PrintMarch 18, 2010
A Man Named Rick
This morning, I met a man named Rick. Rick, a 57-year-old unemployed construction worker, was sitting in his truck outside our local post office, asking passersby for work. Rick, it should be stressed, was not a panhandler or a bum. He was a veteran who had worked steadily for forty years, and he was not asking for or taking handouts. He wanted work, "any work," as he told me, and he was willing to work cheap. Having lost his job and then his home, Rick has exhausted his unemployment benefits. He now sleeps in the back of his truck at night and searches for work by day, terribly afraid that he will become stranded without gas money.There are millions of men and women like Rick, and their unemployment benefits will soon be running out, if they have not already done so, despite an unprecedented extension of benefits of up to two years. There are millions who will soon be marooned like Rick, living in their cars, in makeshift camps, or in homeless shelters.Meanwhile, our...(Read Full Article)
