Baseball and America
It was a beautiful day for baseball in Pawtucket. The air was cool and dry and the sky was cloudy without being hazy or threatening. I took the boys to the Pawsox game. 9,000 New Englanders watched a sweet ball game.This was a day to spend with my kids, who have been out of town for a week, so I didn't campaign - much.
I spoke with a Providence school teacher about No Child Left Behind and the unions. The open-ended question is, "How can unions serve their own interests while continuously improving the education of children?"
One fellow asked me about the causes of homelessness. I told him that it came down to a lack of affordable housing. He said he thought it was drug abuse. I countered by telling him that the folks who were served by the East Bay Coalition for the Homeless were mostly single mothers with children. Whether or not they have a drug problem (most of them didn't) they get kicked out of their parents or boyfriends houses.
The solution, of course, is difficult. Few neighborhoods are willing to embrace low-income housing next door. At the same time, there is an urgent need for the kind of social service follow-up provided by organizations like the East Bay Coalition and Travelers Aid/Crossroads RI.
These problems are our problems. The homeless are our neighbors.
Back to the ball game. The sad fact is that I don't know the final score tonight. The boys were so darned restless that we left at the bottom of the ninth with a tied score of 3-3. Still, with the popcorn, cotton candy and frozen lemonade, the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd, it was an awesome afternoon.
[The Next Morning I learned that Pawtucket won 5-4]
posted by Mark Binder @ 9:25 PM
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