Jane Yoder's story not only makes a statement about the hardships for Americans during the Great Depression, but makes a statement about an issue facing modern day American society as well. Jane grew up in a family struggling to make ends meet. All she wanted when she was young was the guarantee of warmth. She wanted a coat or a blanket and even that was difficult to afford. She went on talk about her current lifestyle when it comes to saving money verse spending it. She talks about people who own thirty blouses and that she could never bring herself to own so many. She grew up grateful to have one or two shirts to wear, and even though she could afford it now, she could never bring herself to spend money on owning so many unnecessary clothes. In our modern society, owning thirty blouses is nothing. I would bet that my friends and each have over a hundred shirts each in our closets, and too us this still doesn't seem to be enough. Americans have become greedy, never satisfied with what we have and always wanting more. Jane did not grow up with that outlook on life. Her father worked tirelessly to earn enough money to provide food for his children, but even that seemed an impossible task at times. In her interview, Jane spoke of how her and her other three siblings would quietly suffer through the hunger, never asking their father to go to the grocery store because they were aware of their father's financial struggle and knew that if there was not already food at home that day, they were not going to afford anything at the store. Her son spoke about this subject as well. He brought up the fact that he and his siblings have never had to go to bed hungry, and they probably never will. They can never truly understand the struggle that his mother, along with millions of other Americans, endured. Our society is incredibly blest to have been exempt from experiencing this kind of lifestyle, but it would greatly benefit each and every one of us to learn these lessons of learning to be grateful for what we are fortunate enough to have, and resist the temptation to spend frivolously on what we do not need.
The interview with Peggy Terry brought up another issue in modern society of how differently Americans think and behave towards the poor or the homeless. During the Great Depression, people understood that being poor did not mean that you were lazy, but it meant that you had suffered a great lost and were struggling to get by. Peggy and her husband would hitch rides from town to town. Along the way, people would offer them a place to sleep or a real mean which was scarce to come by. American's who were wealthy enough to afford their own food and maintain a respectable home, would often share their excess food with their neighbors. People when out of their way to help strangers and understood that it is the duty of every human being to lend a helping hand to anyone who is less fortunate than they are. In her interview, Peggy told the story of a woman who brought Peggy and her husband into her home, gave them a place to sleep, and provided them with a feast. She gave the pregnant Peggy milk to drink and even filled a bucket full of milk for Peggy when she and her husband were ready to leave. Peggy and her husband begged the woman to let them clean her rugs or at least do some form of work to repay the woman’s kindness. This woman wanted nothing from them except to let her help them. Still, she allowed them to clean her rugs because she knew they wanted to prove that they were not asking for charity and allow them to show their gratitude. This story reminds a bit of Sandra Bullock’s movie, The Blind Side, when she brought a poor high school boy into her home and took care of him as if her were her own son. She did not want anything from him in return, but only wanted to provide him with a better life in any way that she could. That story was incredibly touching, but unfortunately, that kind of selfless act does not happen very often. Now days, people pass judgments on poor and homeless men and women. People assume that because they are out of work that they must be lazy and unwilling to go out and look for a job. Of course there are some Americans who still make an effort to help the poor. People will give a dollar to homeless man on the sidewalk or give their leftovers from dinner to a woman sitting on the side of the road, but even these acts are nothing in comparison to the selflessness shown by some Americans during the depression. Americans were understanding and sympathetic then, showing a level of care that you just do not see in the average American anymore.
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