Holiday Generosity: A Beautiful Story At Christmas Time

Yesterday I wrote about the domino effect of thoughts that led me to wonder what I might do if I won the MO lottery jackpot, which was over $100 million.  What I left out was the fact that I saw this jackpot on a billboard as I drove to a discount grocery store, where I witnessed a situation that has sadly become commonplace.

I went mainly for oranges, but the way the store is designed, you have to go through each aisle in order to get to anything.  As I passed the non-food section, I saw two men quietly but intensely discussing a possible purchase, and from their tone as well as their faded, dirty clothes and their worn out boots and jackets, I could tell that if the money was available, the purchase would simply be a done deal.  It wasn't. 

Not five feet from them stood a boy of around 8 years old.  While they discussed, the boy stared at a boxed toy set that couldn’t have been more than $6.  I knew he wouldn’t go home with it.  I felt so bad for him.  He wasn’t throwing a tantrum, or whining for it, he was just fixated on it, his body rigid with the tension of wanting it yet keeping himself from reaching for it.  A two year old blond boy less than two years old kept reaching from his seat in the cart, saying the boy's name and reaching for him, but not fussing or crying.  That told me the older boy was kind to the little one, not mean or the little one wouldn't reach for him without fear.

If I could have, I would have bought the toy for him and left it at the cashier’s register with a description of the boy, they were the only kids in the store.  As it is, my ex-husband lost his job and then I lost mine.  I can’t even get my own kids anything this year.  They’ll get plenty from my family, so it’s not like they will go without, but this little guy, I wasn’t so sure.  He was clean and looked healthy, well-fed, neither fat nor too lean.  It was obvious that his father took the best care of him he could.  It just killed me to look around at situations like this and know that half of American households are currently living in poverty, for no reason anyone can think of. 

The antidote to this toxic topic for me has been the wonderful stories like the Kmart layaway payoffs, where generous but anonymous persons went into Kmart stores around the country and asked the layaway clerks if there were any accounts that were about to be lost due to late payments, especially those with toys or clothing for little kids.  People in line to pay were surprised by a total stranger behind them in line who said, “I’ve got this.”  Out of nowhere, this lovely and generous gesture has been extended to families in need.  I find this such a beautiful thing, it gives me hope about our future as a country.

One such story did not make the news, but since he is a friend of mine, I got to hear it.  I asked if I could tell this story here, and was given permission to repeat it.

My friend Alan Shelton lives in Oceanside, CA, just a few blocks from the beach.  Oceanside is becoming “gentrified”, but it still has its share of people living on the streets and others who work hard but who have no extras.

Every day Alan walks his two dogs through the transit station in Oceanside where a hot dog stand owned by Mike, The Hot Dog Guy (sorry, I don’t know Mike’s last name, just his occupation) is located.  They always exchange “hello’s” as Alan and the dogs pass by. 

A couple of days ago, this exchange took place:

“How much is it for a hot dog?” asked Alan.

Mike answered, “You can get a hot dog, a drink, and chips for four bucks.” 

Alan pulled a one-hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Mike, saying, “Well here’s enough for 25 hot dog combos.  Hand ‘em out to whoever you think needs them.”

Mike went home that night and sat in his chair, the hundred dollar bill in his pocket, and waited for his girlfriend to finish telling him the highlights of her day.

When she stopped, she asked him, “What about your day?  Anything good or special happen?”

He pulled out the hundred dollar bill and said, “Wait until you hear this.”

He told her of Alan’s gift, and then of the first two receivers. 

The first, he said, was a young man who comes up from Mexico every year around this time to visit his family.  Mike said he always wonders how this guy manages since he lost both arms to a farm machinery accident when he was a child.  When he arrives, he likes to get a hot dog and then spends two dollars on the train ride to his family’s house.  This year, however, he couldn’t afford either the hot dog or the train ride.  The young man was overjoyed when Mike said something to the effect of “Have I got a deal for you.”  Mike was able not only to give the young man the hot dog combo, but also the two dollars for the train ride to get the rest of the way to see his family.  The young armless man from Mexico expressed his gratitude with a big smile, and caught the next train to his reunion.  I did not ask how he managed a hot dog combo with no arms, but I imagine he’s had a lifetime to figure these things out. 

