Not too long ago, myself and a fellow intern at Food & Water Watch attended a meeting of the Commissioners of the Water Board, in order to protest and to make statements during their open comment period. Before we attend the event proper in the Water Building, we stood outside with a (oh so tiny) number of other protesters, holding signs and generally…you know…expressing our concerns. Somewhat politely. Very much so vehemently.<\/p>\n
It was during this time that a reporter from NPR approached us and asked if anyone was willing to give an interview. As Food & Water Watch employees, myself and my friend could not do so without consent from on high, so we declined. However, a citizen present only out of concern, with no organization affiliation, gave one of the most moving interviews I’ve heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She told the NPR reporter how 1\/3 of the houses in her neighborhood had their water turned off in the past week. She talked about the kids who lived in those houses, who she knew by name, she mentioned how confusing it was for some of them… and how shaming for others. She delivered an anecdote about how as the contractors approached one house, a pregnant lady came out and fought with them, insisting they could not turn of her water and deny her and her family all that entailed… flushing toilets, home cooked meals, daily baths. As this citizen told this story, she began to cry, and the interview ground to a startling halt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was a moment that I never could have pictured when I started this fellowship. I can easily become so entrenched in the numbers I crunch and the data I munch that the truly harrowing and riveting facts never come to my attention. I won’t deny that the kind of work I do is important… data monkeys deliver the hard facts that can change policies for the better…. but it’s good for me to encounter these never imagined scenarios, good for all of us to encounter the human side of the numbers…. even if it isn’t what we expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I for one, never would have expected to see a woman cry so wholeheartedly over another woman’s plight, so compassionately, when I’d been told I’d be investigating water rates for municipalities.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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