The Faces Of Hunger (Take Seven): The Blessings Box Lives Up To Its Name

<"Timely Reminder"/Take I:
The Reckoner>

 

Life rarely follows a straight line. There's always room for ambiguity, in good times and in bad, as The Squawker and myself found out a couple weeks ago, when we stopped off at the Blessings Box. It's a project that one of our local Methodist churches started doing a couple years ago, or so.

Like all the best ideas, it's breathtakingly simple. Take some food, leave some food, whatever you need, no questions asked. You can't bring any perishable items, since the church has no place to store them. But otherwise, anything goes. 

It reminds me of what a local hunger expert once said, when I covered a presentation about food insecurity: "I don't understand people who demand proof that you're hungry. If they come through the door, that should be proof enough."

That someone in any social service capacity should feel the need to say such things speaks volumes, I suppose, of how much suspicion the poor are often held. In any event, no cross-examination awaits you at the Blessings Box offers no judgments, and makes no promises.

Whenever our food budget bends to the breaking point, we stop by the Blessing Box, looking for items to help stretch it out: a box of macaroni here, a can of green beans there, and that's just a start. People often leave surprisingly high quality items there -- like bags of quinoa, for instance -- which makes the trip worthwhile. 

This particular Sunday came with a twist, however. Just as I was hauling some items to the van, a sixtysomething woman glides her SUV to a stop. She reaches into her pocket, and hands me a $20 bill.

Before I can say anything, she smiles, and tells me, "I haven't donated yet this week. But I see people getting what you're getting, and I figure... Somebody else can use this." 

"Thanks a lot," I say.

"Happy Easter," she smiles, and with that, she drives off.

I slide into the van, and show Squawker the twenty. "Well, guess what? Your efforts got a slight boost this week."

"Sure looks like it. Well, every little bit helps, as they say."

I put the van in gear, and head out. Faith in  humanity, however transitory it feels, however temporarily it's restored, is a beautiful thing. At some point, once those moments wash over you, they fade away, leaving some more ambiguous or disagreeable to take their place.

But until that happens, you're bound and determined to wring every drop of meaning out of that particular moment. That's how I'm feeling this Easter weekend, anyway. I hope you've gotten the same chance to experience it lately. The way are things going, we all can use a break now and then. --The Reckoner

<"Timely Reminder," Take II:
The Reckoner>

Post #400: Our Twelfth Year: Reflecting With The Reckoner & The Squawker

 

<Meanwhile, back in some alternate universe...
Strange Adventures #52, DC Comics,
"Prisoner Of The Parakeets," 1950>*

Reckoner's Note: As readers will know, we periodically stop to take stock, look back on where we've been, and hopefully, get a glimmer on where we're going. Still, it's amazing to think how we're still going strong, when most blogs seem to have the lifespan of a mayfly, or just quietly fade away, once the creator's attention span finds some other diversion.

When The Squawker and I started this venture back in 2012, we didn't have any great plans or expectations -- just a way to state whatever crossed our minds, without having to deal with the usual tedious social fallout that often accompanies it. Hence, our alternate identities (Batman- and Robin-style). 

We do things differently around these parts, though. We've never really tried to chase the headlines of the day, or even the hour -- with so much turbulence, it all changes at lightning speed, anyway, so we've chosen to comment more strategically on events that seem particularly relevant (such as our "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow Creeps" series, for instance).

But, as I noted for post #300, we've managed to expand on our original remit, with posts delving into classic punk 'n' garage records, digital feudalism, food insecurity, gentrification, pay to play culture, the slings 'n' arrows of daily life (minus the outrageous fortune), and a fair dose of our own outsider art, photography 'n' writing, all delivered with the deeply personal perspective that you've come to expect.

Three whole months have already come 'n' gone, or so it seems, in the blink of an eye. We never intended to let that much time slip by, without posting, but there were so many things going on -- from art projects, to inspections, job hassles, and preparing for the taxman -- that we had to deal with those first, as they came up. Real life is funny and tedious like that, at the same time.

In fact, that's where this particular conversation comes, taped on the road, as we were traveling to an art-related activity. "Hell, why not?" I asked Squawker. "We're gonna be sitting in the van for a half hour, at least, so we're not going anywhere, right? What better time or place?" With that, we started our chat, and soon, we were off to the races.

<"They Clawed It Back, And Then Added To It">

THE RECKONER: Post #400, what goes through your mind? It's been 12 years since you started this blog, and then, I got on board.

