Tonight I went over to the aquatic center to do some work on my arthritic knees. I was doing the usual, standing in the warm water and bending them over and over. I talk to the lifeguards, finding out what has been going on in their lives. One was home from college. He was finally a junior, but it will still take him over two years to graduate. Carlotte was planning on going to visit her family in California to celebrate Christmas Hispanic style, but it didn't happen. She missed her big extended family as she told me about their traditions, their food, and their love for each other.
Then I began talking to a couple in the pool. She was walking back in forth in the deepest part of the pool. Knee injuries, I asked, just to make conversation, and she began to tell me about her arthritis, caused by an injury at her job. At the same time, her husband's employer went out of business. They found themselves without work and in serious financial difficulties. The bank took their house and for a while, they lived in a tent behind their friends' house. Now her husband and part time work and she has disability, but they are living on a quarter of what they used to earn. They were pleased to find the pool so she could work on her legs and back. Seymour's pools and fitness center are much less expensive than the YMCA.
This is what economic hard times look like. We talked about ways for them to find a place to garden. There was a community garden last year, so maybe they could do that. I told them about the vouchers they could get to use at the farmers' market next summer. I know a lot about living below the poverty line.
This is reality, not what politcians and corporate honchos talk about.
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