March 30, 2025

Dear Elon –

It has been a wild week! So many great opportunities to do good. It seems as if they are multiplying exponentially! And, who do we have to thank for this abundance of places to put our energy, our money and our enthusiasm? You! I know I speak for many when I say you have inspired us to be dynamos of good work. Just seeing your picture in the paper, or a clip on TV, sends me running to my checkbook or to speed dial congress.  

But before I list my 5 things for the week, I have a suggestion. It’s about your speech impediment. You must be self-conscious about your starts and stops and general inarticulate way of expressing yourself. It is critical that all who hear you really understand what you are saying. Dare I say, our lives depend on it! A friend has benefited by joining Toastmasters. I’m sure there’s one near you, and I think you would enjoy working on your speech problems in a group of sympathetic companions. And when I saw their 4 principles — integrity, respect, service, and excellence — on their website, I knew it was just where you belonged.

I hope I haven’t offended you. I know your ego is a little fragile, but after these weeks of correspondence surely we can be honest with each other. I would be thrilled to hear any suggestions you have for me.

Now – sorry to make you wait! – here are the “5 things I did last week.”

1. Banned books: I bought three of my favorites to send to send to a library in another state, since my state doesn’t ban books. The authors are J.D. Salinger, Toni Morrison, and Roald Dahl. Can you believe that “James and the Giant Peach” is a banned book? Could it be some strange fear of fruit?
2. World Central Kitchen: When I heard about that terrible earthquake in Myanmar, I immediately thought of World Central Kitchen. Chef José Andrés and his crew show up all over the world when there is a disaster, and sure enough they are already there feeding people. I donated and bought a few supplies for them, especially now that the government seems to be out of the “helping others business.” Such a foolish decision, don’t you agree?
3. AFSA: And since I had my checkbook out, I wrote a check to the American Foreign Service Association, the group that is fighting for our foreign service workers – USAID and others – who do so much throughout the world, feeding starving children, vaccinating, responding to natural disasters, supporting local health and social service efforts, helping preserve the environment, and generally being good neighbors. Excuse the digression, but speaking of good neighbors, I’m a big Mr. Rogers fan. Maybe growing up in South Africa you didn’t see his TV show. He taught kids how to be kind, generous, helpful adults. A shame you missed him.
4. Call congress:  I use (202) 225-3121 for the House and (202) 224-3121 for the Senate. I’m thinking there are so many calls coming in that they probably need to hire more operators….maybe some of the fired federal employees could get jobs there. I like to think all of us callers are invigorating the job market.
5. “5-things-I-did” gathering. Fifteen of us got together to write postcards, and share ideas for things to do. It was very fun. Snacks were plentiful. Wine flowed. Wished you could have been there.

OK, I’ve taken enough of your time. You have really changed my life, Elon. I feel empowered, as they say. I think I could lead a revolution!

Have a nice day,

Lucy