THE SQUAWKER: Well, the thing I'm worried about is, everything got economically worse, and more oppressed. But they never fix anything, to make it do better. They just decide to bill you for more things that make your life harder.

Ever since COVID, they did pass out the money, and some say, “That raised the inflation,” but I think they're just taking advantage. C'mon, we're barely making it, and food is too expensive, and it's so crappy. I'm worried about being really poor, and homeless.

RECKONER: Well, it seemed like they decided to claw back the money, with all the greedflationary stuff that's going on right now.

SQUAWKER: Yeah, they clawed it back, and then added to it, you know what I mean?

RECKONER: Basically. But when you started Ramen Noodle Nation, what was your original idea? I don't know that you ever told me.

SQUAWKER: I wanted poor people to talk about what their life was really like. When you think about it, there was nowhere we could actually talk about what it's like being poor.

<"The Reckoner:
21st-Century Self-Portrait,
Picasa Style" (2021)>

<"I Think It's My Persistence">

RECKONER: So how do you feel about this whole blog has turned out?

SQUAWKER: Oh, yeah, I think the blog has turned out good. We were able to explore different issues, and talk about things that a lot of people don't talk about – in terms of poverty, and how easy it is, to end up in down and out.

RECKONER: Are you surprised we've been able to keep it going this long? Because most of them don't last anywhere near this long.

SQUAWKER: I think it's my persistence – as long as Google keeps up the platform, too.

RECKONER: Right.

SQUAWKER: Maybe I'm just one of those determined people that likes to write, and get their message out there, while I'm still alive.

RECKONER: Well, I think it was one of the things that helped you become a better writer, certainly.

SQUAWKER: Yeah, I agree with that. I've started writing poetry, and things like that – I wrote a 'zine/book, and things like this. So I've had my other projects.

RECKONER: Yeah, and I don't think a lot of that probably would have happened, if you hadn't been doing that.

<"Greatest Huts, Take I": Our Top 10 Posts>

<"If You Don't Have Money, 

You're Supposed To Go Shut Up">

SQUAWKER: Yeah. But if you think about it, poor people have no voice in American culture. It's like, if you don't have money, you're supposed to go shut up. And now, the news, all the media, everything is for the rich, or the upper middle class. Well the middle class is suffering too, and shrinking fast. In the land of the haves versus have-nots, the have-nots don't have a voice anywhere. You can't really even talk about what's going on.

Maybe if you live in a small town, or you go the the inner city, and most of your neighbors share your economic status, but it's not true for us. We live in a place where most people have more money than us.

RECKONER: Well, and if you look at the way everything is reported – the economy is largely reported from the perspective of how the rich are doing, like with the stock market, or some of the other things that they obsess about.

SQUAWKER: Yeah, if you think about it, they only care about the haves. Actually, if you think about it, it's prevalent now, where they almost act like poor people don't exist. I've seen that in the liberal world – where they act like there's no such thing as certain groups of people who are poor. They focus on poverty in the inner-city which is of concern too, but they cancel out rural America, they ignore the realities of blue-collar workers.

And then, disabled? Oh, man. Well, you got people who are homeless, because they've got to live on $900 a month – the SSDI people make a bit more, but if you have huge medical bills, it's very hard to save money.

RECKONER: Well, and then, of course, there was the clipping you posted on your timeline, about the exponential increase in homelessness, and rent.

SQUAWKER: I think there's a lot more homeless people now.

RECKONER: Well, I think the story that I saw said, about half of all Americans can't afford rent.

SQUAWKER: Rent's gotten so expensive. I saw a statistic the other day that said, of all renters, over 50 percent are paying more than 30 percent (of their income) for rent.

RECKONER: Cost-burdened – that's the term for it, that I learned, doing one of my transcripts the other week. That's quite a lot of people at the moment, so...

SQUAWKER: I think they're ruining the quality of life with everything, if you don't have money to do stuff, or socialize, or eat out. They've made life a lot more lonely, because you need money to go everywhere. Just leaving your apartment costs money.

There's fewer free "third spaces" today. What's left the park or library? You go, “Where can I go to hang out?” Even if you go to church, and I'm talking liberal or conservative, you'd better be able to pony up a little bit of money for the basket.

RECKONER: Well, as you've said, "Church costs money." That's one of the issues with it.

SQUAWKER: Yeah. Now, some will give out food, and stuff. But I've noticed, that for years, most people receiving all the charity aren't members of the church. They can't afford the clothes, or tithes/dues to be there. Some have to work weekends. Well, there was one decent church I was in, where there was some in-house food, but that was a church in a working-class community. So the mentality, I think, is different.

