The New York Times headline read: “Man Who Swung Bat at Squeegee Workers in Baltimore is Fatally Shot”. My initial thought was that another person with long-standing mental health issues that should have been in an institution was instead off his meds and engaged in some Don Quixote-like attack on window washers at his building–believing they were government or alien spies sent to keep tabs on his every move–and that police shot him after he refused to drop his weapon.
But after clicking on the link to the story, I soon learned that the man had actually stopped at a traffic light while driving through downtown Baltimore when panhandlers came out and tried to clean his windshield without asking. He got out of the car with a bat, threatened them, and one of them shot him–before everyone ran off.
The next thought to cross my mind was that this should make for an interesting response from the carry concealed folks that preach self-defense as the reason to always be armed, as the person threatened and doing the shooting was likely not a middle-class white guy. And then I wanted to know when did we start calling panhandlers “squeegee workers”?
A paragraph from reporter Vimal Patel reads: “The shooting elevated tensions in the community over workers known as “squeegee kids”, young people who clean the windshields of cars stopped at red lights, often without permission, in the hopes of scoring a few dollars in return. The young people, who are often living in poverty, say the practice is a lifeline. City officials have called it a nuisance that makes residents and tourists avoid driving through downtown.”
Let’s get one thing straight, people that come out and wash your windshield without your permission are not “workers”. They are beggars with a different approach to shaming you into giving them some money. Given that they are described as “kids” they can’t get away with the “disabled veteran” cardboard sign on the corner. So they perform a “service” that, again, you did not request, and then stand there like you actually owe them something. It’s also not much of an “occupation” when police are constantly trying to shut down your operation as well.
It’s no different than if this afternoon I came over to your house, cut only the grass in your terrace, then came to your front door pointing to the “work” that I did and asking you for payment. You would point out that A–the grass didn’t need to be cut, B–you could have done that yourself, and C–you never asked me to do it. And even if I did that for every house on the block that day, I cannot be called a “lawncare worker”.
If Baltimore is like nearly every other city and town in this country, there are thousands of unfilled low-skill jobs that the “squeegee kids” could be doing as a “lifeline”. But with being an actual worker, come some things that not everyone enjoys–like working when your employer tells you to work, showing up on time and not under the influence, paying taxes and letting the government know how much money you are making and where you live. And it’s those last couple of items that dissuade some people from having real jobs. When the Affordable Care Act went into effect and it was against the law not to have health insurance, supporters were baffled when 10-million people still didn’t sign up. What they failed to comprehend is that there are a lot of people who don’t want the government to know where they are. Things like warrants for an arrest, delinquent child support payments, and illegal status in the country are easier to avoid when you are “off the grid”.
Given the obvious dangers and workplace hazards that these “squeegee workers” are facing, I recommend that they jump on the unionization bandwagon and organize to demand better “working” conditions. Perhaps a nationwide strike would be in order to bring “customers” to their side. The “grocery store driveway attendants”, the “intersection red-light walkers”, the “guys just trying to take care of my dog”, and the “let me walk with you because this is a real dangerous area security personnel” can also strike in solidarity. I sure hope we can all get by without these important contributors to the “workforce”.
