I was driving back from the gym recently at around 5:30 a.m. and passed a young lady in her fast food restaurant uniform walking to work. Nothing earth shattering about this, other than the young lady was walking with a profound limp. One could easily tell by her gait that this was something she had been living with for quite some time.
Looking at her caused me to have two different emotions at the same time. The obvious one was I felt sad someone who had difficulty walking was being forced to walk to work. Something in me said that just wasn't right. I know many folks would say that she is responsible for herself and if she can't have a car or get a ride, then that is on her.
I understand that way of thinking, but I do think we should have some level of compassion and empathy for those who are trying to help themselves. I mean this young woman was walking to work at an hour when many folks are curled up in their nice, warm beds sleeping. Add to that the fact that walking was not as easy for her as it is for most of us. It was just an image that caused me to think we can do better.
The second emotion the sight stirred in me was a sense of pride in the spirit of this young woman. Our youth today are often maligned and labeled as lazy and without a strong work ethic. This young woman showed that the majority of today's young people are just as driven and dedicated as the older generations. How many of us would want to be walking to work on a chilly January morning on a bad leg, especially if the job only paid minimum wage or next to it?
I think the youth of today are just as hard working as previous generations, but I'm not sure they have the same opportunities as those predecessors. Sure their opportunity for higher education is more prevalent, but the chance to start off working in a business and work your way up and stay there for 40 years is definitely less likely. They are more highly educated on average, but they also come out of that education with more debt than many of us have incurred in a lifetime.
The Institute for College Access & Success determined that the average Arkansan with a bachelor's degree has $26,082 in student loan debt upon graduation. If they have a master's degree, the average amount of debt is $57,600. Education shouldn't bankrupt our children, but that is another column for another time.
I guess the take away from this girl's walk to work for me is that we have great young people in this community and we should be doing more to help them. Maybe that is internship opportunities or apprenticeships. Maybe it is making education more affordable or offering more industrial training classes in high school. Maybe it is programs to encourage entrepreneurship in the youth of Garland County. I think if we give young people a solid path to achieve their full potential, our community will be just fine.
But then again, who am I to talk? I didn't even offer that girl a ride. So I'm probably the biggest example of an uncompassionate, unchangeable and uncaring old man there is. We have a long way to go, but I know we can all do better.
Editorial on 01/14/2018