<Our Greatest Hits, Take II: Posts #11-20>

<"The Extreme Other Side 

Works Against Community">

RECKONER: So, is there anything that you'd like to see included on the blog, that we're not doing? Or do you think we're hitting all the high points, or all the obvious areas? If we revisit this by post #500, what do you think will have happened, by then, with it?

SQUAWKER: Maybe we need more articles on how to survive if you're poor. Also, there needs to be more questioning of the elitism of the left, and how they have left behind a lot of people who are poor, and have no money. I know your beliefs are different, but I think both parties have become too much (into) supporting the oligarchs, and giving them money, and ignoring the every day life of the common man.

RECKONER: Well, except one outcome will be a lot worse than the other, because you have one party that is more and more committed to obliterating the so-called democratic experiment. And I just don't know how we would recover from that, if people were foolish enough to give them another shot at it.

SQUAWKER: Well, even I worry about Project 2025, and how it would affect poor people. I'm angry at the left, but I'm angry at the right, with all their bootstrap garbage. They're not exactly understanding of the reality of poor people, either.

RECKONER: I would say that the mask has fallen off, with a clang, and a thud. Because there was a certain point, maybe right through the 2010s, where even the more extreme members of the right sort danced around the subject, a little bit. The Tea Party wing was more willing to stick within established boundaries.

In other words, they were just obsessed with getting enough power to do what they wanted, Whereas, with the Trumpers, it's, “Burn it down, blow it up. Overthrow the government, if necessary. Do what it takes to squash the other guys into the ground.” That's the worrying part, to me, about all this.

SQUAWKER: Well, that's one worrisome thing, about all the extremes. I think the political climate in America has gone very extremist, and I don't know – I don't have much hope. I know too many wealthy liberals who are telling the world, "the economy is doing wonderful!" as many people can't afford rent and food.

There's too many greedy people who are ruining this place, and the whole idea of the self-reliant American, leaping over everybody, is ruining this place. No one thinks about the quality of life for anybody anymore. It's getting worse here.

RECKONER: Well, that idea is mostly a mirage, I think. And it's a beautiful myth – “the rugged individualist.”

SQUAWKER: It might work against them. I don't like Communism, either, but I think there's a point where the extreme other side works against community, or having a society that functions for everyone.

RECKONER: But I've found, basically, is that even most of the so-called rugged individualists had somebody behind them, that made it possible for them to do what they did.

SQUAWKER: Yeah.

RECKONER: That's the part that I think doesn't quite hold up. I mean, as I like to tell people, “Yeah, there's this whole thing with John Dillinger, and the wooden gun” – but guess what? The new consensus on that episode is that he basically paid his lawyer to smuggle it in there to him

Not to take away from what did – because it took a lot of acting, and front, to pull that off – but still, by all accounts, it wasn't quite what it appeared to be.

Well, I guess we'll have to see what happens with post #500, if we're doing it in some type of exile – I hate thinking that way. I deeply resent thinking that way. Any last words, before I sign off?

SQUAWKER: Yeah, that's fine – we've got to find this place.


Links To Go: How We Started (And How We Continued)
The Reckoner's Introduction To Ramen Noodle Nation:

https://ramennoodlenation.blogspot.com/2012/02/reckoners-introduction-to-ramen-noodle.html

The Squawker's Introduction To Ramen Noodle Nation:
https://ramennoodlenation.blogspot.com/2012/02/squawkers-introduction-to-ramen-noodle.html

Post #300: Eight Years Of Ramen Noodle Nation
(The Reckoner & The Squawker Look Back):
https://ramennoodlenation.blogspot.com/2020/06/post-300-eight-years-of-ramen-noodle.html

Strange Adventures (Alec Trench Comics):
"Prisoner Of The Parakeets":
https://alectrenchcomics.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/prisoner-of-the-parakeets/

(*Reckoner's Note: The above image omits the female parakeet's line, "Here's your new pet, dear!" In researching this image, I found that this particular issue of Strange Adventures marked DC's first science fiction title, and went through three reprints, including a '70s one, with the caged hero snarling: "Let me out of here, you birdbrains!" Presumably, having him cry out, "Help! Help!" wasn't deemed in keeping with the more cynical, more aggressive ethos of a different era.)

