Earlier today I was on my way from Chicago's Union Station to visit the Alexi Giannoulias campaign headquarters when I happened to meet Molly, the most beautiful orange tabby you've ever seen. I stopped, chatted with her human for a bit, then bought them lunch in order to get his story.
These two, they're both victims of the Wall Street casino operation, and something has to be done.
(This pootie would make a great office mascot for the Giannoulias campaign. Next time I turn up at the office if she's there I'm a $1,000 donor in the general election. And someone just taking her home works, too, in case any staffers are allergic. Better help Alexi win the primary, eh? ActBlue for Lil' Ms. Orange Pootie.
Got a text from georgia10 - "Thx I'll let u know tomorrow if anyone can take her in. If so, we'll have our interns search for her".
I was strolling along Madison headed towards La Salle when I passed Molly and her human. I just walked right on by – I was on my way to meet Georgia10 and I didn't want to be late. A block later I slowed down, then turned around ... clean cut guy, bright orange kitten face poking out of his pack, and he was obviously not an experienced panhandler. I figured Georgia wouldn't mind if I was just a little late.
So here she is, Ms. Molly, six to eight weeks of age. She was left to freeze to death in a box in an alley in downtown Chicago – a righteous alley cat, this one.
Her human, who asked that he not be named because he is seeking work, found her, scooped her up, and took her home to the small hotel room he and his girlfriend sometimes manage to pay for with their panhandling efforts.
Her human was too clean and his sign said "Looking For Work", not the usual stuff one sees from the semi-professional indigent crew that works the loop. For every one I interview and write about here I pass by two dozen that look as if they'd drink up anything given to them. It isn't that they aren't in trouble, I just can't get a story out of the drunk & dejected.
We ducked into a Dunkin Donuts and found a place to sit where we couldn't be seen from the counter so Molly could stretch out a bit.
While she was clowning around with my camera string and nibbling a few bites of turkey the story came out. Her human, in his late twenties, had a year of college to his name. He'd been working for 3com, but they were sold recently and his job was shipped overseas. He'd worked various construction jobs over the years and knew a lot about the carpet cleaning business, so much so that he could manage a crew in the field.
As I was headed to the Giannoulias office I asked him what he thought the government should do, thinking this sort of thing might come up depending on whom I met. His response was simple "I need a job." I pressed a bit more, asking him what he thought about President Obama. Again a simple response, but a straight up right wing talking point - "I'm worried he is taking us down the road to socialism."
Seriously, I am not making this stuff up. The corporate media's grip on this country is so sure that a newly minted street person is repeating the words of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. I looked right at him and said "Brother, you're out on the street. You could use some socialism in your life."
I spent twenty minutes with him and by the end he was good and pissed. He allowed as how fixing health care would be a very good thing, but he wasn't all that interested in unemployment - "I just want a job that pays enough to cover the rent." We talked at length about the wage erosion that began under Reagan and all sorts of other stuff. I can tell this guy used to have it going on a bit - he knew about bailouts, AIG, bonuses, etc, but he couldn't put it all together in the way a Kossack would.
So ... the kitteh needs a warm, safe place to grow up, the human needs a job, and we need to get together and just beat the crap out of our worthless corporate media.
If you want to help ALL residents of Illinois may I strongly suggest that Illinois State Treasurer and Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias can probably get some things done for Molly & all the other pooties, but only if we muster the energy to put him into Barack Obama's old seat.