I just received an email from Jon Carson, National Field Director of Obama for America. The opening line:

“Bree --

I've never asked you to make a donation before.”

Well, Jon, I hate to be the one to say it, but that’s just not true. You’ve asked me many times to make a donation. I get emails from all manner of people—you included—asking me to make a donation. The first time I went to Barackobama.com, I was asked to make a donation. Every subsequent time I’ve been to the site, I’m asked to make a donation.  Sometimes I wonder if “Change we can believe in” should be translated to “Change we can retrieve in…your donation.”

It’s not that I don’t believe my donation is valuable. In fact at this point, I’m fairly convinced it’s invaluable, as much as they’re needling me for it. I just find it a little vexing that, once I finally succumbed to peer pressure and did give a donation, they started rewarding donors with free T-shirts…the next day. The moral of this story: give money too early, you get a thank you email and a warm feeling inside. Hold out for a while, and you get free merchandise that actually keeps you, like, warm.

I don’t hold it against Jon. I like his friendly emails, and for the most part, I believe his message.

“Every day I see firsthand how much more we could do,” he says, “and how far your donation will go.”

I understand what Jon is trying to say. But however far my donation may go, it’s going to come right back at me in the form of another email, asking for another donation.

It’s better than a boomerang.