Tuesday, March 10, 2009

It's Gonna Be Alright

March 10, 2009
AT 11:45 am,

Dear Norma,
I am at the OR DHS Adult & Family Services/Self-Sufficiency Center. I am here to apply for an "OR Trail Card". Otherwise known as food stamps. They're electronic now - little debit cards with scant cash value. This is the modern world, Norma. Seventy-one years in the future. Could you still be alive? Me, I am barely existing. Can't complain, though. Yet I always do.
The skies are grey
And almost never blue
I wish you were still around
I'd like to speak with you.

Your Friend AR


Dear Norma,
It's still March 10, 2009. But now it's 1:25 pm. I'm still waiting at DHS. I think an "intake meeting" is what's in store for me next. Unfortunately, bureaucracy is still as inefficient as ever. And more people are in need in this recession [what did you and your family do in the Great Depression - can you remember, Norma?]. So many hard luck stories to be heard. Norma, I'm eavesdropping. I should stop! Oh wait, I'm being hailed. More later...Norma, I was denied food stamps because I make too much money on unemployment. At this age, do did you understand irony? I need to go again and walk to the coffee shop. Norma, the skies are the color of pumice...

Your Friend AR

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