This just struck me as a uniquely American story, one that counters Trump's SOTU babble about our new Golden Age:
A man shot dead by a fellow panhandler in a clash over holding the door at a Hell’s Kitchen 7-Eleven was a father of three who had only recently fallen on hard times, his heartbroken family says.
Mark Jackson was known to regularly hold open the door for change at the 7-Eleven at Eighth Ave. and W. 39th St., according to locals. When a fight over turf broke out between Jackson, 43, and a rival panhandler about 10:25 a.m. Feb. 12, his rival pulled a gun and fatally shot him in the neck inside the store.
“He was trying to rebuild his life. Sometimes that in and of itself can be a struggle,” the victim’s 44-year-old brother said. “He’s just a guy who fell on hard times. A relationship didn’t work out and he was trying to find his way.”
Jackson had been homeless off and on for only about a year before being slain, his family says. After Jackson and his girlfriend split up, he moved out of their Bronx apartment and began sleeping in city shelters and on friends’ couches.
A major city with insanely high rents. Sleeping in shelters. A lack of gainful employment in hard times, so much so that two men are fighting over the right to hold open a 7-Eleven door.
And of course, a gun.
As I read this story, this song kept going through my head:
Oh, but ain't that America for you and me?
Ain't that America, somethin' to see, baby
Ain't that America, home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me.