<YourChildhoodRuined.Com>

(All other images by: The Reckoner)

The Punk Rock Alphabet: (Take V) Our Three Biggest Asks For 2024

We Didn't See These Things
Under Our Tree In 2023:

But Hope Springs Eternal,
And Still...We Want More:

Here Is ALL We're
Asking For, In 2024:

<"Now Renting..."/The Reckoner>

 

<Decent (Affordable) Housing,

That Doesn't Force Us To:>

                    A)  Empty Our Wallets 

         W/Rampant Abandon.

         B) Flee Our Abodes Every Five Years,

         Because The Speculators
         Wanna Jack Up The Dow Jones.

         C) Give Up Our Firstborn

         (Not To Mention Those
          Who Have Yet To Be Born).

<"Don't Miss This One..."/The Reckoner>

<Enough Of Rampant Greedflation
That Forces Us To...>

      A) Crack Open Every Last Piggbyank

        That's Still Hidden Under The Bed.

            B) Dry Up Our Bank Accounts
        ("What Accounts?", We Ask).

        C) Eat Ramen Noodles, 3X A Day,
        For Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

        Because We Have To Feed

        The Property Barons First (Remember)?

"Just Another Number..."/The Reckoner>

<Fire All Those Fake Insurers

That Force Us To...>

                             A) Cancel Every Last Subscription
             To Whatever Resurrections

             May Still Beckon.

            B) Delay That Bucket List Item
            We've Been Contemplating
            For The Umpteenth Time.

            C) Extinguish Whatever Hopes
            We May Still Entertain
            For An End To The Status Quo
            That Dogs Our Daydreams.

<"It's About Time..."/The Reckoner>

<Get Ready For A Reckoning,
& Avoid Running Into
Those Same Old, Same Old

Unforced Errors...>

    A)Because...Maturity Shouldn't Mean...
    Rehashing The Mistakes Of The Past*.

     B) Because...We're Sick 'n' Tired...
     Of The Same Old Broken Record,

     Playing Over & Over & Over, In Our Heads.

     C) Because...We're Weary Of Hearing...
     Why We Still Have To Wait...
     For What The Austeritycrats 

     Say...We Still Can't Have.

And Remember: 

Talk - Action = Zero (DOA)

<Here's Looking At 2024:>

The Reckoner & The Squawker

(*Thanks to Jello Biafra, for making this observation on all our behalf!)

Punk Rock Poetry Corner: Bill & Ted's (Not So Excellent) Adjunct Adventure

 

<Movie poster: Wikipedia.com>

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Ran aground: Hit the speed bump

    of social inequity...

The mushroom cloud of student debt,

Service McJobs for subzero wages,

    (Future Self asks):

"How's it going, Bill 'n' Ted Esquire?"

<Bill>
"Not so good, dudes.

We're either temps.
Or adjuncts!"

 
<Future Self>
"Whoa, dudes, no way!"

<Ted>
"Way! No health insurance,

No retirement, no vaaa-caaayyy days...

    Nothin'! And we can get cut loose.
    Any time."

                <Future Self>

            "Don't say anything to Wayne.

            He still thinks he'll get

            To be a rock star.

        And the hair net's only temporary."

<Bill>
It wasn't this way,

Of course, for all us

wiseass slacker kids,

& the big screen dreams

we spent

so much time & money

chasin' around:

<Ted>

Life back then

Felt like

Some kind of crazy quilt

All-nighter @ Empire Records,

& anything felt possible.

<Bill>

You could bash till dawn,

Show up in whatever condition

you'd somehow

gotten yourself into,

<Ted>
& nobody bothered

to look at you sideways,

Give you the onceover,

& you always

had enough left over,

<Future Self>

For the next beer,

For the next Big Gulp,

The next stash,

The next smoke,

The next show,

The next big date...

Whatever. Nowadays?

Don't even bother. 

<"Boomer Retirement Card,"
Take I/The Reckoner>

<Ted>

The hair net & hair clip

Remain on somebody or other's

accessories list

...Along w/the uniform:
Red apron, blue apron, green apron,

Take your pick!

<Bill>
The friendly

Neighborhood record store's

long gone.

Those Wyld Stallynz

Never got 

A moment to roam.

<Ted>

The rock star dreams

Wound up permanently frozen,

on hold: 

<Future Self>

But remember, sucker, 

Nobody promised you

...That life would ever get better.

<Bill>

So bounces the last IOU

From the Boomers,

Who shuffled the cards

<Ted>

& marked up the deck 

of this particular

cardboard cutout empire.

