I wrote this note yesterday, while at the Social Security Administration office somewhere outside Metro-Atlanta, trying to apply for replacement of our lost SSCs. I did not realize that this office gets so busy! But the irony is in the name of this institution, “SOCIAL SECURITY“
…………
A senior white woman comes for help with her SS benefits….all she needs is HELP!
Guard tells her, “come outside and calm down. I”ll go in and talk to them on your behalf.
WW: “I don’t wanna talk to nobody. I am tired of talking. All I need is to get paid. I worked so damn hard!”
Guard: “You are too upset. Nobody is gonna talk to you like that.”
WW: “Yes, I am upset. I want my money.”
G: “I suggest you take a walk and calm down. Have a nice day.”
WW: “I cannot have a good damn nice day.”
She sobs, hits the walls, and sobs…. Nobody pats her on the shoulder, or wraps their arms around her or asks, “Are you ok.” and I am standing the closest distance to her…perhaps now i miss the “nosy neighbor” in Uganda and Edinburgh”!
She goes back in and is out again with the guard …….. WW: “I need to talk to my case worker. I need to get my medication. I gotta use CVS. I do not have any money.”
G: “Today did not go good. You gotta go home.”
WW: “I am gonna go.”
Elderly man interjects…..”Excuse me miss, will a dollar help?”
WW: “A dollar won’t do no damn good!”
……
She walks off screaming. “Sons of bitches. God damn it….. I worked at that nursing home for 15 damn years!”
I worry if she’s gonna make it home? Will she get hit by a car? Will she kill herself? How is she gonna get home in this neighborhood that visibly has no public transport? My son and I just parted with $20.00 one way to get here…
………
How I miss my lavish life in Uganda! It had shielded me from this for the last three years…I am too far from retirement…but i didn’t ever wanna have to experience this trauma again…of the “other” America: underserved, underreported, un-undercovered, underprivileged, spat-out….but for my son…I gotta do what I gotta do! So, we are here to stay, in our other home…called America….and try to reclaim and recreate “the American dream”, with our might….before it jettisons us too!
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