am.

But that said, what is wrong with venting among people who REALLY

understand, rather than people who nod their heads sympathetically and don't

have the first clue what challenges we really face.

Well that may in fact be true in many cases but for the most part the ones

crying the loudest want to sit around all day instead of trying to gain an

education to better themselves

This is an awfully broad statement, wouldn't you say? And would you like to

back it up with evidence other than that of the one person you met at the

last LPA meeting?

or they spent more time on subjects like the ones posted here... what next

" Let's talk about the color of the drapes at the next LPA convention " ?

Right. What is being discussed here? Hmm ... the current administration, the

upcoming election, the future direction of LPA, proposed LPA policies, even

some " relaxed " topics of conversation like gas prices. What, you don't

compare gas prices with anyone you know who lives in other parts of the

country?

> I understand your opinion and respect your position and trust me I don't

think LPA is bad, just needs to be honest or else focus it's efforts a

little more in REAL life issues not just the micro-issues that I've seen and

heard.

See above. Just because we aren't talking about the latest bill on the floor

of Congress doesn't mean we aren't interested in those issues.

> Again I restate my early point, I didn't compare AARP and LPA on equal

ground, just as an example of what could be done.

And, as Bill pointed out, we do not have the membership, the resources, the

agenda, or the political weight of the AARP, so it's NOT fair to say, " This

is what we could do. "

> If almost all the work is done by volunteers then maybe it's time to start

thinking big and getting up to speed with the rest of the world. Raise dues

Uh huh. Raise dues to what? Many of our members are already struggling with

the membership fee. Would you have us leave them behind?

Your solutions are great. Now come up with some practical ones.

[Guest guest]

Mark,

Your comments especially the one below is rather ignorant.

You can't blame a few apples for the whole bunch. While I feel education is

important I feel one in life has to more than just education going for them.

That is just one piece of Life's Pie. I have a friend who is 'educated' but

when it comes to the facts of life, etc., she is uneducated and she misses

out on a lot of things.

Speaking for myself when I talk to relatives, friends, co-workers, neighbors

I talk to them about a smorgasbord of topics not just one particular topic

which would get boring. In life when we talk about other things and communicate

with other people we are experiencing what life is truly about. I for one

hate drapes they are so dreary and don't let the light shine through like

curtains I guess I wouldn't make a good Martha since I think she prefers

drapes, oh well. ;-)

By the way I have stated my opinion about Drinking at LPA Events and feel it

would benefit not just the Adult LP's but other LP's as well since it is nice

to have activities for the whole bunch, Children, Teens, and of course for the

Adults. I'm a type of person who likes diversity in her life. I'm not the

type of person who would make a good production worker like being Lucy

's character from I Love Lucy and standing on a production line packaging

candy

that would bore me to death! I do love Lucy though and thought that episode

was one of the funniest.

Helen

In a message dated 5/7/04 12:01:47 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

packersmark@... writes:

> I've been to LPA functions and in MY judgment nearly everyone there was

> sitting around belling aching about how they are left out and how they are

> looked down at and how the MAN is screwing them. Well that may in fact be

true in

> many cases but for the most part the ones crying the loudest want to sit

> around all day instead of trying to gain an education to better themselves or

> they spent more time on subjects like the ones posted here... what next " Let's

> talk about the color of the drapes at the next LPA convention " ?

>