Jack’s Country Store
For me, it was a first here on the Peninsula. I was panhandled and it happened right outside Jack’s Country Store. I was sitting in the car listening to “Democracy Now” on KMUN and waiting for Nyel to pick up a couple of items for dinner. I was just thinking about how totally depressing the news was – CIA lies about ‘confessions’ at Guantanamo, police brutality in Albuquerque and deported illegal immigrants re-entering the U.S, — and there was a tap-tap-tap at my window.
The woman standing there was not anyone I recognized. She was middle-aged, looked clean, well-dressed, and pleasant enough, despite a smile empty of teeth, and she right away asked if I had a dollar I could spare. I’m not big on panhandling and I probably wouldn’t have given her anything anyway but, as a matter of fact, I had cleaned out my purse and pockets for Nyel’s shopping extravaganza – a pound of hamburger, two tomatoes, and a bag of chips. “No, sorry,” I said. But I really wasn’t.
In all the years I’ve been on the Peninsula and in all the hundreds of trips to Jack’s and maybe thousands of stops at other shopping venues, I’ve never been approached for a handout. My immediate reaction yesterday may have been uncharitable, but I couldn’t help thinking that with multiple agencies and organizations devoted to feeding the hungry here at the beach, there was simply no good reason for this woman to be begging.
Headlines
“Our world is totally broken,” I thought to myself. I’ve said that often enough about specific things. I’ve long thought our educational system is broken and probably beyond repair. Ditto our health care system – and I’m not talking Obamacare here. I’m talking why would an MRI cost $5,000 in a hospital and only $700 in a doctor’s office? And our political system? Don’t get me started.
Somehow, the woman with no teeth symbolized all those ills for me. Why is it, that we are not demanding responsibility and accountability from our fellow citizens? Why do we continue to hear the horror stories about traders on Wall Street and judges in the courtroom and click-clack our tongues and do nothing? Why is it okay for some people to be irresponsible and not for others?
By the time Nyel got back to the car, I was totally bummed out. Yes, bummed. That was definitely a first at Jack’s!
In “affluent” Sonoma County, Northern California, this sort of request happens to me a few times a year. Usually in a parking lot, often, Trader Joes which posts a sign no-noing such activities. Last time was a month ago; same modus operandi, “Could you spare a dollor….” I believe I said, “Yes, I could, but I don’t believe in your manner of asking.” I appreciate you question regarding why it is okay for some people to be irresponsible and not for others……No answers, just an awareness that there has always been the haves and the havenots.
Unfortunately the ills that we associate with the city are not missing from the Peninsula. Quite the reverse. In a community where so many children are on Free and Reduced lunch and the median income is so low, it is not surprising that there are people who fall through our broken social services and health care.