The Poor are the Purest Conservationists

So, for AmeriCorps Week we camped out at the farmers market to tell people about AmeriCorps. As were were sitting there, friends of mine from the Getting Ahead class were coming by and we were chatting. I noticed they all had bags of clothing with them. Lots of bags. Then I remembered that it was St. John's "Open Closet" day.

Twice a month on Saturday from 8-noon, they have a free store. I need a new pair of shoes, and even $10 is outside my budget right now, especially since my bike repairs are going to be like $50, so I thought I'd run over and see if I can find some shoes. What I discovered is the culture of poverty.

For example, when I first arrived I couldn't get into the store because a family of like 8 people, who I would observe as being Latino because of their skin color and that they were speaking Spanish, were coming out the door. Each had a bag or two of the clothing. Inside were several more, mostly women, carefully picking through the clothing. The clothing was only roughly sized so it took a lot of work to pick out goods. There were lots of men's and women's jeans, and modest price-point clothing.

By looking at the brands of clothing available, and the types that had been selected for the store, the people giving to St. Johns were lower-middle class. The brands, although mostly 10 years old or so, were from places like JC Pennys, Sears, and those kind of retailers. Even in the suit section [I also was looking for work clothes] were unlined and mostly polyester. Quality clothing is made of linen, cotton, wool, or would be a polyester crepe, not a polyester twill. Anyway, this is the story of two classes.

I wrote a paper in college about how thrift stores are like archeological sites. In my research (although this never got into the paper by the end) I read this book about the beginning of thrift stores. Thrift stores are recycling. They are part of a system. At the top, clothing is designed and built. The clothes are produced and it takes energy and planning to get them to the right stores in places all over the world. It takes oil, both in transportation, and oil to even make the polyester. Oil is controlled by those with the most power and money. The power feeds itself oil in these clothes. The middle class consumption of it is immense. It is the primary consumption.

Well meaning people know they consume a lot so when styles have changed, bodies have changed, and they recognize they have excess, they cast away their clothing in a culturally appropriate way - a type of philanthropy - by giving it to Goodwills, Salvation Armies, and non-profits so it can be re-used by someone not on the same consumption level. This is a second generation of the energy of oil.

So, if you think about it, people - not just the trendy hipsters - but the people whose situation dictates they shop or get clothes from these free stores are the ultimate conservationists. It isn't the people with low-incomes who drive out to Asbury to the Goodwill. The poor shop local out of necessity.

The ones I observed there were all complaining because of the rain. They had walked there, children in tow in second-hand strollers.

The sad part is still how oil prices most directly affect people in poverty at the same time as they are saving it. Fluctuations in transportation costs and that unpredictable fluctuation represents a higher percentage of their total income. Of my total income.

So, as I was leaving the store (with the one item that I could find up to my standards, but sadly not a pair of shoes) another woman and her 2 kids was also leaving the store. I think I paid attention to her because last night at Dubuquefest, my friends were talking about the huge number of disfigured and inbred-looking people who were there. I knew several of the people they were pointing out from Getting Ahead and Hillcrest Wellness Center. I stood up for the people I knew, but I think I should call out that negative judgmental behavior from my friends more.

I mentioned in passing that I hope she didn't have to travel far in the rain. She said it wasn't far. Her shopping cart/stroller was filled with bags of clothing. I asked if she needed help carrying the stroller up the stairs, and she accepted. As I was leaning down to help pick up the stroller with the baby in it, her other daughter was holding an obviously second-hand doll. She was really proud of this polyester (oil) and plastic doll she had just got. This doll had been loved by someone else and now it was going to be re-loved by her. That doll is a the ultimate form of oil conservation.