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Dear PD Digest: In reading the above edition of Parkinson's Digest, I came across a posting in which the above-mentioned person offers (if I've read it correctly; please forgive me if I've misunderstood) to donate $100 to the "Parkson Action Network" (sic) IF anyone on this Listserv can solve three riddles -- i.e., attach to three given quotations to the correct names of the speakers. I must say that while I feel that donating money to the cause of finding a cure or effective palliatives for Parkinson's is certainly important and welcome, I take offense at what appears to me to be an insensitivity conveyed by the above-mentioned posting vis-a-vis (a) the feelings of persons afflicted with PD, (b) the feelings of their care-givers, and (c) the desperate need for funds & other support for research into controlling and eliminating this terrible affliction. Although, in the "real world", the motivating-force behind the providing of resources to conquer PD may originate either with, among other things, a compassionate heart, a desire to reap heightened professional recognition, or, in some of the corporate world, a desire to maximize financial profit, I personally believe that an offer of "help" (even *assuming* that the offer is geniune) in any form should NOT be contorted into a "GAME" -- and a "teasing" form of game, at that. The form of "game" conveyed in the PD-posting -- i.e., to paraphrase my recollection of it, "Guess who said these 3 items, and I'll donate $100 to a PD-cause" -- is, I think, highly insensitive to we who either are afflicted with PD or care for someone close to us who has PD. This form of "game", it seems to me, is akin to a doctor standing at a patient's bedside and telling the patient (who may be suffering terribly, both physiologically and emotionally), "If you can just solve these three riddles, I'll give you some medication that may help you feel better". Worse, the doctor is then adding, "But you must solve these 3 riddles by the date of _____, or I won't offer you this medication at all!" On top of that, it seems to me that to make the donation of support CONTINGENT on sufferers solving a set of whimsical riddles DEMEANS the seriousness and deep importance -- (a) of the urgent need to conquer this disease, (b) of the need to provide solace and support for care-givers and those who have PD, and (c) of the need to effectively persuade all those persons and organizations (Congress included!) who can possibly help in the eradication of PD that this NOT a flippant issue, and is NOT to be lightly dismissed or "put on the back burner", and that the war to conquer PD MUST be attended to in all haste and diligence and WON. Having said the above, I must grant the possibility that I have simply misinterpreted what M. Severance was trying to represent in his posting. Perhaps, I grant, it was all meant as an effort to spread some light-heartedness around -- which is an enviable goal -- and to do some good at the same time -- also an admirable goal. And if I've misunderstood what was conveyed in the above-mentioend posting, I apologize. However, may I suggest that if someone has a TRUE desire to help fight this battle to end PD, and wishes TRULY to contribute funds or resources toward that goal, then please just CONTRIBUTE it -- and perhaps feel the grandeur of spirit that doing it THAT WAY can bring to the heart and soul. -- SJS (caregiver) 12/15/96 *************************************************************************