Food Pantry Distribution in Gallipolis

Erin and I were in Gallipolis yesterday, just across the river from the Mothman. Lutheran Social Services still has their mobile food pantry up and running and we wanted to kick it old school and tag along.

It was a tough trip. A lot of people in Southeast Ohio are really struggling. And there is nothing more depressing than a food pantry distribution. People waiting in a parking lot in the sun and then shuffling along for the opportunity to get canned beets and grape juice concentrate.

Now, I don't want that to be interpreted as a criticism of what Lutheran Social Services is doing. They are, to put it eloquently, the bomb. There isn't really a better way to do what they're doing. And what they're doing is making such a difference in these smaller communities. They deserve all the kudos I have to offer.

Still, it's a depressing scene. While talking to people while they were waiting in line, I thought of a reprehensible editorial cartoon I had recently seen:

Ugh. Seeing it again is filling me with impotent rage.

Ignoring the fact that the last panel is totally nonsensical since the mortgage interest write-off costs twice as much money as the Earned Income Tax Credit that allows people to not pay any income tax, and ignoring the fact that the no income tax argument is ridiculous since the lower tax brackets pay a much higher percentage of income in payroll and sales taxes, and ignoring the fact that the second panel doesn't make sense either since anyone getting a bailout had to pay that money back and those people were making millions of dollars and therefore were (presumably) paying a ton of income tax and...

No. This is too much to ignore. This is the worst kind of stupidity.

If you see anyone complaining about people not paying income tax or people not paying their fair share, please suggest to them that they spend a day hanging out a food pantry distribution. Let them talk to those people. Those people not paying any income tax because they're on disability or on Social Security but it isn't enough to pay the bills. Or the people who are unemployed in a terrible job market that just doesn't have room for them. Or the people working part-time and/or at minimum wage trying to raise children on his/her own.

I know that I'm probably preaching to the choir here. But please remember not to let these kind of ignorant comments go without a fight. Make sure people know the stakes in this fight against poverty.

And, to end on a happier note, Gallipolis truly was lovely. Erin and I just love the hills.