Advocate

This is a glorious week with the wedding of my daughter soon to happen. As I have now been around a couple of people in real crisis I am ready to scream at how seniors so often get the ‘raw end’ of the deal. I have one of painting grandmas whose financial setting is now totally messed up. She had one of her grandkids deposit and then cashes a check for a friend that turned out to be bogus. So for the last month everything going into her account has either bounced or is taken to go towards a rather large debt.

I went into her bank to see what I have to do to help her. It turns out that I need a power of attorney, she’s needs recent ID and I also need a notary. These will take some time but not impossible. It is sad to see what has happened to her and without someone standing up on her behalf the bank would take all of her funds and she would lose her house over the next 6 months.

I am blessed to have some amazing friends who are going to help her get through this crisis. She will get back on her feet in the next couple of months. The challenge is that this is enough to send her into a tailspin and be totally depressed.

I have another friend who works at a local grocery store who also is having a tough time. She has been terminated because of allowing customers to use her card to make purchases where they get the discount. I thought that customer service was the key in all businesses but not in this one L She has been without work for the last 3 weeks and is afraid of what can happen. I am ready to confront her manager and ask why he is systematically firing all of his older workers.

I have another friend who has a newer job at a factory. He is fearful of loosing his job because he has been unemployed on and off the last year or so. Yesterday half of the workers left because of how bad it has been. The boss asked him why and he told him the truth. Now, he is afraid that he will be next or that one of the former workers will go after him. It is also clear that the management takes advantage of their workers because of their ethnicity.

So what are you supposed to do? Stand by and watch a group of people be abused because they can’t defend themselves? I can see Jesus going through the market place outside the temple turning over tables and using a scourge to get his point across. Unfortunately this won’t work for me. I can still get help from a varied group of friends that can be advocates for all of my friends. The sad reality is that seniors, Hispanics or African Americans or often discriminated against.