A long time ago, my father brought home a live chicken. I must have been 8 or 9 years old. Who knows where it came from. Dad sometimes did construction work pro bono especially for his AA friends who needed help.
As Dad would say, some of them "did not have a pot to piss in". (His language was at times colorful.). Their drinking had apparently drained their bank accounts and at times their family relationships.
Dad chopped its head off. Ever see a chicken flap around after losing its head? Scared the pants off me.
I felt like the chicken chicken yesterday. It had been a busy day.
(Dad spoke at 12 Step meetings throughout Michigan. My hometown Chamber of Commerce once gave him a Man of the Year award for his work. Dad often spoke at Brighton Hospital. Brighton near Detroit was the first hospital for alcoholism and addiction in the state. That is where Dad became acquainted with Bill W. the founder of AA. Bill W also spoke there in the 50s.)
Yesterday, I helped a single mom with three kids. Income in the mid 20s. She will receive a refund of $14,600. It is more than half her annual income. She works at some church in the office.
You don't think her refund will allow her to maybe repair her car or maybe even get a substantial down payment on a better used vehicle. Or maybe just some better school clothes for the kids.
Maybe she will actually treat herself and her kids to a nice dinner out on the town. Or buy herself a new coat or dress.
When I see sometimes that our clients don't have a "pot to piss in", well, sometimes it hurts your heart.
Then I think about a mother's smile when she finds out the amount of her income tax refund.
It may be Lent in some worlds. In mine, it is tax season.
Lent was first established by a bunch of old men at Nicaea. The Romans required taxes long before that.
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