by Doug Foote - Reposted from Working America's Main Street Blog
Inside the Beltway, generosity and selflessness too often fall to the wayside in the face of political machinations and personal gain. That’s why, on a day when Congress continues to haggle over whether or not to extend crucial unemployment insurance to those who need it most, I wanted to highlight this story:
At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers' layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.
Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register.
"She was doing it in the memory of her husband who had just died, and she said she wasn't going to be able to spend it and wanted to make people happy with it," Deppe said. The woman did not identify herself and only asked people to "remember Ben," an apparent reference to her husband.
Deppe, who said she's worked in retail for 40 years, had never seen anything like it.
"It was like an angel fell out of the sky and appeared in our store," she said.
Karl Graff, manager at an Omaha Kmart where multiple layaway accounts have been paid off anonymously, said the events have renewed his holiday spirit. “To be honest, in retail, it’s easy to get cynical about the holidays, because you’re grinding it out when everybody else is having a family time,” said Karl. “It’s really encouraging to see this side of Christmas again.”
Forget retail – we work in politics. Cynicism is our bread and butter.
As I type, Congressmen a few blocks away are trying to figure out the easiest way to let the government continue working for a little bit longer so they can rush home to their districts, where many will attend fundraisers with America’s wealthiest so they can raise enough money to stay in power next year.
On the other side of the Capitol, Senate leaders are horse-trading unemployment benefits – the sole source of income for millions of Americans – in exchange for keeping taxes low on millionaires, giveaways to gigantic oil corporations, and cuts to Medicaid.
If you’re not cynical in this business, you need your pulse checked. But stories like this one - that remind us of people treating each other like fellow human beings instead of pawns in a game - can help us keep chugging into the new year. If members of the 99 Percent can show compassion during the holiday season with donations of $25 and $50, imagine what the ultra-wealthy could do if they shared the same sentiment?
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