Mark Evanier, via Slacktivist:
Last night in a supermarket about 3 AM, I saw a woman have a serious breakdown. She was buying some items — not a lot, maybe $35.00 worth of cheese, meat and cereal. A basic shopping list. The checkout clerk rang her up, she swiped her credit card —
— and it was declined. No good. Not accepted.
The clerk was very polite in informing her she’d have to pay some other way but she had no other way: No cash, no other card. She did not seem shocked that her card was rejected; just that it had happened sooner than expected. “I thought I had more money left,” she muttered before bursting into tears. They were not tears of embarrassment. They were tears of desperation and panic and “I don’t know what to do anymore.” (That was something else she said.)
I was two back from her in line. The man after her and ahead of me was an Orthodox Jew — beard, black suit and hat, ziziths dangling from under his coat. We stood there and watched this poor woman weeping. She was about 45, maybe 50. She looked sad before the clerk gave her the bad news, and you could tell it was the latest in a long string. “I can’t pay,” she moaned. “I don’t know what to do.”
The checkout clerk didn’t know what to do, either. He gave a look to those of us in line. It seemed to be saying, “Please…let’s give her a minute.” No one in line was impatient.
And then the woman let out a cry. I cannot describe it. If I was writing a scene in a TV show and I wanted an actress to make that sound, I have no idea what words I would put on the page to tell her what I had in mind. I’d probably write something about a cry of pain that seemed to say, “I can’t endure any more of this…there is too much pain in my life.”
That still wouldn’t get the actress to make that sound but it might summarize what was on that poor woman’s mind at that moment. Clearly, she could not pay. Clearly, she could not get on with her life in any way without groceries.
This is the kind of thoughtless person who ruins everybody’s day. It’s good that they all took up a collection to pay this “takers” grocery bill so that folks could get on with their evening in peace. Perhaps Evanier’s post should be forwarded to Paul Ryan. I’m sure he’d get a chuckle out of it. The rat bastard that he is.
Any sarcastic comment I could write about how she should get a job would just sound too much like a wingnut speaking earnestly.
If that post were sent to Lyin’ Ryan he would have an orgasm, until he reached the part where others helped her.
“If you pay for them, do they come back the next night . . ?” Rethug propaganda at work. “Help someone and they’ll just come to expect it.” I argue with teabaggers daily who think its some kind of lark to be absolutely destitute.
The funny thing about this is the fact that many T-baggers are themselves destitute. Under-educated, minimum wage, white workers who feel that the “coloreds” are taking away the few good jobs available by using affirmative action programs. Why and how the Democrats fail time after time in their messaging is the questions. It can’t be a coincidence.
It’s not a failure of message, the plan works perfectly. As long as poor people keep blaming each other and fighting amongst themselves, we don’t go after those few at the top who have collected all the marbles. George Carlin said it best “It’s a big club, and we’re not in it”.
The medical-industrial-complex is a great example. If you are uninsured you are one procedure away from homelessness because you are stuck with the inflated list price, typically 5-10 times actual cost. If you have insurance you are allowed to self-pay for treatment at the actual cost, roughly 20% of the inflated cost, and insurance “pays” the other 80%.
The owners are OK with this because: a) you still pay the actual costs at 20% of list price, and b) 300M Americans each paying $400 per month in premiums is free money for them. That’s $120 BILLION per month, and all they have to do is manipulate medical costs to give the appearance of a payout. There is a special place in hell for bankers.