Category Archives: Poverty

Issues, Poverty

‘Tis the Seasons

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Ah yes – Black Friday and the official opening of the Season of Greed and its companion Seasons ‘it’s about ME’ and ‘Wasteful Plenty’.

The Season of ‘it’s about ME’ where people are phoning around looking for someplace to volunteer – early in December so they can get it done before they get busy. No, it cannot be January or June or October but must be December.

Should the organization be unable to accommodate the December, preferably early December, timetable …… it’s “Thanks but I’ll try somewhere else”. Should the organization be so … ungrateful as to suggest volunteering in another month at a different time of year … egad, that’s just not on.

The Season of ‘it’s about ME’ where it is not about the year round needs of others or the organizations that serve the community and those needs 52 weeks a year but about the needs of ME’s December.

Soon after the opening of the Season of ‘it’s about ME’ we will be into the Season of Wasteful Plenty, a sub-Season of the ‘it’s about ME’ Season.

The Season of Wasteful takes place during the two to three weeks before Christmas when the homeless are buried under so much Plenty they cannot carry it all.

Giving those to whom sharing or a generous heart is an anathema the opportunity to bemoan “See, the homeless are throwing away what was so generously given to them. So ungrateful; there is no point in trying to help them obviously don’t appreciate/deserve/want help.”

Both critics and givers overlooking or ignoring the reality that when you are homeless, you have no convenient storage for excess items; that when you travel from place to place by walking every ounce of weight gets heavier over the course of the day; that winter, with the need for warm clothing and its inclement weather, is the time of year the homeless can carry the least.

During the short 2 – 3 weeks of the Season of Wasteful Plenty the homeless are loaded down with so much stuff they either need a pack animal to carry it all or must chose the items most useful to their survival – and abandon the rest.

Then the High Holy Day(s) of the Season of Greed – Boxing Day and Boxing Week – arrive and the Spirit is switched off and thoughts of the homeless and giving are relegated to the scrap-heap of indifference – until the arrival of Black Friday once again signals the opening of the new Season’s of Greed, ‘it’s about ME’ and Wasteful Plenty.

Watching this cycle year after year, knowing how useful the items abandoned during the Season of Wasteful Plenty would be in the days, weeks and months following December 25th – if they were to be distributed in the New Year.

Watching people scramble to get their volunteering in, making themselves feel good or be able to say “oh yes, I volunteered at ******. Knowing what could be accomplished if volunteerism, generosity and the Spirit could truly be kindled in the hearts year round.

It is the season that, rather than bring out the Light in the human race, too often speaks to the worst in the human race.

It is the season that would have me despairing of the future of the human race was it not for …

The dental professionals who give their time to the Abbotsford Food Bank‘s dental clinic so those with the need, but not the means, can have dental care; the volunteers who not only faithfully come in to prepare and serve lunch throughout the year, but give up their holidays (i.e. thanksgiving) to come in to prepare and serve lunch so that holidays are not a day of hunger for those in need; the varied group of people who come together year round on Thursday evening to donate, prepare and serve a meal to those who hunger – outside in sun, rain or snow ; the congregations of Peace Lutheran and St. Matthews who one Sunday a month serve dinner; those who give their time as big brothers/sisters, to coach the Special Olympics, to coach soccer or hockey or baseball; the two friends who preserved my mobility (my car) and the benefits that flow from that mobility; others who struggle to meet the need in our community.

Behaviours and people remoulding the despair for the future into a search for the words to inspire others to think, to reflect and to change – choosing enlightened self-interest over greed.

Mental Health, Poverty

Johnny Winter – Livin’ the Blues

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It had been so long since I had been able to go to a venue to enjoy a musician I liked live that I had forgotten the sheer pleasure, the joy, to be found in great music played LOUD. Played at a volume where the music hammers into and through you and sets your very core to vibrating in tune with the music.

From the moment that Johnny Winter’s band of Paul Nelson (guitar), Scott Spray (bass) and Vito Liuzzi (drums) were introduced and began to play – before Mr. Winter joined them on stage at the end of that first number – you knew you were in for a treat for the ears and the soul.

The first notes they played drove all thoughts but ‘man, are they tight’ out of your mind and made for an evening of spectacular music.

It was not the quality of the music that was the most impressive part of the evening. You expect great music from Johnny Winter. What strikes you is the seeming effortlessness with which Mr. Winter displays his mastery of the guitar, calling forth the musical sound that affirms him as a virtuoso.

From the opening notes played by the three members of Johnny Winter’s band to the final notes of Highway 61 the evening was a musical tour de force that left you energized, with a huge smile on your face and a joy that could be heard in your voice.

