Thursday, July 26, 2007
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Staff photo by Joe PhelanCigarettes were a major discussion topic in one of our editorial board meetings about this series.
Why cigarettes? This is a series about hunger. But hunger afflicts people and in writing about a number of the people I interviewed for this series, I described them smoking -- how they “stubbed out a cigarette” or had a “cigarette-colored voice.”
That led to questions from others reading my drafts, “Do you really want to do that — that’ll allow some readers to just dismiss the people you’re writing about because they’re spending their money on cigarettes and not food.”
True enough — such descriptions do play into the hands of those who blame poor people for being poor, the argument being that they’re poor because they’ve made bad choices and now the taxpayers are paying for those bad choices. For example, I just read a reader’s comment on the Portland Press Herald website, in response to a column about poverty in Maine and how even working people can’t make ends meet: “Those people don't want better paying jobs,” wrote the reader. “The reason they work at low paying jobs is so they will qualify for all the entitlements. If they wanted a good paying job, they would get the education and training to get them.”
When I went around the state talking to food pantry volunteers, church workers, teachers and social service providers and even the hungry themselves, they did talk to me about some people who appeared to live permanently off of what we used to call welfare, who didn’t care to work or feed their kids nutritious food or even take care of themselves or their homes for that matter and were quite possibly the second or even third generation of their families to do so. “The parents need to be able to take care of themselves, first, before they can take care of kids” said one staff member at the Alfond Youth Center in Waterville. One mother I interviewed spoke about having lived in subsidized housing and seen some of her neighbors use their welfare money to buy alcohol or drugs.
There are cheaters out there who take advantage of the system. And there are people who dismiss all those on public assistance as cheats and slackers. That’s a pretty crude assessment. It’s also inaccurate. To define an entire group of people by the outliers isn’t rational, nor does it do justice to the reality of those who must rely on public assistance. Also, let’s be clear: You can’t use food stamps to buy alcohol and tobacco. You can only use them to buy foodstuffs.
Few of the people I met who were hungry wanted to be on food stamps. They were humiliated by having to go to food pantries. A number of the old folks wouldn’t even do it — they’d rather swallow nothing than swallow their pride. And consider this: It’s not exactly a piece of cake to have to rely on food stamps: Anyone out there just dying to eat on a budget of $3 a day?
So what we discussed in our editorial meeting was whether the use of the cigarette smoking detail in both cases was necessary for the story we were telling — or would have been a distraction that got in the way of telling the story. In the end, I took one reference out. And left one reference in. In the latter case, the smoking was essential to the story that I was telling; in the other, it wasn’t.
Reader comments
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When I think about it and automatically start to judge, I remember my grandmother. Mimi became addicted to smoking back when she was a young woman working and never thought about being on any kind of disability.
Mimi worked all her life - from the time she was 16 until her doctor told her she couldn't work any morek and if she didn't quit work, she'd just die there on the spot some day.
Mimi had congestive heart failure, emphysema, and eventually lung cancer, and yet she could not quit smoking. She tried many times. many times! but never could manage it, until at last she was confined to bed, on oxygen and was nearly too weak to breathe, let alone smoke.
My aunt Edith, kept smoking even when she was on oxygen.
Neither of these women were selfish people who didn't think of others. They were addicted to something they coudldn't beat. Some people can do it, and some can't.
So when you decide that someone who smokes is just selfish and wasteful of YOUR tax dollars, dredge up a little compassion. Remember they became addicted back when society thought smoking was great, and while they were still hard working members of society, before they ever dreamed they'd face the humiliation of having to ask anyone for help - ever. They were probably a whole lot like you, except perhaps you were a little luckier.report abuse
Have a little compassion. Cigarettes are an addiction; one that is very hard to stop. When these people are in stressful situations (such as being unable to buy enough food for the family) it only makes it more difficult to stop smoking.
My heart breaks to think of children going without food at home and not being able to have breakfast and lunch at school.
Instead of criticizing let's find a way to help. I worked (at Envisionet)with one of the parents that was interviewed and know she is a smart woman as it appears in the article. There are down times for many people and we should work at helping them.
Can we help provide school breakfast and lunches for some children? Can we provide snacks and snack milk for them? Let's help the food pantries. Call and ask what they need? Don't forget all the other things that are needed . . . other than food . . . personal hygiene items; paper products; detergents; cleaning supplies.
When you go to work tomorrow, take a look around. Any chance that one of your co-workers is having a hard time making ends meet? People who work can't always make ends meet, so maybe a helping hand would be what they need temporarily.
I raised 2 children by myself and often worked more than one job and it was still difficult to cover everying. One year a church group adopted me and every couple of months they would deliver a box of non-perishable items to help tide me over. You can't imagine what a godsend that was.
Let's put our thinking caps on and see what we can do to help instead of putting them down.
Hopefully the writer of this series will give ideas and suggestions for us to help.report abuse
We all have our opinions here.
At the price for a pack of cigs now? Times 30 if one is up to a pack a day? That'll buy clothes for a couple kids, spent right. A lot of cash. Cash buys food, too.
Even low-income housing isn't free. Last I knew, one paid for their utilities in houses here in Waterville heated electrically! What a catch-22.
ARE we our brother's keeper?
No. But we have opinions. Must we be silent? No.
And Naomi, I, too, can tell a female smoker by her (hoarse, gravelly) voice. Not so much the guys...they just cough and hack.
Yes, Rick, whenever the KJ and Sentinel have the same stories, it becomes difficult to post to these interesting 'comments' sites. Some are doing Portland, too!
Soon the schools will be offering a days' meals for kids. Someone must care for those not cared for at home, regardless of the reason. It's not right that kids go hungry here in this US of A.
Shlomit, I think that the reason so many are against smoking is because it's proven to be so dangerous to one's health first-hand, and second-hand, causes so much difficulty for so many non-smokers subjected to it.
And...how many people do you know who get right up from a meal and grab a cigarette? Feed the kids...and adults. Set an example? Oh...that hurts. Not to smoke.report abuse
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