Am I channeling Bill Clinton circa-1992? It seems that way. In the past two days, I have filed paperwork with the local Girl Scout council for grants for four people to attend trips with my Girl Scout troop. Three of the grants were for girls; the fourth was for my co-leader.
The stories are all the same, and exceedingly sad. In one family, the father is deceased and the mother hasn’t worked in months. In another family, the mother was the breadwinner of the family and the father is a freelance photographer. The mother was laid off several months ago, and lost health insurance for the family in the process. The father hasn’t sold any pictures in a while. In another family, the father isn’t an American citizen and is having problems finding work. After losing a bookkeeping job, the mother works three jobs to make ends meet, including one job as a waitress.
All of the families in my Girl Scout troop are/were comfortably middle class. All of the families live in comfortable middle class neighborhoods. All of the daughters participate in after-school sports and/or music programs. What makes them any different from any of us? Some call it luck. Some call it providence.
There, but for the grace of God, go I. Or my neighbor. Or your brother. Or you?
Sunday
3 weeks ago
My daughters wanted to be in GirlScouts but no mothers had the time to be THE MOTHER. One of them said, "Mom, why don't you do it?"
ReplyDeleteThe other daughter went pale.
And I said, "Do you really want me to have one of my NadineKanniptions on a whole group of girls?"
Then she went pale.
You are a better woman than me.
It's so true...there is no rhyme nor reason.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a worthy program. Sadly I fear things are going to get worse before they get better.
ReplyDeleteIt is true. Doesn't take much to get knocked off the (semi) good life.
ReplyDeleteMost people are only a month from disaster.. one or two paychecks.. it's so sad, and so scary for them. I hope you get to take them on your trips.. We truly need to help our neighbors out more in these times..
ReplyDeletehugs,
jean
I watched Nostradamus 2012 the other night on the History or Discover channel. One of those. Now I'm living in TERROR that the world is gonna end on December 21, 2012. Ha! The predictions they discussed can be related to recent events with the economy, war, and nature. Very interesting, but I really do feel anxious as a result. I'm such a goob. So, so many of my friends and their families are struggling right now...
ReplyDelete