Yet, this is exactly what I did this past holiday. My reasoning is quite understandable (at least from my perspective), yet it still does not sit right with me. I chose politeness and “etiquette” over my principles, and I feel crappy about it.

I spent the Christmas holidays with my sister and her friends.  They are nice people and were a vital support system for my sister when her relationship with Christina’s father crumbled. Yet, these people are straight up rednecks – pick up truck driving, wrangler jeans wearing, confederate flag flying Rednecks!

I have a hard time biting my tongue. I slipped once or twice, especially when it came to baby daddy.  Yet, I am quite surprised that I didn’t flip on a few occasions. God knows I had every right to. I didn’t bother to tell my mother, as I knew what her response would be – I am overreacting, I am being ridiculous, I am being too sensitive.

I felt quite uncomfortable with Old Glory all around me – blankets, mini-flags and screen savers. It was all just a bit too much for this mixedchick.  I don’t even know if they realize that I am a mixedchick. Surely they had no clue that I am queer.

While I am disturbed by the circus that was Christmas, I am more appalled by my silence. I felt too uncomfortable to say anything and I felt too trapped to be able to remove myself from the situation. I did have a brief reprieve when I met my Swirlie sister and her family for brunch on Friday.

I should have said something to my sister (at least in private).  Letting her assume everything was fine may not have been the most honest approach. Yet, you live, you learn, and you move on!

“Why is no one helping our struggling middle class?” I have CNN running most days- background noise if you will, and this question has been posed a total of five times today alone.

Does poverty and financial strife among our mostly suburban, middle class hold more currency than the  lack of housing, adequate food and nutrition, access to health care, mental health counseling, clean clothing, etc., experienced by millions of Americans prior to the present financial meltdown?

Millions of children across this country live without health care, quality education opportunities, and are forced to live in conditions comparable to those in the third world. Yet, it has taken the deterioration of the quality of life for the American middle class for the country to truly wake up.

Local and state governments have failed for decades in adequately addressing issues of adequate housing and health care services, as well as quality education for much of the nation’s working and non-working poor.  These existing conditions are exacerbated by the credit and mortgage crisis, as well as an annual job loss that has far exceeded the 1 million mark.  Over 4 million homeowners are behind in their mortgage payments.  If conditions continue to deteriorate, over 5 million may lose their homes between 2008 an 2010. The current procedures and processes of loan modifications are fundamentally useless for those who lose jobs or have mortgages that are under water.

Rescue missions and soup kitchens across the country are bursting at their seams.  Food banks are seeing record crowds and are unable to service all those coming to them for help.  They are finding it more difficult to find donors due to the financial crunch.  Shelters are unable to house the many families who lose their homes due to foreclosure or job loss.  Families are separated as shelters dedicated to maintaining family units reach and exceed capacity.

Leslie Kaufman recently reported on the plan to reduce New York shelter capacities in all of its burroughs:

The city has a massive municipal shelter system that houses roughly 6,500 homeless individuals every night. But it also has a much more ad-hoc system for street homeless who are highly resistant to institutionalized settings.

That alternative system is composed of eight drop-in centers, which have showers and seats but no beds. From there, homeless men can find one-night beds in churches and synagogues – or, if they can show they’ve been on the street for more than nine months, they can use city-run safe-haven beds. But each night, more than 500 hundred people, on average, end up sleeping in the chairs at the drop-in centers – some by choice and some because there are not enough beds in the faith-based centers.

While we are all feeling the crunch, those of us who are employed can help in several ways that are not overly burdensome to our own wallets.

• donate unused canned goods from your cupboard to a local soup kitchen
• donate your time to a local food bank of soup kitchen. This is also a great family building activity.
• set out non-perishable food donation box at your place of employment or church (Our office allowed everyone who donated a canned good to wear jeans to work the following Friday.)

Poverty in India, China, various regions in Africa, etc. are widely covered.  Yet, America’s poor, whether they live in urban, rural or suburban communities, are practically forgotten.

People living in poverty are more likely to be obese, thereby making diabetes, heart disease, asthma and other such illnesses also more prevalent.  These elements contribute to an overall shorter life expectancy for individuals living in poverty.

Sanjay Gupta, resident M.D. on CNN, recently hosted a segment on urban health and obesity.  He highlighted the fact that many grocers refuse to open chains in poverty stricken areas. He makes the indirect link that high poverty areas are also high crime areas.  The result – residents have little to no access to fresh fruits and vegetables, integral components to quality nutrition.  Yet, there is a fast food chain at every restaurant. Most corner stores boast chips, cookies and regular sodas. Most of the canned goods are extremely high in sodium.

Several school districts across the country have removed vending machines and revamped their lunch menus in order to address childhood obesity.  However, little headway can be made if parents are unable to provide their children with healthy and nutritious foods at home.  In fact, in some instances, parents have criticized the removal of vending machines.

It will be interesting to see how the new Obama Administration tackles the national health care crisis, particularly in poverty stricken areas. Issues of nutrition and obesity directly impact the larger health care crisis and vise versa.