What I saw today

My wife and I go shopping every Sunday for the week, and since my fight with cancer in 2003 we have been going to the Whole Foods Market on 65th and Roosevelt. The employees are gracious, friendly, quirky and very active trying to maintain the store shelves and help people find what they need. It's a great store.

Especially friendly today was the middle aged woman who bagged the groceries, commenting on things that we were buying that she enjoyed herself, or about something that she hadn't seen before but now wanted to try. She made it fun to be in line.

Inevitably, my thoughts ran to the current election campaign and how it would or could affect this wonderful woman trying her best to make our day a little bit better.

I can almost hear Chris Matthews or Newt Gingrich listening to a description of how hard she worked and how friendly she was, and declaring that they could see such a wonderful soul working her way up the chain of responsibility to become a shift supervisor, a store manager, a regional manager and maybe even a CEO! That she had so much going for her, and if she only worked a little harder and tried to get the attention of the right people, she could move up so she could afford to send her kids to college and retire comfortably. That's the story that we have gotten for 30+ years, that we just have to work a little harder and everything will turn out roses.

I have a different vision. I want someone like that to be able to work an 8 hour day and go home to spend time with her family. I want her to be earning enough NOW so that she can afford to pay her mortgage, help send her kids to college, and save money so she can have an enjoyable and secure retirement. I saw her working hard, enjoying her day, and trying to make other people enjoy their day as well. Why should she have to work harder in order to get access to the basics of the American Dream? A child becoming sick or an injury at work would really hurt a person like this, and it shouldn't.

I think that's the vision that Barack Obama has for America, where people can give a days work for a days pay, and enjoy their lives.

What did you see today?

Chad Lupkes
Chair, Washington State Progressive Caucus