Friday, June 13, 2008

The Not-So-Lazy Poorfolk

I wonder why the poor in America are so often overlooked. Why we are sending billions of dollars in food and related aid overseas when our own citizens are going hungry is something I will never understand. It could be said that, "This is America, anyone who wants to work should never go hungry," Perhaps, if you live in the inner city where there is work. What people fail to understand is that when you are born and raised in the hills and hollers of the Appalachian South, there is no work, and no way to get where there is work. For example, you live fifty miles to the nearest town where you might find sustainable employment. If your family cannot afford to buy you a car to get to town to work, then you are completely and irreversibly fucked. One must have a job to get a car, and a car to get to the job. I have heard too many people condemn the people of Appalachia as being lazy and shiftless, without ambition. I am always told, "It's simple, you pack up and move somewhere else," And just how, pray tell? Suppose you hitchhike to a city, where will you live while you are saving money for an apartment? 99% of employers require an address to be hired on for work. How will you feed yourself for two weeks until you get your first paycheck? People in Appalachia will grow a garden, or stalk a deer or fish for hours to feed their families. If you have ever grown a garden and canned vegetables, let me assure you, this is NOT easy work. It is hot miserable backbreaking work to pull weeds and stand over boiling Mason jars for hours at a time in the middle of the damn summer, 95 degrees with equal humidity. This is not laziness, is it? So when you ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, how in the hell is moving to a city to live on the streets going to get you anywhere but screwed? Can anybody give me an answer to that?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Alice Cooper wrote a song about the same problem. Erin I believe that for most people, as children, we depend on our parents and as we become adults we still depend on our parents for help getting started in the work field. This includes shelter, food, transportation, and an adress to use. In your case I think that it is the availability of jobs for the percentage of people that live there. It's not anyone's fault that it is very difficult to "get started". Knowing you personally, I know you're not lazy. For those who judge others should walk a mile in your shoes. To conclude...the most logical thing to do is find someone that you can depend on with a caring heart to help you get your feet in the door. God knows that many who were once successful fell to the floor and depended on family and friends for help on getting back up.