I don't think it is news to anyone who reads Daily Kos that the majority of Americans have been shafted by the economy over the last seven years. Stagnating wages and increasing prices for food and fuel have the tendency to do that. However, I am not writing tonight about most of the people, I am writing about a few I know that are truly looking up from the bottom of that very deep shaft we are all in.
Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, homeless boyfriend and I got in his $200 van that had been repaired by another homeless man and drove to Bellingham, near the border with Canada, for Thanksgiving. Homeless boyfriend, hereinafter known as The Boyo, lives in the office building he is helping remodel. He isn't supposed to, but he has nowhere else to go. Except maybe his van, if it ever wasn't full of junk. His Mom, who might as well be my mother-in-law, lives with her domestic partner in a motor-home, back behind a nursing home. His sister, Sissy, lives in Section 8 housing. We met a noon at a buffet restaurant where we had coupons for our Thanksgiving meal. Neither the motor-home or Sissy's apartment was big enough to accommodate us. Sissy's apartment is big enough for her and her daughter, but get a couple more people in there and it is claustrophobic to me.
Mom and her DP recently filed for domestic partnership, they called it "getting hitched." And why not. They had lived together several years, but when Mom was in the hospital recently they wouldn't let the DP in because he wasn't "family." Now at least they will be able to see each other while they are in the hospital and can be "hitched" without screwing up their Social Security for either one of them. And they can make decisions for each other. I am glad they have this option. My Dad is in the hospital right now, and my siblings had to run interference for his girlfriend so she could see him in ICU. Stupid rules.
In the evening we went to Cousin and Little Bird's house for a home-cooked Thanksgiving. Cousin is a diabetic with renal failure who has lived with Little Bird and her sons for several years now. They were homeless until last winter, when Little Bird's dad bought a mobile home and set them up in a mobile home park. They pay a payment on the mobile home and the lot rent, and whatever other bills they have. Cousin has Medicare because of his dialysis, but the fast food joints where Little Bird works offer such crappy insurance for such a high price she hasn't signed up for it. Tuesday some idiot turned left in front of their only working vehicle and totalled it. Now Little Bird has no way to get to her two jobs that keep the family afloat. They live out in the middle of nowhere with no public transportation except school buses.
Cousin was driving, but fortunately wasn't visibly hurt although of course he has new aches and pains. And last night looked like he was developing a cellulitis in one of his legs, a potentially disastrous situation for a diabetic renal patient that could result in an amputation.
Cousin has been waiting to get on SSDI for four years now. Right now he isn't bringing any money into the household, because the powers-that-be decided to cut off his welfare because he was living with Little Bird, who was employed, however marginally.
On the way out to Cousin's house, they called Sissy on her pre-paid cell phone. She didn't answer because she couldn't spare the minutes. Finally, the second time they called, I gave her my cellphone (also prepaid minutes) and told her to call them back. That cellphone is Sissy's only phone at the moment.
The dinner was wonderful. I had dinner at their house last Christmas, too, and what they do with turkey is amazing! The one a Christmas was roasted with beer, this one was roasted with garlic and chili peppers. Yummy!
I felt guilty eating the lovely food, however, afraid I was taking food out of the mouths of the two boys. My income on SSDI is officially 1.7 times the poverty level for one person, although that is an amalgam of the 48 contiguous states. Although someone somewhere may be able to live on $9800/year, you would be hard pressed to do it in Seattle unless you live in public housing. Rents start here at $600 in low income housing and go up from there. I am lucky to be in public housing where I pay 30% of my income. Otherwise I would be paying at least half of my income in housing costs, not to mention the 25% I pay in medical costs.
Cousin and Little Bird may have to move because a new property management company has come in to run the mobile home park, and now everyone is having to submit to credit checks and background checks. And there are problems because Little Bird's dad owns the mobile home, and didn't put her on the lease at the mobile home park. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in front of Sissy's apartment building, and wonder what will happen to her if the new owners don't want to deal with Section 8.
Starbuck's theme this holiday season is "Pass the Cheer", and their cups have suggestions for passing along the cheer, such as paying the toll for the car behind you in line. The Boyo and I have benefitted from that. When we went to the Seattle Art Museum last week, someone paid for $20 on our dinner. Thank You, whoever you are. I will also be passing on some cheer. I do believe Sissy will have some minutes mysteriously added to her phone, and a gift card for a grocery store will appear at Cousin's house. I'm planning to be there for Christmas, and think I should contribute for my meals. After all, I live at 1.7 times the poverty level for one person.