*************************************************************************
On Wed, 15 Apr 1998, Dale R. Reed wrote:
> Figured some of you would enjoy this letter as much as I do. Dale
>
> Letter Published in the Tuesday, 14 April 1998, Wall Street Journal
> Letters to the Editor.
>
> I am a student and clerk here in Washington, D.C. I make $10 an hour,
> which adds up to, including cleaning the office on weekends, about
> $200. That's only $800 a month and D.C. is expensive, but I do all
> right. My efficiency apartment has two big windows. Once a month I buy
> daisies from a street vendor for three bucks, and they last for awhile
> if I change the water and cut the stems. I don't have a TV or a car nor
> do I do drugs. I ride a bike, patch my clothes, eat mainly rice and
> lentils, sit in the park, hold hands with my girl, and sometimes eat and
> laugh with my friends. I have a fine time, thank you.
>
> I don't like to hear people writing that life on a modest income is
> hell, or degrading. Live is always what you make of it. Before this
> job I worked as a busboy. The head busboy had been at it for eight
> years. I don't think he could read very well, and he could barley speak
> English, but he was a hard worker. He and his wife have a nice place,
> their son is doing well in school, and they have saved a remarkable
> (well into six figures) amount of money with the hope of moving back to
> El Salvador.
>
> Life is hard and we should never be without compassion. However, this
> is a great country and these are remarkable times. With a little
> imagination, a lot of hard work and modest goals you can make it here.
>
> David Green
> Washington
> --
> $ dale-reed@worldnet.att.net Seattle, Washington U.S.A. $
>
>