I see the same man each Monday morning picking up recycling. I'm walking the dogs, and he says "Good Morning" and I reply with the same. This morning he had his son with him, a boy of eight or nine, and the son noticed my dogs and they had a conversation about them. What circumstances have brought this man and his son to this labor? They are hard at work stealing recycling from the city, yet I admire them for trying to make ends meet. What story brought them to my neighborhood? They wouldn't have to live far away to drive over, for a few streets away in two directions it is dangerous territory. Perhaps the man picked our area for it's relative safety and the fact that no one confronts him over the recycling. How would we dare? And how petty would we have to be to protest ownership of the stuff we throw away?
I don't need to look far to see the inequities in our society and the lack of jobs and dignity for people who want to work, want to show their sons they can labor honestly. I hope their life turns in a positive direction. I wish I could manufacture jobs for all these decent people. I wish them hope and a chance to prove what they are made of. And I struggle with despair about the election making any difference at all to their lives.
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