We had a sobering moment over breakfast this morning at Lowcountry Produce & Market. Our server Dena shared with us intelligence from which we are normally insulated. In the process of casual banter equivalent to one’s health and the weather, we asked Dena whether Nancy (whom we had met years ago but lately had seen in the back room) was the sister of the owner of the store. Dena at first struggled with a reply then disclosed that she had only worked there for the past several months. When I asked where she was from, thinking she may have been an interloper drawn to this idyllic island by the same allure that attracted us, to my surprise she said she had lived on the island all her life but because of progressive gentrification (not her words) had been obliged as a single mother of young children to move abroad, even beyond nearby Beaufort and further outbound (over an hour’s distance entailing having to awaken no later than 5:30 am to get to work on the island). She later advised upon my added curiosity that she works at the restaurant 3 days a week; also she does housework at 3 local villas and dog walking. When I asked if she had thought of GoFundMe she hesitatingly shared that she had used that vehicle to assist to pay the funerals of her father and brother (who died of fentanyl poisoning the day after their father). Otherwise it was apparent to me that she was adamant about making her own way, with or without child support from her estranged husband. She repeatedly asked to send me her résumé.
Dena went on to say that prior to leaving the island (where her rent jumped from $1,600/mo to $3,000/mo) and moving to a trailer along interstate 95, she had attended town hall meetings to promote zoning limitations and affordable housing but to no avail.
Almost a decade ago we learned of this problem affecting low income workers in the local service industries. Coincidentally this morning I received from a Canadian acquaintance an article from the Guardian which echoed the identical problem on nearby Daufuskie Island (specifically addressing the native Gullah Geechee population). Ultimately the tale of declining affordability for the lower classes is universal. As commensurately with that elongation is the upper classes enjoyment of more privilege and increased removal from and blindness of the impending peril of inarguable contribution to society by those at risk.
At no time have I overheard the vacuous wish or expectation of those at risk to become rich or indulgent; instead there is an abiding desire to calculate a meaningful existence (where one has always lived) for the benefit of family (in Dena’s instance, to enable her children to attend the same high school she did). The dream is far from preposterous though sadly for her just as ethereal and divine. Upon saying goodbye to her, Dena lapsed into a spiritual monologue to the Almighty for gratitude for what she perceived to be our heartening exchange.
From my jaundiced (and unapologetically pragmatic) view of Dena and her circumstances (being irreligious as I am), she derives notable accreditation from her obvious willingness to work; and, her equally notable use of the proper noun of address (“gentlemen” rather than “you guys”) when speaking to us at table. More than once she expressed her wish to share with me her résumé which, though initially I resisted the need before recognizing the related imperative of qualification surpassing my own limited perception of her abilities, I acquiesced and messaged a text to her accordingly.
Today’s unanticipated familiarity translated an otherwise mystical ceremony to one of more bracing detail. Dissolving the map of servitude to knowledge is however informative. My immediate reaction is, as usual in the face of controversy, logic and cooperation. I continue to maintain this model of conduct. I don’t for example accept any intended development which amounts to shooting oneself in the foot. Affordable housing for local contributors is so patently requisite that I am astonished the business community on this tiny island with whom those people mingle and work hasn’t the foresight to recognize. If continuously ignored I have no doubt the ramifications will eventually subdue the disregard. To me it is no more more conspicuous rationality than confessing a car needs gas; and, that the proximity of the two is both convenient and desirable for mutual benefit.
Meanwhile Dena has relented her unfavourable employment applications by bending to the favour of her church. Not being myself an advocate for other than the rich, I am unaware of the continuing limitations of social injustice. Nor have I anything more than the distinction of trite charitable contribution to our local hospital, parkland improvement and my erstwhile boarding school. I do however have the ability to recognize firmness and assiduity in others. I wish her well; and, I am inclined for whatever inscrutable reasoning of my own to imagine that she will succeed.
