Speaking Up For Sandi (by Andy McGee)
By Corey Thompson, filed in Andy McGee, Guest Features on Feb.06, 2009
***Editor’s Note: Andy McGee is a Columnist for “The Thirsty Quill.” While Mr. McGee often writes for ‘The Quill’ from a Liberal perspective, it is important for the readers to note that his current submission is written from a non-partisan point-of-view. As always, “The Thirsty Quill” greatly appreciates Andy’s participation and contributions to our site.***
“Speaking Up For Sandi”
By: Andy McGee, Columnist
Driving through the SC countryside on foggy evenings is both a treat and an adventure for me. My current position requires that I travel in most cases around 800 miles a week all of which are traveled within the curious and scenic confines of the Palmetto State. I have become pretty fond of walking around these little towns in rural SC, to try to get a feel for what life is like for these small town folks.
Last night I stopped in Clinton SC, a nice little town of around 8,000 people. (*from 2000 census) As I walked around the streets of Clinton I could not help but to feel the startling vacancy of this town. Car Dealerships with brand new shiny models sitting high at attention begging for someone to walk in and purchase. I asked the young lady at the hotel I was staying at for a good restaurant and she recommended a nice Greek/Italian place up the road a few miles.
“The Parthenon” was located in the heart of what must have been downtown Clinton. I drove into the parking lot a bit confused as there were literally no cars in the entire lot. Not one. Seeing that the lights were on and the waitress was standing at the door waving me in I felt compelled to go through with the advice and give this place a shot.
I am damn glad I did.
This place, the Parthenon, was decorated very nice and you could tell it was a small time place by the obviously missing bar.
“No Bar,” I asked?
“Yeah” said Sandi, my waitress, “We got a church back yonder, whispering “Black Church” don’t care too much to have a bar in front of it.”
Ok, a little astonished by this fact I sat down and had Sandi go over the specials.
“Little slow this evenin I take it?”
“Yeah, we aint had no business since all them people been getting laid off, kind of a bummer.”
It was at this time that I noticed, sitting in a booth across the dining room a little girl, 2 and a half to 3 years old tops, coloring in a book with what looked like her 8 year old sister sitting there with her.
“That’s my girls, Sandi said, “husband works late shift during the week and they stay with me here. Boss is good about em’s long as they don’t get to causin’ a racket.” I told her they were fine by me and then proceeded to ask about why things were so slow. Partially knowing what to expect, I listened to Sandi tell me about working for the plant that made “Fruit of the Loom” socks for over 17 years. She was a shift supervisor and she made it longer than almost anyone before they shut down all operations just 6 weeks ago.
I ordered my food, listened to the girls talk innocently about absolutely nothing and making it seem very important and I began to feel an immense amount of sorrow. I felt this way as I ordered my meal, a gyro plate with Greek potatoes and some type of grape leaves wrapped around something crazy. I realized that this restaurant was not going to be here the next time I came through, I looked at the empty Chrysler store across the street at 6:30 pm and I felt sure that it to would be vacant as well.
I went for a little walk after my meal and saw store front after store front bolted down. Barber shop poles terminally stopped, shops still stocked with clothes just barred up and empty. It was then that I decided. These people need a voice, these people need an advocate, they need someone to say, you deserve your town back.
So that is when I decided that I would begin to chronicle my little trips and point out both the tragic and the triumphant. I will speak up for the Sandi’s of this State that I am so proud to call home. As I got back to my car I heard the bells of the local church ringing, the song so familiar and the tone so clear.
“What
A
Friend
We have
In Je-sus”
There are hundreds of towns all over the country suffering through this recession. I hope that in our haste to get in front of our computers, TV shows, and sporting events, we remember that while we are watching all the excess and marketable, the backbone of our nation is being riddled with disease. I, for one, find it vastly more important to discuss than whom the Bachelor is giving the rose to, or who Paula and Randy are going to vote for on American Idol.