The second recipient that first day was a man who lived in a nearby group home.  This guy loves Mike’s hot dogs, but it takes him an average of three weeks of scrimping and saving nickels, pennies, and dimes in order to come up with enough cheese to buy one of Mike’s dogs.  On this day when the now sober man walked past Mike’s stand to say “Hi”, Mike stopped him.

“Santa has a surprise for you.”  And he gave him one of the 25 hot dog combos.  The man was moved to tears when Mike told him that a beneficiary had provided funds enough for a few people in the neighborhood to get a hot dog, chips, and a drink.  It may seem like a very small or silly thing to you and me, but when you think about it, it is exactly as Alan said to me the week before when a similar situation arose for someone else.  Frugality fatigue is what we call it now, but this is how he explained it:

“It’s those little indulgences that we buy for ourselves that that make a desperate life more palatable.” 

What was nice about it was he got right to the heart of the psychology of the person without judging them to be irresponsible or bad.  That is something I can understand and relate to, small comforts in the face of big difficulties.

These hot dogs were a small gift in the grand scheme of things.  Alan points out that he by himself cannot eliminate poverty.  What his gesture did do, however, was very impactful in his immediate sphere of influence.  He made 25 people's day.

Most people, like Alan, are overwhelmed in the face of the staggering statistic of 50% of American households living in poverty.  We don’t know where to begin.  How do we fix what’s broken?  I don’t think we can right away, it’s too deep and too wide, this gap between rich and poor. 

 In the short term, all we can do is look around at what we have that we don’t need, whether that is money, household goods, extra food, blankets, clothing, toys, winter coats, whatever, and then look around to see who would most benefit from the receipt of these items. 

Those people that I know who can help someone else this Christmas are looking for a family to adopt in order to help one entire household thoroughly, rather than diffusely helping many by donating to an organization.  They scale the problem and the solution down to a manageable size.  So many people need help these days just to keep the lights and heat on and food on the table.  A little truly does go a long way right now. 

I hope you get what you need and give what you can.

Best wishes,

India Rivers

How Can The Very Rich Best Help Their Communities As Well As Themselves?

The 1% as we’ve come to call those that hold the majority of our country’s wealth, are largely oblivious to the plight of the average American, but what if they weren’t?  What if they recognized that with 50% of American households living in poverty, they are at risk of losing half their wealth due to their assets becoming devalued?  Are the very rich aware that most Americans want a job, not a handout?  And that these same people, once gainfully employed, are the very reason the 1% ARE the 1% in the first place?  Really, the Average Jane and Joe want jobs, and safe and decent housing.  But who is interested in making that happen?

Today I passed a Missouri Lottery billboard, and both forms of the lottery, Powerball and whatever else we have here, had jackpots of over $100 million.  Of course, I see those numbers and start to wonder, “What would I do if I had that much money?”  I start listing all of the people in my family and in my community that would welcome a payout.  Then I imagine all the trouble money like that supposedly brings.  Most lottery winners file bankruptcy within 5 years of winning, if I remember correctly.  Why is that?  Just yesterday I was speaking with my friend Alan Shelton about that very thing.  I’d mentioned my disgust with the Kardashians and their vast money-making machines for doing absolutely nothing of value in our society, while everywhere I turn there are stories of real people with heart and abilities and good manners to boot, who are homeless and hungry or very nearly so.  The injustice of it all makes me ill. 

Alan’s response was thoughtful and measured as always, something to the effect of, “When you get to the level of money that the Kardashians are throwing around, Hollywood money, that money is just exchanged between people at that level.  It’s expected, it’s part of the dance.”  I hate that dance, then, but I get it.  If that’s the case, then this is why lottery winners often go broke:  There is a whole world of very wealthy people who know how very large sums of money are exchanged and moved around amongst themselves.  If you have the money but not the know-how, you’re going to spend and not invest, or give it to the people who will take it but not include you in the next round of exchange.  When you spend, that which goes out does not come back.  When you invest, you’re money not only comes back to you, it brings friends.

