Why Am I Angry? © 2004 Clara Chandler

Why are you so angry?

A woman in an online group asked that question in response to the previous post about Wal-Mart.

Why am I angry? Because so many hungry people can't afford to eat properly. Because so many ill people can't afford medical treatment. Because we are charged to bear one another's burdens and to lift one another up and so many of our brothers and sisters would rather invest in an X-box and a 20th pair of jeans than truly help someone who needs it.

Because so many people indulge themselves with material objects, then whine about the state of the world. Because people have the means to help, and choose not to. I respect their freedom to choose. I don't have to agree with their choices.

Why am I angry? Because the state declared my retarded sister competent to live independently solely because it has no facilitiesto deal with her. She doesn't understand the connection between paying the electric bill and having lights. She resents our dead father because he "donated all that blood to other people and never gave us any." She functions as basically a dog who can speak, or a two-year-old child. She can't make toast, for God's sake. But the state threw her out on her own and deemed her competent.

Why am I angry? Because West Virginians sit back and cluck their tongues and accept that this is the way it is instead of sticking those Scot-Irish chins out and making a fight of it. Because communities continue to turn their heads when coal companies break laws, kill their family members, and lie to their children in order to catch a few scraps from the Lord of the Manor.