(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Last night we had chili [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-11-27 Yesterday when I got off work, I called my oldest daughter, like I always do, so we could discuss what we wanted for dinner. We decided upon a pot of chili--a quick, easy meal on a work night. Now since we were out of canned chili beans and extra sharp cheddar cheese to serve on the side, I had to stop at the store on the way home. Surprisingly, the store was not very busy last night—especially considering the fact that Thanksgiving is only a few days away. I was able to quickly make my way through the aisles to grab the few items we needed. I could hear the sound of a small child screaming and crying as I approached the dairy section for my cheese. I grabbed a block of store brand cheese and put it in my cart and headed toward the front of the store—as I passed one of the frozen food aisles, I noticed the source of the screaming and crying—a young mother and three small children. I don’t know what it was that made me decide to turn down that aisle—maybe just something about that child’s cries set off a little alarm bell in me. I pretended I was checking out the frozen pizzas while drawing nearer to the mother and her children. Upon closer inspection, I could see that the little boy who was doing most of the crying was no more than maybe three years old. His little brother looked to be maybe a year younger. Both sat in the cart, while their little sister, the baby, perhaps a year old, sat buckled in the seat at the front of the cart. All three of the children were somewhat dirty and wearing kind of ragged-looking clothes. Their young mom, who looked like she couldn’t be a day over 20 years old, was wearing dirty looking clothes. She looked as if her hair had not been washed in a few days, and when she smiled at me, it was obvious she had not brushed her teeth in a while, either. Then it dawned on me—this family was probably homeless. “Sit down!” she said in a panicked voice as the middle child tried to climb out of the cart. She was probably terrified he was going to fall and get hurt. “We are going back to the hotel soon, then you’ll get to eat.” She turned to me and said, “I’m sorry—they have not had dinner yet and they are grumpy.” I noticed she had some cheap Banquet TV dinners in her cart—if they were staying in a hotel, the only way she could likely prepare food was in a microwave. And I said to her, “You don’t have to be sorry! Toddlers have tantrums in the grocery store! That’s what mine did when they were little, too!” I turned to the children and said, “Just be patient, she will get you home soon!” The oldest little boy looked at me and stopped crying, but only for a minute—then he suddenly bawled “hungry!” The other children started crying too. Something about the way that child’s cry just tore at me—I said, “If you guys can be good for Mom, maybe there will be a treat waiting for you when you leave.” I didn’t want to embarrass the poor young mom any further, so I said—"I am heading to the front of the store—will you be a while?” And she said—“I only need a few more things, then we are leaving.” And I said—"I will wait for you.” Then, I went to the deli and grabbed a rotisserie chicken, a pack of rolls, and got the clerk to get me some of the mashed potatoes and corn on the steam table, and then I headed for the check-out line. The young mother and her babies arrived at the front of the store at the same time I did. There was a display of soft sugar cookies near the self-check-out. I grabbed a red frosted pack and a green frosted pack and asked the two little boys to pick the one they wanted. They picked green. The mother went to the check out and I told her—"You only have a few things—let me get that for you.” I paid for her TV dinners and my few items and got $20 cash back out of the machine and gave it to her. Then I gave her the chicken dinner I bought her and she put it under the cart to keep the little ones safely away from the hot items. The children were still crying—especially the oldest little boy, who was bawling unconsolably and still saying he was hungry… I realized the smell of hot food was probably driving them nuts. I opened the cookies and gave one to each child, in the hope this would hold them over a little while. “Cookie!” he cried and started laughing. She looked down and said “Thanks—we have been having a hard time lately. I was living with my boyfriend, and we were staying with his parents. Then when he broke up with me they kicked me and the kids out. We have a hotel room for a couple of weeks, then I don’t know what we will do.” I patted her on the back, and I told her I was glad to help, and I dug in my purse and gave her one of my business cards from my work. I told her to call me on Monday when I am back in the office, so I can send her a list of resources that might be able to help her. She went out to the parking lot, and the mom went to her old beat-up looking car. I went home and made my pot of chili. As I ate my dinner, I thought about that young woman and her children—and how we will soon see many more young families just like them once policies start taking effect increasing inflation making it nearly impossible for many poor people to afford even the basics. I wonder how many young women will end up like her, with several children they cannot afford to take care of because birth control has been outlawed. How many will stay in abusive relationships, so they don’t end up homeless with their children? How many young women will die due to lack of proper prenatal care? How many young children will not survive childhood due to preventable diseases or gun violence? How many starving, homeless children will it take for the voters in this country to wake up and realize that MAGA is a lie? The same hypocrites who holler about “saving the babies” could care less about this young woman and her children—they would be the first to put her down after they created the conditions that causes many situations like this in the first place. Remember while you sit down to your holiday dinners this week—many of our fellow citizens, including many, many children will have nothing. This is just one of many reasons to fight Trump and the Republicans with everything we have! Follow me at @tonyahky.bsky.social [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/27/2288997/-Last-night-we-had-chili?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/