Tom Waits has a great voice for despairing times...I remember those days. A dime was worth a lot. When I was 4, my mother would send me to the corner of the street, with a dime, to buy a loaf of bread. And I would get 2 pennies back.
Presently, more than a few dimes are needed to stop starvation in Somalia. The Rebels refuse Western help. They prefer their children to die. But they need MSF. And our medical teams will go only if they're allowed to bring food in the country, So we're on the phone begging big companies to donate. They're so generous. Cans of soup, and beans, and pasta, and tuna etc. are pouring in.
But here, the prices are climbing. In the last three months, we've been paying twenty-five cents more for everything. And the jobs are declining. We have a new Toronto mayor who is reducing social services and who is cleaning up the city. Panhandling has been banned on our streets. Isn't it funny to fine the beggars who ask for a cup of coffee (meaning a sip of wine, of course!)?
Tell me, Tom Waits, to whom will I give my dimes now that we have banned poverty...at least on the streets?
plus ca change....
ReplyDeleteTom Waits has a great voice for despairing times...I remember those days. A dime was worth a lot. When I was 4, my mother would send me to the corner of the street, with a dime, to buy a loaf of bread. And I would get 2 pennies back.
ReplyDeletePresently, more than a few dimes are needed to stop starvation in Somalia. The Rebels refuse Western help. They prefer their children to die. But they need MSF. And our medical teams will go only if they're allowed to bring food in the country, So we're on the phone begging big companies to donate. They're so generous. Cans of soup, and beans, and pasta, and tuna etc. are pouring in.
But here, the prices are climbing. In the last three months, we've been paying twenty-five cents more for everything. And the jobs are declining. We have a new Toronto mayor who is reducing social services and who is cleaning up the city. Panhandling has been banned on our streets. Isn't it funny to fine the beggars who ask for a cup of coffee (meaning a sip of wine, of course!)?
Tell me, Tom Waits, to whom will I give my dimes now that we have banned poverty...at least on the streets?
I'm trying so hard to write just a one-line-comment like Jams.
ReplyDeleteHere, I think I have it:
Rien de nouveau sous le soleil...