Signs of the Times

My granddaughter's boyfriend was laid off from his job at
a body shop near Atlanta. People are cashing insurance
checks, he said, and not getting their autos repaired.

The same thing is happening in this area. I started
noticing all the crumpled fenders, dented doors,
crooked bumpers. I've seen plastic over broken-out
windows and wired-on tail lights. The driver of that
Neon with the bashed-in side could use the check to
make two mortgage payments, and the car still gets
her there and back. Or maybe she used it to buy gas.
As I write, the best price per gallon here is $3.81, still
hovering around $4.00 at some stations.

Chattooga has the highest unemployment rate of all North
Georgia counties, over 14% as compared to the state's
slightly over 5%. Foreclosures in the legal section of the
local paper are at a record high for the past year.
Factories have closed, the county's largest employer, a
textile mill, laid off 200 last spring.

One bright spot: the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), in cooperation with the local
school board, has been providing free meals for
children throughout June and July. Any child 18 or
under can get one free meal a day at various locations
staffed by volunteers. After school starts in August,
children can get free lunches at school.
At least the little children are eating every day.