Someday government may not be available to assist your every need.  It’s a bit like losing your parents.  Mine have been dead for some years now and during lean times I can no longer ask them for a handout.  Yet I never did put the bite on them.  I didn’t believe they had enough for themselves much less me and they also made it clear they didn’t run a hotel, bank or charity.  So I guess I was taught to survive and be prepared for the day when times could be very, very tough.  After all they survived depression and war and were subjected to deprivations I still can’t imagine. 
 

Yesterday two people took great exception to my program.  When I get to 20 complaints daily perhaps I can rest easily and assume I’m getting the job done correctly.  The first angry email came from a woman I’m guessing is hitting the bottle during the day.  Believe me I’ve met some listeners who’ve got a good bag on by 5:00 o’clock most afternoons.  In retrospect I can’t even fathom the woman’s pique other than she believes I didn’t respect her Brahmin caste? 
 

The second email was a bit more jarring.  It came from a friend and a self-proclaimed conservative.  He’s upset because I agreed with a caller that the Americans with Disabilities Act became an intrusion into the lives and works of American business.  The man writing me has a disability.  It should be noted he favors cuts in assistance to poor families.  The ones with hungry young children and the man won’t support expansive government healthcare programs.  He does support all government programs directed for his benefit.  He’s also a veteran and there was an issue with something labeled post traumatic stress disorder.  Let me note my support of government programs for those who once wore or currently wear the uniform.  It’s a covenant we must honor.  If we don’t someday there may not be anyone willing to defend us.  The man also has a second disability and it’s not service related.  It was caused by a drunk driver.  This is tragic and it’s the reason I’ve not climbed behind the wheel of a car myself after a night of howling at the moon since 1986.  The drunk driver owes my friend an indemnity.
 

Government on the other hand, well, I’m not at all sure about this one.  The disabilities legislation closed a great many small businesses.  There were exclusions for the really tiny merchants.  Interestingly these were the local stores where most disabled people, I imagine, would shop.  As a small shopkeeper it probably would’ve occurred to me that one way to compete with Lowe’s and Home Depot would be to make my store accessible to the disabled.  It’s because the disabled also spend money.  It’s probably why a great many small storekeepers did make some changes without government edict.  It’s also why the very large chain stores and restaurants did the same.  As for those smaller businesses that weren’t exempt and didn’t have the money to appease coercion, it’s why many businesses folded.
 

Let’s make it clear.  One special interest group lost its livelihood to appease another. 
 

Several years ago I snapped my left leg in a fall and spent a great many weeks in a cast and on crutches.  My leg never fully recovered but it was sure a relief to get back on both legs and walking about.  Crutches are misery writ large on self-esteem.  So many “normal” things I was doing just days before and suddenly found myself greatly diminished.  After one week I ventured out into winter and driving and shopping.  I couldn’t just set in a chair waiting it out.  One day I was struggling to open the door of a bakery as I wanted to buy some bread for my visiting mother and sister.  It was windy and the door wasn’t cooperating and my balance was precarious and then a man from inside opened the door for me.  He asked what I needed and he filled my order and made change at the door.  Then he spoke to me in heavily Italian accented English.  “When you gotta bad wing you need help flying”, he said.  He helped me.  The government didn’t.  An immigrant may not realize there was a time in this country when we all pitched in for our neighbors and the government didn’t intrude. 
 

Don’t come to me criticizing government programs that help the neighbors you no longer assist.  Don’t come to me and say you want their programs eliminated but demand that government be all things for you.
 

A contemporary of my parents stated it bluntly.  “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”, were his words.  Oh, and he had a service related disability.  It didn’t interfere with his rise to the most powerful position in the country.
 

My dad admired the dead President and in later years when my old-man was confined primarily to hospitals, one room at home and often a wheel-chair he still managed to get out and play a role in his community.  And he refused to park in any spot marked “Handicap”.  Easy, no, his choice, yes.

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