Hungry & Homeless in Olympia

Shopping List
3 gallons milk
12 pounds sausage
40 tortillas
2 pounds cheddar cheese
1 pound butter
3 dozen eggs
3 onions
4 bell peppers
10 pounds yellow potatoes
200 cups
200 plates

This is the shopping list I was given by Mama Dee of Joyful Hands Ministry.  This is a partial list of items required each week to feed those in need a hot breakfast in Olympia.  Having bought for this before, I can assume she has more onions and tortillas, as well as peanut butter, jelly and breads for all of the sandwiches to be made, rolls and biscuits to pour the gravy over, at least 200 plastic forks and spoons, and cans of ground coffee and hot chocolate.

The standard grocery list of items required to feed the many hungry that come each Saturday for breakfast in Olympia.  It does not include the "grab bags" full of energy bars, hand warming packs, fruit gummies, and such that are handed out as well.  This is just one of three meals the City of Olympia is "allowing" to collapse through their, as far as I know as of this date, inaction on promises made during two City Council meetings.  "Other locations" were mentioned as alternatives, though no specifics have been forthcoming.  Also mentioned was the name of the slacking City employee whom they assigned to let the whole thing drop.  I found it interesting they assigned this guy to let the whole thing drop after the first meeting, then they assign him to let it drop again after the second meeting.  With all the hot air and smoke being blown up everyone's ass I was sure they would open the council room doors for a breath of fresh air.  The mirrors they brought in, to go with all of the the smoke, were probably in the way.

The problem with government is they think the citizens are that stupid.  They're right, of course, but elected leaders should try not to make it look so blatantly obvious they feel that way.  I left this council meeting, as I have left many others in Olympia, feeling like the only breath of fresh air will come when the citizens of this town wise up and recognize the politicians have their number.  This same statement holds true for Washington State and the U.S. Congress.

Where was I?  Oh, yeah.

Last Saturday Dee assigned a jay-walking monitor to police the street, ensuring laws were followed.  We policed the area for trash, as she assigns each week, so the parking lot the event is held in is left as we found it.  She made announcements to all, as she does each week, adding that the police might come to close it down.  She asked that everyone remain peaceful and respectful if the police came, they would be there to talk to her so let her handle it.  Trouble was what Mama Dee doesn't need, but is reluctant to shy away from.  If she does, the needy go hungry this morning.  This scenario plays out each Thursday evening, down the street at another parking lot, where Crazy Faith Ministry will feed up to 700 people a warm dinner.

It is my understanding that many of these people can't or won't take advantage of offerings by the Salvation Army or the Gospel Mission and, at times, these two organizations have to turn people away when they run out of food for the offered meal.  I heard from one of the women staying at the shelter in town that several older men were turned away from the men's shelter for lack of room.  She said these were men whose age should prohibit them from staying outside in the cold.  What is to be done?

This is Washington State.  This is the land of the "bleeding heart liberal," and the great northwest bastion of the Democratic Party.  These are the people who got Obama elected, and then reelected.  These are the people that demand the poor be taken care of, right?  Or, is it all just kind words that go south when the programs start to affect their way of life?  From the attitude of the Olympia leadership, this sure seems to be the case.  "We're not saying you can't feed the needy, we applaud your efforts.  We're just going to change the parking lot ordinance which will, in turn, prohibit you from doing it on public property.  But, keep up the good work!"

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

What politicians in Washington State forget is the lesson that our current President has taught us, twice.  Tax payers do not get you elected.  That 50% of the people that pay to support the other 50% aren't the ones that determine the direction of this country.  The people that get you elected, and therefore, by extension, run this country, are the people that want the handout and not the hand.  Keep the people fed, clothed, and uneducated, and you'll have a voter for life.  The illegal alien, the welfare recipient, the student, people that are out of work or have given up trying to find work, the hungry and the needy.  The people in the back of the wagon now outnumber the people pulling it!  This means our Mayor's "career low light" just clicked on.  This is a liberal city, Mr. Mayor, and the needy could give a damn about parking ordinances.

“They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. And then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

--  Rev. Martin Niemoeller, a Protestant minister in Nazi Germany, in 1945

I think society is afraid of facing the real possibility of repeating history.  Shanty towns of the 1930s, or "Hoovervilles" as they were referred to, were a necessary blight in many cities.  "Hooverville" was a term created as a slam to Republicans that were blamed for the dire financial situation.  Since we are traveling down this road again, can we look forward to "Obamaville" this time?  It goes to show that totally inept, moronic, stupidity is not the sole property of any one political party, we just forget to teach political history in school now days.  Not remembering history can be viewed as the real crime a society visits upon it's young.

The 1930s and today have many similarities.  One difference, however, is the ability to work.  Notice I didn't say the desire to work.  As with the City ordnance for parking lots, so too have laws challenged the ability for Joe to pay a few bucks to have someone sweep the sidewalk in front of his shop.  Concerns like liability, minimum wage, health insurance, all play their part in limiting possibilities to better your lot.  Liability is the big one that I can remember.  Heaven forbid the man hurt himself while sweeping your steps or washing a window for a few dollars; he would own you after the courts finished making you out to be a slave driving tyrant.  This is why, even if the man holding the sign, "will work for food," really wanted to work, no intelligent person would dare hire him for fear of losing the farm.  That is just sad.  Those that would like to make a few bucks to get by can't.

This may sound like I'm a welfare advocate.  I most certainly am not.  Those the truly need it should have it.  But there are plenty that are very happy to nurse from the public teat their entire lives, milking it for all they can while the rest of us support them.  Is the half of our society being supported by the other half guilty of this?  No.  Not all of them.  But I believe the numbers will continue to climb, and be unmanageable, as long as we refuse to recognize that we have allowed them to no longer care.  Many that are pulling the welfare wagon are going to get fed up and climb on board.  What happens when the wagon stops because there aren't enough people pulling their own weight?  I have news for you, look around.

In Mexico you get a bucket, some rags, a little soap, and start washing cars on the street.  In Manzanillo they took their water from the plaza fountain to wash and rinse you vehicle.  Nobody would dare sue you if you gave them the opportunity for work, and the courts wouldn't hear the case even if they tried.  These people would wash your car, guard your car, assist you with bags when you returned from shopping, and direct traffic while you backed out of your parking spot to leave, all for around $4.00 American.  They would smile politely, and be grateful for the opportunity to be of service.  I never saw anyone holding a sign on a corner asking for a handout.  Everyone in that country was selling something.  Everyone was trying to better their lot in life.  Even the old and infirm managed a chair, or sat on the sidewalk, to sell boxes of matches and such.  Needless to say, I had enough matches to burn the city down.  This is not to say they didn't have beggars, but these were the seriously mentally and physically challenged individuals, a segment of society they are just now beginning to recognize.

Anyway, in preparation for Saturday, I suppose I should get to the market and start buying supplies.  One can only hope the greater Olympia religious authority will wake up to what's happening with these conscientious groups trying to feed the needy.  It would be nice to see some Christian ministers and priests leave the warmth of their parish to stand for what they preach.  It is a given we can't save the poor from themselves.  However, I think we all have to realize that, "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

I leave you, and the City of Olympia, with this final thought:

"You can create ordinances and change rules in order to ignore the hungry and the homeless, the poor and needy; but hunger, homelessness, poverty and need, will still exist.  Ignorance will not make a worsening situation go away, and moving it out of sight will only buy you time."