Inflation

Inflation affects a lot of people in ways that are not protected for by the market. If a person wants his life insurance value to keep pace with inflation he has to pay extra for a separate rider on his policy. Babysitting rates only rise to the next dollar level when parents realize the only person they can possibly get to watch their one-year-old for six dollars an hour is a pregnant, chain-smoking stripper. The teenage Kristys and MaryAnnes of the world have set the bar at $10.00. Free market economists have argued for centuries (well, over a century) that capitalism works because individuals will always look out for number one, thereby necessitating compromise with employers. The market is self-correcting.

And yet one sect of society, the homeless, has never really protected itself from the rising costs of goods due to inflation. Until recently, anyway.

As far back as I can remember panhandlers have asked passers by for their spare change. "Can you spare a quarter miss?"
"I'm sorry. I don't have any change."
"Okay. God bless you."

Lately, though, it's been, "Miss, can you spare a dollar or two?
"Ma'am, my car's broke down and I need $2.50 to catch the bus."

At first these requests seemed outrageous. Oh, you need two bucks? I'd think. Do you take debit?

When I was staring vacantly out of the windows today, though, it occurred to me: the cost of everything is rising. Why shouldn't the cost of being homeless, and by extension, charity, follow suit?

In just seven years the cost of goods has risen eighteen percent. An item that cost $1.00 in 2000 would cost $1.18 today*. That quarter you gave a homeless stranger back in 2000 is only worth twenty cents now. Not even two damn bits.

The problem is that there is very little incentive for people to proportionally increase their generosity toward our city's homeless. Throwing a few dollars at a homeless guy is not tax deductible. I know guys, though, who will not even accept their change from a cash transaction because they don't want it jangling around in their pockets. Sparing one's change ain't no thing, but any more than that is pushing it for most of us. Sometimes I think I would give a few dollars to one of those street performers with no talent to shut the hell up...

McDonald's items are no longer in the change range. The cheapest fare is found on the dollar menu. For someone deriving their income from the change of others this means at least two transactions to earn a Snack Wrap**. The city council is no help. They've basically encourage the homeless to drive up their asking price by banning the sale of cheap malt liquors in areas that are considered to be frequented by homeless drinkers. A man cannot even ride the Night Train around here. How can we expect a panhandler with a hankering for some beer to feel satisfied with a quarter when he has to raise eight bucks for a six pack of Heineken?

Most of us are protected by the State Legislature with annual minimum wage increases or by our employers through cost-of-living raises, so I implore you, the next time a panhandler asks you for a few bucks, remember that one dollar today was only 85 cents back in 2000. Give a man the dignity of a Snack Wrap.







*Inflation calculator: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi
**I have no idea if the Snack Wrap is on the dollar menu, but I've smelled them and feel sorry for anyone who eats them.