Attention Residents

A sign posted in a Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority building...

Attention Residents

Special meeting to let you know where you can park while they are fixing the parking lot. If you don't come and your car gets towed it will be your own fault.

Meeting Times
Mon 25 10 a.m.
Mon 25 6 p.m.
in the cafeteria

Now there are a number of things I take issue with, not the least of which is why one must attend a meeting to be told where to park. I would think that information could have been printed on this 8.5x11 piece of paper instead of this annoying notice to come to a meeting where one would think they would give out a paper explaining the parking situation.

What bothers me most is the tone of the notice, especially considering its audience: the poor, handicapped and elderly. (Who would talk to their grandmother this way?) The person who wrote this clearly thinks they are better than the people it is written to, and clearly this person does not wish to deal with anyone who might be confused by the parking policies after they take effect. Unfortunetly, the notice itself, the meeting times (both on the same day), and likely whatever content is presented at the meeting (if it is in a similar tone) will all discourage understanding and compliance instead of reinforcing it.

This is all too common an occurance in our culture and institutions when dealing with the poor and socially encumbered. My friend, Daniel, said last night that the difference between us and the poor is that we have the financial means by which to cover up our brokeness and sinfullness - to maintain our respectability if only in appearance. That's an important realization for those that work with the poor. We ARE them, we just hide it better.