Nanaimo’s Mr. David Gogo’s solo acoustic blues was the perfect opening act for the evening. His solo acoustic performance allowed him to demonstrate his own mastery of the blues and the guitar without competing or being contrasted with Johnny Winter.

Switching back and forth between his two acoustic guitars Mr. Gogo demonstrated why he has ten albums under his belt and an impressive list of nominations and awards.

Mr. Gogo’s set was such that the first thing I did upon returning home was to go online to the Library to see which of Mr. Gogo’s ten CDs were available to be reserved, taken out and listened to.

It was a greatly enjoyable evening of outstanding music enhanced by the venue, Mission’s Clarke Theatre, were there were nothing but good seats.

One of the reasons that poverty grinds away at the spirit is that the revitalization of one’s soul and spirit that simple pleasures such as this evening of great Blues music with Johnny Winter and David Gogo provide is beyond one’s reach. While the price was incredibly reasonable for the music delivered by the performers, it might just have as well have been $10,000 for its lack of affordability on my budget.

The pleasure, joy, relaxation and memories provided me by the evening’s music came to me courtesy of an early Christmas present. Meaning that whatever else happens Christmas 2010 is already a great success in terms of gifts.

Thanks to Mr. Winter, Mr. Gogo and Mr. Earl for a most joyful, exhilarating evening of Smokin’ Blues.

Poverty

Magnificent Nonperformance

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WANTED:

Preferred Option – someway to have the Cavalier examined and adjusted so that it can pass Aircare, runs well and hopefully save gas $$$;

OR

Secondary Option – a functional vehicle capable of passing Aircare as replacement for the Cavalier.

Either option must be reflective of financial reality – I am so tapped out that I don’t have/cannot afford the gas to drive someone to the West Coast Express to catch the 5:27 AM train to get to the hospital in Richmond for a knee operation. While careful budgeting and spending could free up a little cash flow it is highly unlikely to exceed $50 a month and is subject to being needed for any unanticipated expense.

In other words I need a repair or a vehicle that falls at the extreme luck/miracle end of the spectrum.

At this point it should be clear that the Cavalier failed Aircare – but at least it did so spectacularly. On the hydrocarbon idle test were the maximum allowable limit is 101 ppm the Cavalier was at 2000 ppm.

I do not know why but with such a spectacular failure I found myself more philosophical than anxious and panicky. Since it was not even close there were no ‘if only I had done this or that’ thoughts to beat myself up with.

I remember the mental horror show I went through when the VW that had been my home through several years of homelessness barely failed Aircare. The mental meltdown, the anxiety and panic, took days to run their course. If fortune had not smiled, made available a Plymouth Duster for $100 and interrupted the mental downward spiral it could well have led to a full blown relapse into the darkness of mental illness.

This time the failure to pass Aircare left me a little shaken and stirred but not nonfunctional. People complaining about the exhaust from the Cavalier resulting in the suspecion it would not pass Aircare so it was not a total shock. Although dealing with the anxiety this possibility caused, keeping it from becoming a consuming anxiety and blossoming into panic resulted in an ongoing struggle with its own mental ups and downs.

Anxiety and panic threaten my mental health on this matter because I depend on this vehicle to get to work, to food, to the pool to swim (a mainstay of my mental and physical health), to group, to volunteer commitments, to committees (housing, homelessness, mental health etc.), to a myriad of other commitments and involvements.

The limited, impractical nature of the bus service in Abbotsford means that the only way to get to where I need to be when I need to be there is to have my own vehicle for transportation. In particular a work shift that ends at 1:30 AM across town from my abode.

The job that enables me to pay for my housing and without which I would quickly be homeless and on the streets of Abbotsford once again.

As is the case for many citizens, a car is not a luxury but a necessity.

Fortune has smiled in that, thanks to a friend, I was able to pay for the full three months of insurance I could get because the Cavalier passed Aircare last time. Fortune because, unlike a year of insurance where you can get on a monthly payment plan, all three months of insurance must be paid up front.

I had the $100 set aside in my budget for the monthly insurance payment but needed a total of $282. A good friend loaned me the difference so that I could have three months to deal with this issue. Fortune may have smiled a little there as he was so busy he had not been to bed in over 24 hours.

My mechanically adept friend Thomas recommended I take it to Hub Motors (he trusts their work and service) to have them ‘put it on the machine’ and determine exactly what the problem is. Which is why having the full three months allowed is so important – it gives time to scrape up the cash for an automobile visit to Hub Motors.

In the meantime Thomas and others will be keeping their eyes peeled for a super bargain on a vehicle of some type to meet my need to get to work, to food, to the pool, to group, to committees, et al.

Should you see me around Abbotsford with my tambourine panhandling, it is to address these transportation needs.