View From the Road
A Sign of the Times
By
Jul 24, 2008 - 3:49:29 PM

In the past several months I have experienced an increased contact  with folks seeking help -- on the street, in parking lots and any place that people meet.
It hadn’t really dawned on me until a couple of nights ago when a young woman dressed moderately and normal in all respects approached me in the parking lot of a shopping center. She was in her mid-thirties, her head hanging a little in an embarrassing pose, as she asked if I could help her.

First she wanted to know if there were any openings for employment where I work.  Then she began to tell me of her homeless situation. She and her daughter were living in  her car behind the shopping center.  Some money, “a couple of dollars” to help her in her quest to get a motel room for the night, a hot shower and a safe place to sleep for them both was what she was after. “One day at a time” was what she said.

I gave her some money and made a few recommendations where she might get some more permanent help. Taking my modest help and suggestions she disappeared into the  many parked cars that filled the shopping center.
A sadness came upon me; the reality of our fragile economy had just addressed me.

Embarrassed and humble, she had managed to develop enough courage to ask for money. I have been approached many times ­before, but this was a different face of despair.

Then it occurred to me how this scene has been developing for some time. We calmly go about our lives, not noticing how close this has come to being us. Standing in an embarrassing pose, hand stretched out hoping for kind eyes and ­generous heart to be facing us.

We must all look closely and try to help our country come up with some solutions for this growing trend toward poverty for many citizens. Our leaders seem so removed from the parking lots and places where these scenes take place every day. They live in an insulated world, where the price of gas and the ever-growing crisis that these rising prices have on all aspects of everyday life is not felt by them as keenly as we feel it.

The solutions seem to evade their agendas, as they travel about claiming great things ahead. Most of us would like to see HOPE in reality, not just the promise.
Election years show signs of stagnation in actual progress from our representatives. Let’s not show any progress or hope until,  “we get into power.” Both political parties share responsibility for this complacent attitude. After all, they are not suffering!
Let’s get back to making America strong again, using the great inspiration of our forefathers. It is time to get to work! 
  
My “ View From The Road” took a serious detour this week, as I saw myself in the face of this desperate young woman in need.



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