Barbara J. Hamby

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Recent Reading of Interest

An email I received today lists predictions made in 1900 and printed in the Ladies Home Journal of what life would be like in the year 2000. The quote is very long, so rather than copy it here, I’ll refer you to the link in case you would like to read it also:

http://www.yorktownhistory.org/homepages/1900_predictions.htm

I found it fascinating and regret that a few of the predictions didn’t come to pass, such as eliminating mosquitoes, houseflies and cockroaches or “Ships with cabins artificially cooled will be entirely fireproof. In storm they will dive below the water and there await fair weather.”

Tonight I read a news article on the web about a sixty-seven year-old woman who is living in her car in California. Reportedly living in cars is illegal in California, but a special law or ordinance has provided parking spaces where women can do so safely. Reading it, I wanted to cry. Nothing in the story suggested that this woman had any substance abuse or mental health problems. She is just under-employed and, with her combined wages and Social Security, can’t afford the exorbitant rent for an apartment in her town. Our world is full of these sad stories, but in this country—why?