In the past few weeks we have all dealt with some pretty heavy topics, and I feel we have done so in a clear and amicable way. I challenge everyone who subscribes to this blog to find stories like this one and let’s get them out into the open. Who knows maybe we can help folks like Sandi. Or at least let it be known we care.
***Editor’s Note: Andy McGee is a Columnist for “The Thirsty Quill.” While Mr. McGee often writes for ‘The Quill’ from a Liberal perspective, it is important for the readers to note that his current submission is written from a non-partisan point-of-view. As always, “The Thirsty Quill” greatly appreciates Andy’s participation and contributions to our site.***
February 7th, 2009 on 8:16 am
‘Speaking up for Sandi”. I read your article w/ interest. Poignant and reproduced the world over in our “New and Improved Global Economy”.
As you might guess I live in one of the jungles of Africa, where our host country has discovered TWO large deposits of oil. This is a country with sewers in the street, no consistent supply of drinkable water since the British left, unstable electricity and an incredibly high infant mortality rate. Where more people die of malaria than HIV. Where living to age 57 is a reasonable goal.
And yet they have OIL. This week my husband conversed w/ an American sent over to explore the ocean oil deposits w/ his company’s robotics. “Is it as great a deposit as they hoped?” my husband queried.
“Oh, yes,” the man from Louisiana replied. “It just depends on whether Obama will let them drill. President Clinton made a special trip over here last time to stop them.”
Especially difficult for me as I reflect on the death of a healthy 21 year old mother who died in childbirth two weeks ago, because they didn’t have the knowledge or facilities to save her.
How many more years in America until this is the same story? Where is the middle class going in America? Why aren’t we stopping this drift to the feudal system we left so many years ago?
Oh, I’ve been to college. I know there are no simple answers. But I can’t help but think that America’s decision to rid ourselves of the ‘oppression’ of the 10 COMMANDMENTS has only resulted in a society with no rules at all. Corporate, hi-stakes robbery is common, often emptying the retirement funds of many more people like Sandi. (What does an $87,000 rug look like?) All the while outsourcing to third world countries to ostensibly spread the wealth to the lower classes who hunger the world over. And yet, who really benefits financially, but the uppper classes in those countries also.
AMERICA. A land where everyone could own their own land. Where a poor boy could be President. Isn’t that what made America great in the first place? A country where you worshipped the Creator and treated each other as if they also were created by God. Where you worked hard and shared VOLUNTARILY with those who needed help, knowing that they would do the same for you in hard times. Where having more money wasn’t the universal ethical basis for all decisions.
Poor boys cannot become President anymore. How much did Obama spend on the inauguration? My two guards live on $2400/ year. If I weren’t here, how would they live? The government here doesn’t even pay their teachers. Literally. Yet the newly elected leaders hold the keys to enough money to build a house for everyone in this country.
OK, this is my first RANT. It’s too great a problem to stay silent and I am powerless to fix it. So, I’ll rant.
February 8th, 2009 on 12:03 am
By all means Jungle Bunny:
Rant on.
Rant on.
I appreciate you sharing your perspective to this story. Your response reminds me of what a gentleman from the Congo, who was fortunate enough to be in America, told me once, “It is better to be a dog in America than a man in the Congo. A dog can be granted sympathy and receive handouts, it can sniff through scraps and not get stopped.” In his country water was poisoned, food was very scarce, and violence and war were all he knew. Yet here he was hundreds of thousands of miles away from all that death and emptiness, through major sacrifices and a little luck, living in the “Greatest Nation in the World”.
This country is great, its people are generous, and its belief in hard work, charity, and betterment are still very much alive. This is not to say we do not have major deficiencies, I have often said that this country’s moral bankruptcy is in far worse shape than our economy. It seems like the value of a human life is at all time low both home and abroad. Combine that with the debauchery and excess in which this corporate system works and “Wha-Lah” The crumbling of even the most nostalgic, ideologically sound nations.
So where do we find these answers to ending greed, stopping hunger, returning our nations moral footing to lead the world in humanity and quality of life? Perhaps we can continue this dialogue and find these answers together. Thanks again for bringing your world to us.