If this were true, then if I won the lottery and I wanted to make a difference with my winnings, I should invest in something that would create jobs and opportunities for people in my community, as well as brings me a return on my investment.  If my money keeps going out but coming back multiplied, even by a small margin, then I can continue to create opportunities for people, right?  This then begs a new set of questions:  What kind of company would I create?  I still don’t know the answer to that one.  Where would I create this company?  I don’t know that one, either, but it would probably be dependent on the answer to my first question.  My thoughts on this are to sit down with people who are smarter than I am in these areas, let them talk, ask tons of questions, listen to their answers, and then ask some more and so on until I feel I have an idea and a grasp of how to make it work.  Does anyone think Warren Buffett would throw in his two cents?  He would be the perfect go-to guy for this sort of brainstorming session.

Here are solutions I DID think of in the course of my musings:  I would build a community that lives and works in the same area.  The company must be ecologically responsible because it will be situated near the residential community where the employees will have the option of buying into at really low prices.  To accomplish the goal of a concentrated area of affordable housing near the company, I would sit down with developers and look for an area with a high number of foreclosures so that we can get a deal on enough homes at low enough prices, say an entire neighborhood in a bank’s foreclosure inventory.  Banks want to get these properties off their books which might make them more willing to deal, especially for a large cash offer.   This would make it possible to turn around and sell them to employees for a reasonable price.  A division of the company could hold the loan so that employees wouldn’t have to go through the hoops of being approved by a bank after they’ve been underemployed or unemployed for a time, etc.  The loans would be very low interest, taking the stress of paying the mortgage off of their shoulders, making it reasonable and manageable, and in theory it might make employees happier and more loyal to the company.

To increase the sense of community, part of the company’s mission statement would be “to give back or to take care of” in some way, each person at every level of the company.  Donations, volunteering, or just helping each other out as needed would be encouraged.  Ten percent of the company’s profits will be donated to causes deemed worthy, whether they are college scholarships for the employees’ kids, help in paying off catastrophic medical bills, or donating food to the local food bank, the money will be used in the most impactful and meaningful ways we can find at the time.

Community gardens, backyard gardens, local grocery store and gas station, coffee shop and bakery, movie theater, bookstore, walking paths and bike paths, efficient public transit, a library, everything a community needs in order to survive and thrive would be part of the development plan.  Once that smaller area is being developed and revitalized, and people flock there for jobs and housing, the shops will follow and the surrounding areas will also naturally transform, though perhaps more slowly, unless of course, the idea catches on.  It would need to remain open to the flow from outside of the community in order to remain relevant and healthy, and not become too insular.  Self-sufficiency is to be lauded and encouraged, but not to the exclusion of others.  Instead, the company and the community would more likely thrive if the idea of interdependency were illuminated alongside self-sufficiency.  To not be a burden is a wonderful thing, but to give and accept help as needed is to bring balance and fullness to one’s life.

Doesn’t it seem that if I can think of how I would use my imaginary lottery winnings to both benefit my community and profit personally, that those who already have that kind of money and know how to use it should be able to think of something similar? 

I can’t be alone in this line of thinking, but perhaps those of us who think this way are only be found in the 99% majority.  I hope not. 

I’m off to buy a lottery ticket.

How can the very rich help their communities as well as themselves?

Chickens in the City (and Willie Nelson writes an article titled "Occupy the Food Sector!")

Chickens in the City
No, I’m not talking about yellow-bellied cowards that run from a fight.  I mean the small clucking creatures covered in feathers that lay those ellipsoids we like to cook up and eat.  They are currently finding housing in cities and suburbs!  My city’s clerk was about as floored as I was to hear about it.  I called to ask about local ordinances regarding keeping chickens in my backyard, and she stammered through her answer after asking me to repeat my question.  She heard me the first time.  She just didn’t believe she’d heard me right.

*Note* This morning I took a break from creating my Seed Savers Exchange Catalog wish list to peruse the Huffington Post.  It was my turn to be floored.  Willie Nelson wrote the most intelligent article on the dangers of the corporate monopoly in the United States’ food sector and on behalf of the family farmer that I have seen to date.  His title is “Occupy the Food System”.  He makes the point that the food sector is bigger than the financial sector.  They told us the financial sector was too big to fail, and we all know how that turned out.  You can read his article here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/willie-nelson/occupy-food-system_b_1154212.html. 

Willie Nelson!  Seriously, I’m impressed.  See?  Everybody IS talking about this food supply issue.  Order your seed catalogs today!  Or buy from a local farmer if you can.  A monopoly can only exist when enough people support it through their participation, also known as “voting with their dollars”.  Once buyers (and by that I mean us) decide they want something better, or once they decide that they don’t trust that the biggest food processing corporations have our best interests at heart, then buyers go somewhere else, and the monopoly is left holding the bag and too small a market share to sell their goods to.  They’ll have to lower prices to move what they have left and move into buying something more in line with what consumers want.

