The political stuff will trickle off for a bit. I have a vacation coming up and it might be time to wipe clean. I’ll sign off with a piece of email kos received:
I work at a domestic violence shelter in a
rural conservative district in Mich. that is has had its economy gutted
by NAFTA and where Christianity dominates the culture.Yesterday while reflecting about 4 more years of Bush I was talking
with a woman staying in the shelter. I will give her a fake name, lets
call her Laura B. Laura is 28, pregnant, (never considered an
abortion). She finished highschool and did a year of college before
dropping out to have a couple of kids with her military husband. Living
in Virginia on base with her autocratic mate (he doesn’t allow the boys
3 and 4 to say “yeap” they have to answer “yes sir”) drove her crazy
and she was hospitalized for suicidal thoughts. Military dude divorced
her and has custody.She came home to Mom in Mich and ended up at our shelter to try and
sort out her life. (Mom has no money either and her own problems.) We,
like all secular agencies, have seen a steady erosion of funds.Laura B. has found a job working in the kitchen at a local faith based
Christian College. She makes $6/hour. She drives a dying Ford Escort
wagon pays $2.15/gallon for gas. Her latest crisis is her insurance
expired on Oct. 9 (her ex-partner cancelled policy). She needs to come
up with $211 to get insurance for one month or face a $1,000 fine if
she gets caught driving with no insurance. We have some public
transportation, Dial-a Ride, minibus runs between 7 am and 6 p.m., M-F
$1.50 one-way. She has to be at work at 6am.She has been walking to work lately but it is about 2 miles she is 5
months pregnant, it is dark at 5 am, and winter is coming. Solution? Go
begging at the churches who seem to have money for these things. They
will give her the money if she attends bible school. So last night she
was at bible school until 9 p.m.She has never attended our domestic violence support groups as she is
too tired at night and goes to bed early but the bible study was not
optional.She was excited about “God’s message” when she came back.
This week she moves into low income subsidized housing. Her newest
crisis is she has found out when the college is closed for the
Christmas holiday (one month) she has no employment. She is hoping to
find temporary employment as a seasonal retail worker if the Christmas
sales are brisk to tide her over. She doesn’t know what she will do
when the baby is born, hopes she can work up till the last week (she is
on her feet all day with this job). She will be eligible for subsidized
daycare.She voted for Bush because of his “family values.”