Thursday  was New Year’s Eve.  I forgot about that, and drove to the library where I had a book on hold. Noticed the parking lot was almost empty as I headed for the door.  It was locked.   On my way back, I observed another silver car parked nearby.  How strange, I  thought.   Why are all the windows covered with blankets, papers, and clothes?  Light bulb.  I’m looking at a homeless person  sleeping in their car at the library at one o’clock in the afternoon. I don’t think they had a very Merry Christmas.

I’ve observed  homeless people lingering in the parks and  downtown near drugstores and Dollar Stores.  But seeing someone sleeping in their car was a first. I suppose the library parking lot is a safe place for that.   I sat there for a few minutes, feeling utterly helpless. Obviously, the person doesn’t feel safe sleeping in their car at night.  Or it may be against the law in our city.  If you’re a woman, it could be dangerous  after dark.   But where does this person go from dusk to dawn?  How do you while away the hours while sitting or driving  in the darkness?

Taking a closer look, you can see that this car is in pretty decent shape.  It’s not dented or rusty or dirty. I don’t pay much attention to car models and years, but it looked fairly new.  Maybe this was a small business owner who suddenly went bust. Or  someone who had a decent  job before the pandemic hit.  But suddenly, he/she is out of work.  And no place to go.  Maybe an only child. Or someone without a nearby family.  For all I know, there may have been a couple of little kids sleeping in the back seat of that car.

Oddly, this morning as I read the various news feeds on the net, I saw that the stock market is at an all time high.  Small investors, especially, are betting that we’re going to have a booming economy as soon as everyone gets vaccinated.  But I’m not sure of that.  According to Brookings Institute 20% of American workers have lost jobs and are lining up at food banks.  Many of these jobs  will not come back.

Obviously, the pandemic has worsened the gap between rich and poor in this country.   And it’s only getting worse . Highly educated people able to work from home may have piled up lots of money in their savings account. Meanwhile, the less skilled are food deprived, and living in their cars. Will the economy bounce back in time to save these people from poverty?   I hope so, but it doesn’t seem very likely.

In the words of the poet, John Donne, No man is an island.

No man is an island entire of itself; every man 
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; 
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe 
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as 
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine 
own were; any man's death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in mankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.