<The Reckoner>

<"Boomer Retirement Card,"
Take II/The Reckoner>

Links To Go
(Read The Headline, Go Figure):
Older Americans Won The Pandemic:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/older-boomers-won-pandemic-becoming-165242402.html

Life's Little Injustices (Take XXI): Hey, Mr. Monopoly (Your Five-Star Review Isn't Forthcoming)

 

<"Thumbs Down!"/The Reckoner>

Blogs are better than therapy. I've no trouble reaching that conclusion lately, as the problems at our complex multiply. Regular readers may recall the mother and daughter duo I profiled in my last entry of this series (see link below), which focused on who'd washed up on these crumbling shores, after the owner of the house they'd been renting suddenly decided to sell it.

As I recounted, they weren't thrilled about stepping down a notch, to a place like ours, but vowed to make the best of it. Last week, The Squawker and I ran into Mom Sixtysomething (as we'll now call her), in mid-junk mail persual.

We'd barely exchanged pleasantries, when she rolled her eyes, and said, "Boy, we can't wait to get out of here."

"Hm, couldn't imagine why," I responded, with a smile. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"We were promised a one-bedroom when we moved in here." Mom Sixtysomething's face squinched into a frown. "But that's not where we ended up."

"So what happened?" Squawker asked. "Was it something they did?"

"You could say that," Mom Sixtysomething sighed. "The manager claimed that she couldn't show the apartment, because it was still occupied. But I've read the lease, and it's not an issue. There's no language against seeing the unit, whether anybody's in there, or isn't."

"Well, wouldn't be the first bait and switch that happened to anybody," I offered. "What did you end up doing?"

"A studio," Mom Sixtysomething said. "The circuit breaker's so old, the air conditioning and the heater often run at the same time. The flashing around the window has crumbled, so the wind and the rain blow through it. We've been flooded a couple times, too." Her face hardened beyond mere exasperation. "Our lease is up in July. We can't wait to get out of here!"

"Trust me, nobody will hold against it you," I assure her. "Especially when they hear where you lived last."

"Well, that was the thing," Mom Sixtysomething sighed. "We were renting a motel room for almost a week, while we waited on that one-bedroom. When we found out it wasn't going to be available, we bit the bullet, and moved in."

I allow myself the luxury of another smile. "I take it, you're not leaving a five-star review, whenever you do go?"

"They'll be lucky if it's one star!" Mom snaps back.

We dissolve into peals of raucous laughter that bounce off the ceiling. With that, we adjourn the discussion, and head back to our separate existences.

The review I'm referencing is a prominent feature of our so-called resident portal, where you pay that exortionate rent (now that management stopped taking checks and/or money orders, about four years ago). As soon as you log in, the pop-up slaps you visually upside the head:

"Leave Us A

Review On Google!"

A quick glance at Google shows that 51 people have done just that, yielding 3.5 stars on a five-star scale. As I've written here before, that's a decent mark, though not exceptional, an impression that only strengthens when I read the more niggling verdicts.

I'm surprised that our complex's rating is that high, given the increasing MIA status of our maintenance team; the ever-spiraling rents; the increasingly grubby appearance of hallways and stairwells, that no longer get regular attention; and the erratic performance of fixtures like the baseboard heaters, whose giant knobs would elicit a familiar groan from anyone who struggled with them during the "Cosby Show" era.

So will it discourage anybody from renting here? Maybe yes, maybe no. The thumbs down notice that scares off more discerning renters may not matter so much during economic downturns, when the dismissed and the desperate have to check their pickiness at the door.

And, of course, we've all heard that old saying, "The only thing worse than bad publicity is no publicity at all," right? As the above conversation shows, Mom and her offspring had to hold their nose, and sign their lease, the because they had to figure an alternative, fast. Motels are expensive, right?

There's a reason why John Lydon once said, in dismissing his former cohorts' post-Sex Pistols ventures, like "Silly Thing": "If you notice a drop in quality, that's neither here nor there."

I just ran into another refugee from our complex, a nice twentysomething couple, whom I'd talk to in passing. They were checking out the dairy options, with their five-month-old son, when I asked how their new apartment was working out. They both expressed satisfaction, especially since their new abode is costing them $200 less in rent per month.

"I can't blame you, because I'm looking at some changes myself," I tell them. "The maintenance department is quieter than the cemetery."

"Yeah, well, we moved in with broken blinds," Mrs. Twentysomething offers. "And that's how we're leaving it. And that was the least of it."

