In these uncertain times....
Yeah, blah blah blah.
Hi, gang! I was out of the house most of the day yesterday on some business in Pennsylvania. For the record, I was not there buying fireworks that are illegal in New York. Governor Sonny Corleone was huffing and puffing over that the other day, to the point where I expected to have my car searched on the way back, but it didn't happen. Although I will admit to seeing more than the usual number of state troopers on I-84.
The thing I wanted to mention is the Little Free Pantry, also called the Mini Pantry Movement. The idea behind it is simply this -- you have a box out in public where people can put food to donate, and others can come and take what they need for free. No questions asked. I had come across the project in an article I was working on, and wondered if it was something we did here in the scenic lower Hudson Valley. And the answer is: No. We do have food distribution through a couple of the local churches, including my own, but we don't have a box just sitting out there.
However, I was passing through Milford in Pennsylvania, and I noted on the Pantry site that they had one. Sure enough, here it is.
I left some stuff in there myself. I think it's a nice idea. But of course, being a cynical New Yorker, my thoughts come with some caveats.
Where I grew up in New York City, the box wouldn't last a day. Or maybe that's too cynical. Almost one in ten people in Milford are living below the poverty line, and yet the box had plenty of stuff in it when I got there. I just feel like, in the cities, where people demolish a Target for laughs, you could count on the box being emptied... and the box itself stolen.
But that's obviously not the case here. I am always happy to help out when I can with these things. I have a friend who volunteers at a food delivery program for shut-in seniors, and these people are exceptionally grateful for the food, but also the comfort of a friendly face. He's told me about one or two characters he's met, but most of his clients are decent and lonesome.
So I guess if you can help out in these unprecedented times... <sound of piano being smashed>
𝄢🎝♬🎝🔨
In closing, though, I have one strong suggestion for states and municipalities that would like to help poor people have enough money to make ends meet and not rely so much on SNAP cards, food pantries, and the like. And that is: Lower the tax on cigarettes. Seriously, these people smoke like chimneys. They would rather smoke than eat. Ten bucks a pack and more hasn't made them quit. Bring it back down to a five spot and let them have some money for food. Think of the children!
P.S.: And yes, as Ed Driscoll says, classic reference in blog post title:
4 comments:
I went to college in North Carolina, where the autumn downtown air was perfumed by the tobacco curing in the nearby warehouses.
Cigarettes were 25 cents a pack in a machine, 20 cents at the supermarket.
Smoking was a matter of civic pride.
I grew up around cigarette smoke. It was in every room of every public building. Turns out I am somewhat sensitive to the stuff, as in, nausea and migraines. The only good thing to come out of the creeping/galloping socialism of the past 5 decades is the ban on public smoking. Of course, pot legalization is undoing that ....
65cents a pack when I worked in a gas station in the early 80s. People would count change and would buy the pack first and then put the rest in the tank.
The bar I worked in back in the '70s in Texas you could get a bottle of Bud at the bar and a pack of smokes from the machine for a buck. Forty-five cents for the Bud, 55 cents for the smokes.
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