On The Outside Looking In

Via The Conservative Pup, I’d like to introduce you to Ms. Homeless and Conservative, the blogger On The Outside Looking In.  She is employed and seeking better employment, so she is understandably anonymous.

We all know, of course, that a blogger may not be what he or she seems.  Shoot, if my posts have given the impression that I’m a pleasant person, well there’s some serious misrepresentation right there.  I’m a major pain in the you-know-what, and I can be more disagreeable than a plague of locusts riding in on a half-mile-wide tornado.

So, you know, a grain of salt and all that, since I’ve never actually met this person.

Just A Conservative Girl has met her, though, and that’s where the story gets interesting.  You see, Ms. Homeless and Conservative only posted six times in April and May, and her experiences were becoming too depressing to keep blogging about them.  Then, in late June, Just A Conservative Girl just happened to see Ms. HAC outside the Lincoln Memorial, holding a “homeless please help” sign.

JAGC didn’t just see her and glance away awkwardly.  She saw her.  She noticed the girl was reading Atlas Shrugged.  She noticed the girl looked familiar.  She recognized her from Tea Party functions, even though they had never previously spoken.  So, she walked right up to meet her.

Both women blogged about this meeting, and reading each side’s separate account is nothing short of amazing.

JACG:  “When she saw someone coming with children . . . she moved her sign.  I went and asked her why she did that and she told me that she realized that children don’t always understand the very real reasons why adults are hesitant to give money to strangers. . . .  I asked if drugs were the reason she was here.  She explained it was simply a recession issue for her.  She lost her job three years ago . . .”

Ms. HAC:  “I have been gone a while now.  I was feeling very depressed and basically useless. . . . the last thing I wanted to do was write about it.  But, I got myself out of the funk . . . . I do have a job interview later this week. . . . I am trying to prepare myself for that and stay positive.

Also I met this lady yesterday.  She said that she has seen me before from some of the meetings I have been going to lately.  I didn’t really know who she was . . . . Apparently she is really politically active.  She doesn’t seem to be afraid of much either.  She came right up to me and introduced herself.  She had a kid with her and it totally freaked me out.  I try to stay away from people with kids . . . parents feel bad about being weary.”

JAGC:  “I asked her what her most immediate need was . . . she told me she needed to do laundry. . . . I went with her and picked up her laundry.  I brought it back clean a few hours later . . . . I also stopped and got her a hot meal from Whole Foods.”

Ms. HAC:  “She helped find me a temp job, gave me some food, washed my clothes, and brought me a hot meal. . . . I have not had a meal like that in a really long time.  She found me again today and brought her pastor . . . . They told me that I could work at their church for three weeks . . . . I will have to take time off from my other job, but . . . I will still be able to work on the weekends which is when most of the sales happen anyway.

This has gone a long way to help keep me positive.  There are moments I feel like I am drowning and can no longer see land.”

Both of these women leave me humbled.  Ms. HAC is struggling from day-to-day, yet strength shines through her impassioned words:

“But, tell me how I am not supposed to be discouraged when only 18,000 jobs were created across the entire country?

. . . Does this stupid man not think that the people who notice [me] asleep in my car don’t ask themselves if this could happen to them if they lost their job tomorrow? It isn’t just about the 9.1% of the unemployed (and we all know that number is higher) . . .

People can’t afford to go on vacation. When the vacation spots are not filled up the people who depend on the income become closer to being me. When people don’t go out to eat as often, the waitstaff become closer to being me. When people don’t go to the movie theatre, fewer people have a part time job opportunity to help them put something in the bank for a rainy day.

If this president and his staff don’t think that this number matters, then they certainly don’t deserve to be re-elected.”

Clearly, she absorbed the lessons of Atlas Shrugged. 

If you want to learn more about Ms. HAC’s circumstances, this post provides background.  Amazingly, this homeless gal owns a small condo.  If you’ve been out of work for three years, how can you keep up the mortgage payments?  By renting it out, and living out of your car.

Sheesh.  This fact says a whole lot about Ms. HAC’s character, in my humble opinion.  She’s planning to climb out of this hole.  She’s willing to suffer homelessness in the short-term, rather than lose her only valuable asset by selling upside-down in a terrible market.  Lady, you are hardcore.

JAGC has follow-up posts worth reading, too.

Here:  “One of my neighbors read about her on my blog (who knew she read it, she is one of those dreaded democrats).  She had yard work . . . . She hired her to get it accomplished.  She showed up on time and did the work, and did a fine job I may add.  I believe my instincts about this young woman are correct. She is down and out, not some lazy person looking for someone else to pick up the tab.”

And this post is infuriating:  “One of my neighbors . . . really didn’t want to talk so much as to lecture me. I was told what a great disservice I am doing this ‘poor little waif’ by not encouraging her to get help from the people who can really help her; the government.”

Read the whole thing, and leave a comment because apparently that neighbor reads JAGC’s blog.  The most infuriating part is how the neighbor appears willing to lecture when she does not have all the facts.  I have a better understanding of the situation, and I’ve met none of them.  (Ah, but I read all their posts.  Reading is educational!)

JAGC boldly inserts herself into a stranger’s life in order to help, and the neighbor lectures?  Unbelievable. 

As usual, I am not the first to stumble onto this story.  Zilla, Quite Rightly, Pundette, and The Conservative Pup are already followers.  I sure hope the best for Ms. HAC, and will add her to my prayers.

She has the same Paypal Donate button that most bloggers do, if you are able and inclined . . .

http://homelessandconservative.blogspot.com/