Naturally, I want to dig a little deeper, drill down more, but they have to go, and get their son fed, before he gets restless. "No worries," I tell them. "I get it. Hope we get another chance to talk more next time."

I'm not a betting man, but this much I know. I doubt they'll leave a review, but even if they do, it sure as hell won't be a five-star one, let alone three. That's why we have blinker lights at busy intersections, after all. So we don't get blind-sided. Or T-boned by another car. --The Reckoner

<"Thumbs Down!" (Take II)/The Reckoner>

Links To Go (The Girl Can't Yelp It):
Ars Technica: One Apartment Complex's Rule:
You Write A Bad Review, We Fine You $10K:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/one-apartment-complexs-rule-you-write-a-bad-review-we-fine-you-10k/

Ramen Noodle Nation: Life's Little Injustices (Take XX):
"We Moved Out, Because We Had No Choice":
https://ramennoodlenation.blogspot.com/2023/07/lifes-little-injustices-take-xx-we.html

The Faces Of Hunger (Take Six): I Just Went Out Grocery Shopping (And Boy, Is My Wallet Aching)

 

<I shot this photo in 2013, and all the others

on this page -- and all I got

was this lousy grocery bill

that eats my bank account!
Photos: The Reckoner/The Squawker>

<i.>

Real life lately feels like one endless royal scam, and there sure as hell aren't any lack of them. One sign hit me watching TV late at night, as I always do, while I'm putting in that intellectual sweatshop labor to, well, mimic some semblance of paying the bills, right?

Anyway, some company or other is hard pitching four or five products, such as a pair of shades that sharply reduces the glare, while you're driving in bad weather conditions. Sounds like a winner, right? Every home should have one, and all that. 

But each commercial ends with the same tagline: "Due to supply chain shortages and logistics issues, this will be your last chance to get Sharpie Shades at Price X. And remember, we have a strict limit of one per household." But you know what'll really happen, right? They'll roll out a brand new ad ("Back from Supply Chain Siberia!"), only you'll end up forking over 20-30% more than you did last time.

Why? Because that's what all these bastards are doing. Nearly two years after the sticker shock first rattled our wallets, the rampant greedflation that's causing so many of us to feel like there's a giant screw sticking through our spines shows little sign of letting up.

Sure, a few commodities have finally fallen back down to Earth, notably eggs -- which soared from $2.69 per carton here at Matthew's, to a whopping $5.99, even $6.99 -- and green onions, which peaked around $1.99 per two-item bundle, to a mere $1.49.

Yeah, I know, you don't have to tell me. With price dops this piddling, start building the yacht, right? And if you believe that, I've got some prime Florida swampland that you can help me drain.

And we all know something funny's going on, when the traditional workarounds you relied on to beat those high prices don't work anymore. Take cooking oil, one of many examples I could quote. At Matthew's, a 12-ounce bottle of the standard artery-clogging Wesson costs almost as much ($3.99) as the "good stuff," the olive oil that we like to use ($5.99). 

What's more, a lot of the mid-sized bottles, containers, and packages have either disappeared, or gotten scaled back. You're stuck buying the smaller version of a product -- which you'll be replacing, before long -- or the mammoth version that will lay waste to your budget. 

You either buy the 30-ounce mayo jar for $5.99, or its pint-sized counterpart for $4.19. Heads you lose, tails you lose. With prices like these, you can't fully stock a fridge anymore. It's reached the point where The Squawker and I are eating out more -- twice a week, sometimes three -- because it costs less than all those greedflated ingredients you'd have to buy, to make those dishes at home. How screwed up is that? 

<Take II, As Above: No other comments necessary.>

<ii>

Not surprisingly, trips to the grocery store feel like going to the dentist. Or the tax preparer. Or the doctor, who hands you those cloudy-looking X-rays, and then drops the estimate of how long you have to live. It's a traumatic trip out, however you care to slice it.

Every list that you cobble together makes your gut knot with tension. Every weekly ad you browse feels like some kind of crazy Cold War exercise, of matching wits with an unblinking, unsmiling, trench-coated adversary. Every item that you can't afford, or end up putting back, is another reminder of, "This is not the place for you." 

Except last week, that is, when Squawker and I trekked out to Murrow's Frugal Acres, where the prices are slightly lower, and the portions come slightly bigger. I even dropped an extra 30 bucks into the bank account, so we'd have slightly more room to maneuver.

