At work today, I talked to a woman who just started with our company. She's probably early thirties, african-american and a very, very hard worker. The kind of woman that you watch work and you feel extremely guilty about the sham I call hard-work. A lot of people come and go that I hardly notice, but this woman, I've always noticed. Her first day was last week and I remember it more vividly than I do my own. She literally kicked the parking lots' ass.

See, she's a cleaning lady, very well-spoken and always kind. We've had a few people blow through lately who just haven't cut it, so it's been quite a change for Tracy to be with us. As I talked with her today, I was interested to hear a little bit more about her. She asked me the questions that most of our employees ask as they try to comprehend exactly what line of business they actually work in. It's hard to explain to anyone, much less those who don't have the schooling and experience that others of us do.

As we talked, she told me about the last job she worked and how she was so sad to leave, but she just couldn't afford to stay. I say "afford" and most of us think that she couldn't afford to not get promoted or work for such a good cause; at least I do. No, Tracy literally couldn't afford to get to her job anymore. Minimum wage is so low and gas so high she told me. In fact, the temp agency that referred us to her has started having to pair jobs with people who live close enough to walk.

That last part really floored me and caused me quite a bit of trouble throughout the afternoon. Instead of finding the right people for the job, we're reduced to finding people who live a block away so that they can "afford" to get to work.

I pretty much feel like a little, whiney bitch for complaining about the slow round of golf on Saturday or for how paying $60 for gas seemed like a lot. The truth of the matter, and it's the kind of truth that hurts, is that we're blessed. If you're reading this, you're blessed because I guarantee no one is having to go to the public library to get on the web or to enjoy the air conditioning. We're really blessed.