Kansas new congress critter is a HUGE GOP SOB

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. I recall getting into an argument

more than thirty years ago with an acquaintance who, because he knew exactly one person who chose not to have a job and to live on the streets, believed quite sincerely that all homeless were that way by choice.

In recent years I've done volunteer work helping to feed the homeless in my city. I know almost nothing of the individual stories, but it is so obvious that mental illness is at the root of a lot of homelessness. And another huge factor is sheer bad luck. The shelter I volunteer with gives jobs at the shelter to some of their residents. By listening I've learned some of their stories, and it's quite discouraging how a few bad choices can lead to homelessness. And that's among people who aren't mentally ill, who don't have enormous health problems, just took a couple of bad turns and here they are.

A personal story: We were quite poor when I was growing up. The specifics aren't important, but we regularly went hungry. We were never homeless, and it never seemed as if we were close to it, but looking back, and knowing what I know now, we probably were no more than a couple of paychecks away from having no where to live. Fortunately my mother (she'd left my alcoholic, abusive father and moved us five kids some two thousand miles across country to start a new life when I was 14) was a nurse, and she knew she could get work anywhere. Back then, more than 50 years ago, nurses weren't paid very well, and she often worked double shifts because we needed the money. Because of her profession we always had the bare basics. Rarely more, but we survived. Which is a lot more than some have.

And if your arm is chopped off or you get pneumonia, then you goddam well better be able to access the ER.