She sat alone in the stuffy waiting room, her thin hands folded in her lap. "I shouldn't be here," she said, mostly to herself. "I shouldn't have to be here."
Lizvette Perez surveyed the dingy interior of the state office building. She saw a young mother with two toddlers dangling off her arms, a broken-looking man dragging a sleeping bag, a man in a starched shirt carrying a leather briefcase.
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Lane DeGregory manages to tell this story without resorting to the usual "victimization" of her subject. Ms. Perez comes across as both sympathetic and resourceful...she could be any of us. In the near future many more Americans will likely find themselves in similar situations --and articles such as this can inform us about what we may have to confront in our own lives. To that end, however, I would like to have seen a more specific accounting of Ms. Perez's monthly expenses. Even in this recessionary environment, two working adults in a household (plus child support from the father,) should be making enough to afford an apartment and basic necessities. There is something missing from the equation which a more thorough reporter would have ferreted out. If articles such as this are to be cautionary (as opposed to alarmist,) it is incumbent upon the writers to give us the whole story in order that we may avoid making the same mistakes.
It should be obvious that Americans are going to have to make some drastic changes in their dreadful eating habits. $588 will buy a LOT of beans, rice, bread flour, vegetables, oil and seed stock. It will not, however, be enough to feed a family of four a packaged, prepared, or fastfood diet. Our consumption and energy patterns will need to be similarly modified. The party's over, folks. This is not a Bad thing.