This week's column

Walking in another's skin

In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch tells his daughter: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

In the past several weeks, I had a chance to do a little walking around in another’s skin. A co-worker and I have been working on a series of stories about poverty in Hardin County.

I talked to homeless people, others living in low-income housing and just trying to keep their heads above water.

Miss one or two paychecks and most of us would find ourselves in the same situation. While many have good relationships with family who could help, everyone is not that fortunate. And it’s often hard to ask for help. It can be humiliating.

The most impactful reality: It’s not their need for money but their need for acceptance.

They feel looked down upon. It’s like a dart through the heart. The feeling of worthlessness overcomes them.

Everyone has worth. Everyone wants to contribute. Some people are never given the chance. Others need a second chance or perhaps a third.

How many times have we heard ourselves say, “it’s their own fault.”

Why do we automatically assume that? People cannot always help it if they lose their job. There isn’t always another one waiting for them. If a new job is available, it often pays significantly less these days.

And what about children, the innocent victims of family circumstances? They have done nothing to find themselves living without.

Another group struggling with poverty are simply the victims of longevity. Many seniors do not have family to take care for them. They live in anxious anticipation of the next Social Security payment. Rather than food, they often must spend most of it on a lengthy list of needed medications.

Some fight as hard as they can to get out of poverty and need a helping hand to pull them up.

It’s important to see things from another’s point of view.

For the past several weeks, I’ve caught myself thinking about it a lot. I open a refrigerator full of food and say “there’s nothing to eat” or stand in front of a closet full of clothes and say “I have nothing to wear.” As soon as those phrases leave my mouth, I am struck with the memory of people I have met who truly live without.

I can’t ignore it anymore. I’ve been in the middle of the pain and heartbreak for a few hours. For some of them, it seems like a lifetime.

To truly understand poverty in Hardin County today, spend time with those involved in it. Stop and talk to someone who is homeless. Volunteer or support programs that are knee-deep in helping. I will, too.

Atticus Finch was right. It’s time to walk around a bit in another’s skin. That might be the only way we truly understand one another. That might be the best way to know how to help
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