But guess what? As smart and smooth as that moved seemed, it felt like tossing pebbles at a tank. We were hoping to hold the line at $80, but sure enough, the cash register ticked mercilessly northwards -- $100, $110, $120, $130. "Here we go again," I muttered, under my breath. "Time for that same old sideways ballet." 

I started handing the bags to The Squawker, as we began trying to figure what we could live without. Ka-ching! Out goes the bag of chicken patties. Ka-ching! Out goes that $6.50 block of cheese. Ka-ching! Forget about most of the vegetables, too.

Or so it seems, until a graying, towering, heavyset man in the next aisle -- who's watching us closely -- hands the cashier a $20 bill, saying, "Here. I'll cover it for them, if it's not too much trouble."

The cashier jerks a thumb towards the goodies piled up near her register -- the chicken patties, block of cheese, and all. "Do you still want this stuff, or are we putting it back?"

Before any of us can answer, the stranger peels off another $20 bill. "I'll cover the difference, too, if it comes down to that." 

The cashier takes the bill, and now, we begin scooping all the rejected food items back into the bags. His good deed done, the stranger shuffles off, just as The Squawker and I get through our thank yous. He's probably tired, I figure, or he has some other stop to make. Who knows?

On one hand, it feels great that somebody you've never met is willing to stand up, and do something like that. Not everybody is stuck in the same selfish grind of mindless materialism, which is easy enough to assume, on good days, and bad.

On the other hand, this episode serves up yet another reminder of how out of whack our society has spun. Because there are only so many good-natured strangers, and so many twenties to peel off into needy fingers, which is why it doesn't happen so often.

This is the myth that the Great Depression soundly busted, that if enough folks looked after their neighbor, all that pesky economic deprivation would simply take the appropriate hint, and disappear. But guess what? The big, bad world can always dish out far more suffering than any charitable act, or enterprise, can ever hope to absorb, especially when the same bad actors remain in charge of it. 

Of course, this isn't the first time we've found ourselves here -- as Bruce Springsteen suggested in his 1980 classic, "Held Up Without A Gun." The song touches on high gas prices, the major worry of the time ("Looked at my tank it was reading low"), music biz shenanigans ("Man with a cigar says, 'Sign here, son'"), and the jaw-dropping indifference of a society that unleashes them:

Now it's a sin and it oughta be a crime

You know it happens, buddy, all the time

Trying to make a living, trying to have a little fun

Look out

Held up without a gun

Held up without a gun

Held up without a gun

Held up without a gun

Clocking in at a mere 66 seconds (!), it's not hard to see why Boss diehards consider this song -- which he tucked away on the B-side of his smash hit, "Hungry Heart" -- Bruce's attempt at channeling the Ramones, or something like it. Either way, it works for me, and what's more, he still plays it live, now and again.

Like so many underground classics, those lyrics feel as relevant today, as they did at the time -- maybe even more. Which is probably why they say, "History doesn't repeat itself, it also rhymes."

On that cheery note, I'll see you at the dollar bin. And oh, yeah, one more thing. Happy hunting. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry,

Before The Dollar Bin Becomes The Fiver Bin):

Bruce Springsteen: Held Up Without A Gun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxBhIeTARBE

Robert Reich: The Hidden Link Between Corporate Greed And Inflation:
https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/videos/the-hidden-link-between-corporate-greed-and-inflation/757841191863574/

The Guardian: This Isn't Wage-Price Inflation, It's Greedflation:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/19/wage-price-inflation-greedflation-pay-cost-of-living

<"Timely Reminder"/The Reckoner>

Stop Laughing So Hard: Your Election Doubting Congressman Wants Your "Feedback"

Ta

"Submitted...for your perusal:

A Congressman who proved

receptive to Trumpian claims 

of election fraud in 2020,

wants you to fill out a survey.

"Truly -- a conundrum that

can only exist in the middle ground,

between light and shadow,

between science and superstition...

Only...in...The Twilight Zone."

<i.>

I wouldn't have gotten wind of this item, had a friend of mine in Congressman Bill Huizenga's Fourth District not passed it my way. Huizenga, for those who don't know his name, happens to be among those who signed on -- at least initially, and we'll get to that shortly -- Trump's deranged, yet calculated attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss, and remain in power indefinitely.

