Wednesday, July 01, 2009
are you seeing this
I have always noticed that people need food. It's a part of beign a Vincentian.
What I am noticing is more distrubing than that.
Mothers aren't eating.
I have noticed that some parents, mothers in particular, who have jobs and go to work and try to supply their kids with enough to eat, are doing without.
I have noticed women taking "tea"in the breakroom and calling it lunch. OK I can see an occasional "I forgot my lunch" because heavens knows I have done so myself upon occasion. But this is a pattern. No lunch day after day. And the women don't look healthy. They are tired, lythargic, losing weight.
Do other's see this? or do they take the "oh no I just have tea today" at face value and forget about it as they eat their own lunches? Do they talk about the person later saying "I wonder if she has enough to eat" and then forget about it, or do they ask the person to share their own lunch?
Another thing I had not noticed before is wearing clothes that have not been laundered. OK if we have clothes that need dry cleaning I know we always wear them more than once, unless they have been stained. But lately I have noticed that people who wear jeans, slacks, shirts, blouses that clearly have been worn a full day, are wearing them again without laundrying them.
Why?
Money - or lack thereof.
If you don't have enough money for food, you generally don't have enough for "other things". If you work, you can get by cleaning yourself (hands face, etc.)in the washroom at work with soap provided. But what about your clothes?
If you live in an apartment that has no washing machine you have to take your laundry to the laundrymat. That costs money. Detergent costs money.
So you make an effort. Maybe you rinse things out in the sink and hang them up to dry if you can. Or you wear them without "refreshing" them.
What else can you do?
The CDC wants us to be clean, and make sure we wash our hands etc. to prevent the spread of H1N1 (swine flu). And I wonder how we can do that if we can't afford to keep up with normal washing.
What I am noticing is more distrubing than that.
Mothers aren't eating.
I have noticed that some parents, mothers in particular, who have jobs and go to work and try to supply their kids with enough to eat, are doing without.
I have noticed women taking "tea"in the breakroom and calling it lunch. OK I can see an occasional "I forgot my lunch" because heavens knows I have done so myself upon occasion. But this is a pattern. No lunch day after day. And the women don't look healthy. They are tired, lythargic, losing weight.
Do other's see this? or do they take the "oh no I just have tea today" at face value and forget about it as they eat their own lunches? Do they talk about the person later saying "I wonder if she has enough to eat" and then forget about it, or do they ask the person to share their own lunch?
Another thing I had not noticed before is wearing clothes that have not been laundered. OK if we have clothes that need dry cleaning I know we always wear them more than once, unless they have been stained. But lately I have noticed that people who wear jeans, slacks, shirts, blouses that clearly have been worn a full day, are wearing them again without laundrying them.
Why?
Money - or lack thereof.
If you don't have enough money for food, you generally don't have enough for "other things". If you work, you can get by cleaning yourself (hands face, etc.)in the washroom at work with soap provided. But what about your clothes?
If you live in an apartment that has no washing machine you have to take your laundry to the laundrymat. That costs money. Detergent costs money.
So you make an effort. Maybe you rinse things out in the sink and hang them up to dry if you can. Or you wear them without "refreshing" them.
What else can you do?
The CDC wants us to be clean, and make sure we wash our hands etc. to prevent the spread of H1N1 (swine flu). And I wonder how we can do that if we can't afford to keep up with normal washing.
