I know diamond merchants have to make a living.

I know the manufacturers of luxury cars and condos in Aspen need to put a filet on the table.

But as Mother’s Day (Father’s Day, President’s Day or the early July 4 sale) approaches, I resent the TV and radio advertisements working away at a desperate psyche to induce people to buy things that will give people the illusion they’re living the life they wanted to live.

Diamonds like a raindrop on a white gold chain. A vacation in the Bahamas to get away from all that bedevils your worried mind (Will you keep your house? Will your kids grow up to be able to go to college? Will it be fun being a vegan?).

I don’t expect the wicked desperation of those who market to diminish because as the people who were living from paycheck to paycheck no longer have a paycheck to live on. But the manipulation is particularly crass as Wall Street fat cats float gracefully to the ground on multi-million dollar parachutes, landing softly as the institutions they drove into the ground crumble.

Now, anyone who has looked at my website lately (www.jackiemitchard.com) could accuse me of something similar. I’m taking 15 people to the remote islands of Fiji in May, on a humanitarian cruise for readers and writers (you still could be one of them). The key word here is “humanitarian.” While we’ll travel in comfort aboard the motor sailing vessel TuiTai, which does have a spa, a SCUBA operation, kayaks and drinks with little umbrellas, we’ll be bringing books, medicine, attention, paint and tutoring to children. These children have never seen a TV, listened to an iPod or even watched a movie. We’ll paint the walls of libraries or take an oral history from an elder in a culture that never set down its fascinating history.

That service component makes most of the trip tax-deductible. It’s not a dodge. It’s not a scheme. It’s combining travel with a service – volunteer vacations.

If I ruled the world, everyone who went to a place that veterans say is “just fine so long as you stay at the resort” would have to leave the resort for a day and pass out two dollars to every person he or she meets.

And yes, of course, the cruise is for people who can afford it but I wish it were for people who want to go but can’t afford it. I wish businesses around the state would sponsor a couple of nurses and reading teachers to come along, who would really dig in and make some change. That would be a gift worth having.

With all that said, this cruise costs about the same as a little diamond on a chain. But it will leave a lasting memory – the ineradicable joy of feeling good while doing good.