*Not* a judgement on the people in the food pantry lines, but I am surprised by the number of very new and nicer cars in those lines in the TV coverage. (lots of "solid middle class" Hyundai, Nissans, Honda sedans, etc.) Much newer cars than mine, and no scratches or dings and very clean compared to my beater. My uninformed guess -- people who were comfortable middle class but not a lot of savings and thrown into needing food banks because of job loss and inflation breaking their carefully managed budget? Anyway. (I suppose the REALLY hungry can't afford to burn gas to drive to a food bank and burn gas for 8 hours, or don't have a car).
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@ai6yr a reminder that many people are living close to the edge, with very little buffer if things go south.
@mattblaze Yeah, seems like it!! I mean, look, even a person with a Tesla sedan.
@ai6yr Also some of these could be neighbors, etc giving rides.
@mattblaze @ai6yr also worth noting that a used Tesla is cheap these days (still wouldn’t buy one but uses aren’t particularly expensive)
And some portion of folks likely needing food banks may be gig workers who have a nice car because it is literally their workplace (uber / Lyft drivers who take passengers especially) and some very nice but older cars haven’t held their value - a 10 year old Volvo XC60 can be $9k from dealerships
@mattblaze
Our church does food and clothing assistance drives in addition to supporting community services. I find it hard to do because I feel compelled to fix all problems but its important to do even when all you can do is mitigate today's problem.