And now, back to chickens.

Backyard chickens have been in vogue for years now.  Elaborate, designer chicken coops called “Chicken Chateaus” are sometimes prettier than the owner’s house, and are designed and built for the backyard brood.  Heirloom chicken breeds are thriving again, bred for their beautiful coloring and plumage as well as their egg-laying proclivities (how many, what size, are they brown, white, or speckled, that sort of thing).  These heirloom breeds sometimes represent a sort of fashion statement as they can be very ornamental.  For a while they were a hobby, mostly kept as pets, and for bragging rights.  Fresh eggs were more of a bonus than a necessity.

Attitudes towards backyard chickens are changing.  More people look at at backyard chickens as a viable food source for a small initial investment, so now we see more “city chickens”.  My brother still lives in the neighborhood we grew up in.  His apartment building is a brick multi-unit in the City of St. Louis.  He has no backyard, just a concrete patio, yet down the alley from him, and I never imagined a day when I would say this about anyone in my old neighborhood, his neighbor has a chicken coop and three chickens.  Now my brother is thinking of doing this, as am I, but I live in an older suburb of St. Louis on a half acre lot.  I have the room for chickens, and a garden.  I rent this little bungalow on this large plot of land, though, so I’m looking at container gardening and a chicken coop on wheels (they call them “tractors” when they are on wheels) in case I decide to move to a slightly larger house next summer. 

When you keep small numbers of chickens, you have what is known as a “micro flock”.  The advantages to keeping a micro-flock of chickens are many.  The chicken breeds available today are beautiful and ornamental.  When raised from chicks they are very personable and friendly, each one expressing a distinct personality and preferences.  Chickens are known to eat insects, a huge plus in my book, which in turn makes for great eggs (it’s a protein thing, try not to think about it too much or you will stop eating eggs altogether).  They also eat many kitchen scraps and weeds.  There is a book that describes how to organically care for your micro-flock, including making your own feed, called The Small Scale Poultry Flock: An All Natural Approach by Harvey Ussery , which includes advice on how to keep your flock healthy, and other practical advice you'll need should you embark on this aspect of the self-sufficient journey.  Another book specifically on city chickens is called City Chicks by Patricia Foreman.  I'll be getting these two this winter so that I can plan ahead for spring, the best time of year to buy chicks.  I so look forward to fresh eggs and fresh produce next year! 

For those who wish to learn more about keeping a micro-flock from those who already do so, there are online forums like www.citychickens.com, a site which lets readers contribute to a Google.doc listing chicken laws and ordinances in their own cities and municipalities, organized in alphabetical order by state.  Another popular website for micro-flock owners is www.backyardchickens.com.  There you can find a free forum for owners where they can share, compare, and brag about their chicken raising experiences.  The site covers the different breeds, includes photographs, plus support and advice if and when you need it.  There are chicken coop plans for sale on the Backyard Chickens website, as well. 

Urban Agriculture is a growing movement.  People don’t trust where their food is coming from when they buy it from large corporations and it’s wrapped in plastic.  They don’t know what hormones and chemicals have been added to their food anymore, and no longer do they trust that the food processor is telling them the whole truth about it in order to make a profit or to maintain their margins.  Consumers often don’t trust where their next paycheck is coming from anymore, either.  This lack of trust in these two most basic areas has motivated city dwellers and suburbanites alike to become less dependent on any system outside of their immediate sphere of influence.  Most people are just beginning, and far from completely self-reliant.  Most will never be totally off the grid.  More and more people are taking steps, however, to ensure their own short and long-term survival, whether through Urban Agriculture, or simply saving for their own retirement in lieu of counting on Social Security still being there when they need it.  The nicest outcome of all, so far, is the way people are sharing what they do have.  Already I know that I will plant more than my family can eat alone, and that my chickens will lay more eggs than I can eat or use in baking by myself.  I have a short list of relatives and friends hit hard by this recession with whom I plan to share my extras.  Anything left over after my family and theirs is taken care of will go to my local food bank, since they are always looking for fresh produce to give to families fallen on hard times. 

It's something to think about for next spring!