I just spent the last week battling a very debilitating case of pneumonia. Two phone calls, and one trip to the doctor, and I'm recovering quite nicely thank you. Easy? No. In hindsight though, a fairly simple process. Yesterday, I gave the medical community 80 dollars, pharmacy included, and I'll be on my merry way quickly. 80 dollars. When I get my Blue Cross Blue shield report I'll be grateful that I didn't have to pay about 200 to 225 dollars out of pocket.
I woke up about 5:30 this morning and that 200 dollar number triggered something in me. From early 2004 until late in 2007, I worked in the Buy Here Pay Here auto industry. Those are the car lots that "Tote The Note" on the cars they sell. Certainly we financed cars for people who were very irresponsible, but the vast majority of our clients were very good folks, who were just struggling to get by month to month or in many cases week to week. At the time we had around a 1.2 million dollar portfolio, so I have a vast range clients on which I base my judgments.
I primarily oversaw underwriting (deciding who and how we would finance a car) and collections. One particular client came to my mind this morning. We will call her Jane for the purposes of privacy. Jane was in her early 30s, had two young children, and was a single parent. I knew her financial status and she couldn't afford health insurance.
It was unusual for Jane to get very behind on her weekly payment. She came in on Fridays, almost every week, when her payment was due. I knew her financial situation was precarious, because sometimes she would call me on Thursday to let me know she couldn't pay that week, and would take care of two payments the following Friday. I was fine with that and, we had a procedure in place to do that for people we felt were reliable. We called them Promise to Pay and Jane had never missed one. One Friday Jane had a Promise to Pay of two payments and didn't show up or call. That always raised a "red flag" with me, so on Monday I tried to call her. Her phone was cut off, which raised another "red flag".
I went to her home that Monday afternoon and Jane was very ill. She had missed work and had to pay her doctor, totally out of pocket so she could get well and go back to work. I agreed to let her float the week until Friday when she would owe three payments (75 dollars), but I agreed to accept two payments of 50 and let her catch up after that. Friday came and went and Jane didn't come. Monday I issued the order to repo her car. I called the repo man and within a few hours I had Jane's car and some of her property in the car.
When we opened Tuesday morning Jane was waiting on me. I invited her in and we sat down to talk. She was visibly angry (not at me) and scared and trying not to cry. Here's her story. She had to pay her doctor 200 dollars for treatment, and then not being able to work, she had gotten even further behind. It was now going to cost her 200 dollars, including the repo charges, to get her car back. She didn't have the money, and wouldn't anytime soon. All I could was tell her I was sorry and that my hands were tied. She had to have that car to get to work. Her words, "Mr. Jamey! How am I gonna feed my kids?" have resonated with me ever since. I had to look her in the eye and say, "I don't now.".
Jane is a good person who did the right things, and stood by her word. Circumstances beyond her control put her in a situation that didn't allow her to do the right thing. I've often wondered what happened to Jane and her kids.
200 dollars. That figure hit me like a punch in the gut this morning. This is why I became a Progressive Liberal. Four years of those kinds of experiences changed me profoundly. There are people out there who, through no fault of their own, just can't make it sometimes, and we as a nation need to find ways to help.
The "working poor" are the largest growing segment of need in our country and many others, actually. I am thankful for moments of crisis where expectation and experience clash and we are forced to rethink life. My heart aches for all the Janes out there. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteJamey, I agree that "we" need to help good people in crisis. Unfortunately, if the "we" operates under the guise of goobermint then a group of primarily non-productive people seize assets from productive people to "help" the needy and manage to lose vast ammounts of it within the bureaucracy and then give 3/4ths of the remainder to people who are harmed by the disincentive of "free" money. Meanwhile "we" are also disincentivized toward help because"Ah there is some stupid program to help and I'm broke too."
ReplyDeleteI am not accusing or berating you in asking the following (I know that no one person can address every situation alone) but suppose that instead of "having your hands tied and following procedures" YOU had NOT issued a repo order but instead paid Jane's payment and told her she could catch up with YOU in a couple of weeks?
The very basic problem with government safety nets is they are deployed in the wrong places at the wrong times by people who may or may not care while those of us that are on site are told it isn't our individual/circle of friends responsibility. That is why I am a Libertarian-not to be free from responsibiliuty but to be free to act.Free to think. Bound not by regulations but by honor.
Justin, I know you did not address the question to me, but I do want to respond. Great take on this. I don't think it has to be an either/or scenario. Most of the time, for me as one who claim to be a Christ follower, I find myself making the payments, sharing whats in our pantry, buying school supplies, sponsoring children in 3rd world countries, donating to clothes closets and stopping to talk to the homeless person who is holding the sign. And this should be as natural as breathing. BUT, I affect my little corner as and when I encounter things.
ReplyDeleteI believe the best possible scenario is government taking care of the marginal, the elderly, the working poor, being really pro-life -- which is more than about abortion -- it is about creating life for children who are in the darkest circumstances and powerless by providing resources to thrive IN TANDEM with each of us doing our thing and being responsible for our neighbor.
I appreciate your closing "but to be free to act...bound not by regulations but by honor." I guess I am just less concerned about how the help comes as long as it flows towards those who need it BUT never taking my own role in that out of the picture.
Arlene, I appreciate your attitude and your thoughtful comments. While I do not oppose government being benevolent and doing good things for people I have little faith in it. As for working in tandem...I'm afraid that would have me very "unequally yoked with unbelievers" to steal a phrase from the apostle Paul. Reality has left me a bit jaded. I can muster faith in God, a modicum of faith in my fellow man but expect nothing but evil, inefficiency and disaster from government.
ReplyDeleteJustin, I appreciate your response. I will not continue to back and forth on this, even though discussion with you seems easy inspite of differing opinions.
ReplyDeleteThe unequally yoked phrase, in its cultural social context of the time, I believe is Paul trying to lay out a way of being in the world for new believers. They find themselves in the wild lifestyle of a seaport like Corinth where prostitution and sexual deviance were the order of the day. As these new believers try to figure out how to live amongst this I believe Paul's words are more about setting boundaries and order in what is a very chaotic way of living.
Now as to being jaded by what you have experienced.....I understand that part!
I really like the way you say I can muster faith in God, a modicum of faith in humanity...so true, me too! Faith does not come easy to me and that is why it is valuable, I guess.
But, I was challenged by the final "expect nothing but evil.." statement. I keep thinking about our friend Paul who calls us to remember that governing authorities are instituted by God. And that was written in a time when the rulers were anti-Christian and a far cry from God fearing. And so, I'm putting in a plug for less jaded thinking, I guess :)
This discussion has certainly veered from the original topic, but its been enlightening for me. Thanks.