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[globirdiego]

The Silent

THE SILENT LIVE AMONG US

Silently they walk down our streets looking, for all the world just like us. They wear fashionable clothes, like us, makeup and hair just right. Jog right beside us. Shop right beside us; oh, no, they dont shop right beside us; they wear our clothes, the ones we bag up to give to thrift stores or Goodwill; or places where they can get a voucher for clothes each month; makeup may have been given to them or is from a more affluent time.  They talk like us and are friendly, intelligent, go to church with us.  Sometimes, but not very often,  they are forthright about their private lives; usually only to very close friends and family they trust.

Have you figured out by now that I am writing about the “poor”.  Not the vocal poor, who put it out there that they are poor and why dont we do something about it; but the poor who are ashamed of being poor because there is a stigma against it in such a prosperous world; where commercials abound, stating that if you feed your dog or cat anything less than $35-$50 a bag you are a bad pet parent. You could not dare feed them a “cheap” food, it will hurt their health.  I realize commercials are for companies to get the most for their product, and target a specific audience.  It's the stigma of being poor I am addressing.

Millions, and I am just estimating, not based on fact but on personal experience,  of Americanslive a life not wanting anyone to know how bad off they are. These millions who fall through the cracks; are on the one hand making too much moncy to qualify for any kind of aid or are too proud to ask for help.  Some of these are retirees who live on social security; others are younger to middle aged honest people who have families and who cannot find work paying enough to feed and clothe them.  Not that they are not smart enough. Maybe they have never been able to pursue a furthering education program that would have allowed them to find a better paying job.  Have you ever been to a fast food restaurant and wondered why a middle aged person is behind the cash register.  Isn't this a job for high school/college students; not someone who should be pursuing a big career.  We “pride” ourselves for being tolerant of race, religion and disabilities, but are we tolerant of the "middle-class" poor?   Do we target that audience in sales, ads, and, yes, commercials?  Raises another question: why are there classes at all in the 21st century, what is the "middle" class, and why are politicians always espousing on the subject of class in regard to the American voting citizens

Do we even think that Miss Susie next to us in church, who is very quiet, might be very poor, but trying desparately to fit in, in that dress you forgot you gave to that thrift store?  Or that other lady who is very talkative and intelligent in the seat in front of you. Or is that person in front of us in the grocery line anything but like ourselves; buying all the name brands, good produce for a healthy lifestyle, yogurt, high priced meats like ribeye steaks?  "Oh, no, they have store brands, cheap meat and no expensive items"; if you are prone to be aware. We tend to expect the elderly and disabled to be underfunded, but what about the rest  who have to pinch pennies just to get a roast for dinner..

There are very few "programs"  for the “silent” that speak to the problem, and if there were, most would not want to avail themselves of such.  So they go along, borrowing (or asking) every month as little as possible from family and friends, who are privy to the information that they are struggling to survive.  It's not a pretty picture of a lifestyle that has to rely on help to be able to put a meal on the table or have electricity to heat and cool or sometimes even a place to live.  There are thousands upon thousands of educated homeless people who don't want anyone to know they are in such a situation  The circumstanes are as varied as pebbles on a shoreline; doesn't matter. It is what it is. Doesn't change the feelings or emotions that these circumstances bring; the shame of not being able to just announce it to the world and still feel accepted. Not to get the furrowed brow or the shaking head that says it is their fault such a fix has occurred.