Meeting the Children of Man: Want and Ignorance
In most happy versions of a Christmas Carol (Muppets, Disney, Scrooged) there is the omission of Christmas Present presenting to Scrooge two waifs of children. (described as " Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility... No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread)
Christmas present informs Scrooge that these are the children of Man. "This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!”
Today, I met these children and it was disheartening and depressing.
My Lyft driver this morning (we'll call her Bea) and I were making small talk and we got to talking about the economy. Bea shared that her daughter had to move back in with her over the summer. The daughter had a good paying job, but then the economy shutdown and the cost of rent and food, made moving back in the only practical thing to do. Bea was quick to say that she was happy to have her daughter and grandson living with her, but she did mention that she and her husband were finally settling down being empty nesters. Bea also shared how her Grandson was struggling with school and dealing with the virtual learning. It was for me a stark reminder that when we say "we're in this together." this is a far different experience for a whole lot of people.
Bea was also quick to point out that though times were tough, other people had it worse. She shared on Saturday that she drove a woman to a food drive. They waited in "a huge line of cars." they drove up and this lady was able to collect a bag of food and two boxes of food that were put in the trunk. Bea shared that she felt so bad for the rider she didn't want to charge her. She said to me "Can you imagine having to take a Lyft to feed your family?" I told her I couldn't, but that it was heartbreaking.
I arrived at work and buried myself in the tasks that needed to get done, the meetings, covering a nomination vote, and otherwise doing my day to day. In the back of my mind though was ever present Bea and her family, and the rider who took a Lyft to the foodbank.
Wednesday is my set driving date for Martha's Table so left early and grabbed a Lyft over to Ward 8. The afternoon driver, (we'll call him Zed) and I chatted about the weather and how much nicer Wednesday was than the past two days. He shared how excited he was. He made more money driving Sunday-Tuesday then he had the past several weeks. He didn't want to drive, but the opportunity to make money was too great. He then talked about how bad the roads were in Virginia and Maryland and how a few times he had slipped and skidded.
Zed related how before the pandemic he had a good paying job working in pest control. The hours were good, the pay was good, and he could do Lyft for extra spending money. As the Pandemic worsened places were canceling their pest control contracts. Zed went from being employed full time to about three days to two days to finally being laid off. No longer was Lyft an extra spending money thing, it was now a way of life. When he first started doing it full time there were lots of bonuses and he made good money. Now, Lyft no longer offered as many inducements and he was struggling every week to make up the money. He shared in a tone of voice that was equal parts depressed and lonely: "At 31 I never thought I would be on food stamps." Zed talked about how difficult it was to buy food, how expensive turkey had gotten and a whole lot of other staples. It was incredibly depressing
This evening for McKenna's Wagon in addition to an amazing meal, we had socks to pass out, some thermals and some blankets. It is hard to describe the difference a new pair of socks can make in a person's life. (If you don't know why socks are a big deal go read this: https://tjos.org//wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Dangers-to-Homeless-without-Socks-7-1-12.pdf )
It is hard to describe emotion of the woman who I gave a blanket to. Part of me wants to describe it as joy, but it's a much more complicated than that, part relief, part letting go of anxiety. She said "My head won't be cold anymore." We gave out a few more then ran out of blankets much to the disappointment of many.
Driving from one service location to the other I crossed in front of Mt. Vernon Square. There was a line out the door waiting for the number of people in the store to go down so others could go in to shop. The line was almost as long as the line of people waiting for food at the second stop. I am not going to begrudge anyone their consumer electronics, but it was for me a stark contrast in the economic divide.
We set up for the second stop and I was still doing the sock distribution. A gentleman from the United Planning Office met up with us and had some extra socks, blankets, hats, and gloves for us to pass out. Though those too went by too fast. We finished up the food service.
Dickens was writing 177 years ago to critique English social and economic situation. Yet, he may as well be writing in 2021. While I was headed home to my nice warm apartment, there was a woman whose head tonight would be as cold, but still needing housing. There are some people who now have new socks, but no way to wash them. There is Bea the grandmother who now cares for her daughter and grandson. There is Zed who has to choose between his personal safety and making money to survive. Then there are the people who did not get a blanket, who did not get socks, who were not able to find food. You multiply this across the different cities and communities across our nation.
Yet, Dickens also gives us hope. We too can be reformed like Scrooge. Tomorrow, we can make Want and Ignorance a thing of the past by our daily actions and activities.