Unlike most of his cohorts, though -- specifically, the 147 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, who voted to overturn Joe Biden's victory over Trump -- Huizenga though he could have it both ways. He signed onto an amicus brief filed by Texas's shapeshifting Attorney General, Bill Paxton, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to slap down Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, for making changes to the election process during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But when push came to shove, Huizenga didn't end up actually voting to decertify Biden's election. Not because it was somehow intrinsically seditious, nor based on a questionable premise -- as Trump signaled, in his notorious statement, "Frankly, we won this election" -- but simply because it wouldn't have lifted Trump over the finish line. Since it wouldn't have made any difference, it was best to move on. Call him one of the election ambivalent, perhaps.

Now comes this single-question "survey," which seems like a scam to pad Huizenga's mailing list. You can see the disclaimer buried underneath the lone question he asks, in greatly reduced fine print: "Taking this survey will sign you up for future news and updates from my office."

My friend has never done that, and I wouldn't advise anybody else to do it, either, because if you don't support the so-called survey's premise, what's the point of doing it in the first place? Here's the email that went out:

<ii.>

Huizenga gives away the punchline right in the opening sentence: "President Biden’s failed border policies jeopardize our national security and leave our country vulnerable to serious threats." The premise of the next paragraph, which implicitly links those six million illegals to drugs and terrorism, is not only dubious, it's downright racist.

We all know who Huizenga and his election denying brethren want to protect us from, right? Hint: it isn't the rich white entitled class, whose financial terrorism is proving way more devastating than whatever products the Mexican cartel masters are shipping across the border.

Of course, as the Mexican government has pointed out, numerous times, the gringo who hoovers such products up their schonzzer bears some of the responsibility, too. As a former rock band manager once told me: "It takes two tango. One has to offer it, but one has to be interested." Makes sense to me.

The other purpose seems clearer when -- or if -- your eyes make it to the final paragraph, which puts in a plug for the Secure The Border Act, yet another one of those performative monkeyshines that Huizenga knows full well is DOA in a Democratic-controlled Senate. For a slightly more objective analysis, see the link below, but this paragraph sums up the gist eloquently enough:

"While some elements of the proposed legislation might prove effective and helpful, like additional investments in personnel and technology at ports of entry, the bill’s enforcement-only focus and failure to address lawful pathways is deeply flawed.

"The bill’s overarching focus on physical barriers and deterrence measures — but not increased numbers of asylum officers or immigration judges — presents a vision of the U.S.’s southern border where people fleeing violence and persecution would be quickly removed, without meaningful access to protection.

"Further, by interpreting 'operational control' through the circumscribed definition in the Secure Fence Act of 2006, the bill is predicated on an unrealistic standard that the U.S. must prevent all unauthorized crossings along a roughly 2,000-mile border."

Undoubtedly, if Trump slithers back into office, and gets his long-desired American Fourth Reich, he can look forward to making good on those aims...without all those pesky Democrats and "deep state" civil service appointees getting in his way, right?

And if he does, we'll know that Huizenga was among those marching beside him. Elected during the so-called "Tea Party" wave of 2010 certified Huizenga as well to the right of most issues, but his subsequent votes -- such as against Trump's second impeachment, and the establishment of the January 6 investigative commission -- should make it plain where his flag actually flies, so to speak (see link below).

Nevertheless, he says he wants to know what you think. On a certain level, it's a surreal proposition, coming from somebody like this, though on another, it's not as far-fetched as it sounds; the tracking of public opinion is a common feature of many autocracies.

For example, Hitler's propaganda overlord, Josef Goebbels, took regular polls throughout the Nazi era. Not because he cared what Germans thought of the beloved Fuehrer he served so ardently, but to help him work out the government line -- what appeals worked best, which groups to target, and what themes to stress harder, or skip over, depending on his needs of the moment.

Surveys like the one we're discussing fall into what I call the "Rod Serling moment" category, which I consider an event that would trigger a commentary from the late, chain-smoking sci-fi TV host, if we could call him back from the Great Beyond. It's the kind of moment, when people wonder, "What is surrealism," that prompts me to retort: "You're already living in it." --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry, Before
They Build A Detention Center Fit For You)
MLive.com: Michigan GOP Congressman Dispels Election Myths...:
https://www.mlive.com/politics/2021/01/michigan-gop-congressman-dispels-election-myths-from-constituents-asking-to-oppose-bidens-win.html

National Immigration Foreign Forum:

Bill Analysis: The Secure The Border Act Of 2023:

https://immigrationforum.org/article/bill-analysis-the-secure-the-border-act-of-2023/

Republican Accountability:

Rep. Bill Huizenga: Democracy Score:
https://accountability.gop/profile/rep-bill-huizenga/