To the Editor:
As the daughter of a union carpenter, I grew up learning about the economic boom and bust cycle. My father worked hard; I remember him sometimes wearing a coal miner’s lamp so that he could work after hours building our home.
We lost this house during a downturn and had to move to a tenement in the city. I switched schools twice and eventually attended an early magnet school. This was in 1968 and I remember it as if I was the only white student. Then Martin Luther King was shot. My father injured himself on the job and the decision was made to move to California.
The car broke down many times so that my parents used all their reserves by the time we arrived. If it hadn’t been for a kindly co-worker, my parents, two brothers and I would have slept in the car until the first paycheck arrived.
In time my father built another beautiful home. I had the good fortune to attend a great college and travel around the world. I visited many third world counties and saw real hardship. Later I became a Peace Corps volunteer and experienced first hand how the majority of people live their entire lives.
In recent years I have witnessed a disconnect between the economic reality of the world at large and what many individuals think they “deserve.” I’ve seen young men (without dependents) work under the table and apply for food stamps. Another young man without dependents collected unemployment for two winters but felt entitled to cable, a new car and a vacation. Other people I know steal cable. Someone else considers it “elder abuse” if she can’t turn the heat up to 80 degrees.
After my growing up experiences, I feel I can weather most storms. My father taught me to be fearless. I have only partially learned this lesson because I sometimes wake up with nightmares when I consider the selfish behavior of some people. One aspect to the Peace Corps is to “bring the world home.” I encourage people to think beyond themselves. Think not only of what our economy can afford to support, but to think too of how the average world citizen lives. Should one live on the hard effort of another? What can you do to help?
Deborah Blackford, Waldoboro
