The Story of Others

Through the service that I am performing, I have a unique opportunity to be able to talk about the lives of the people in the Washington Neighborhood. This blog is essentially acting as a literary work about the people in the neighborhood that can be accessed by the outside public. I believe that my specific area of service allows for me to get an inside look at the lives of some of the people in Dubuque that are less fortunate than most. From what I have seen thus far, some of the struggles that these people are facing need to be told because many people in Dubuque are unaware that people with such problems exist in their city. I have seen many people attending the dinner week after week and they seem to really need the dinner to be able to survive. I know that a dinner is offered somewhere in Dubuque every night and I would guess that there are some people that attend each one. Residents of Dubuque need to be aware of these people that are in dire need as many would probably be willing to donate products or time to help members of their town to live in a little more comfort. Many of these people were attending the dinner even before the recent downturn in the economy which shows that the state of America has not been as prosperous as some would like to believe. In addition to the commonalities of the attendees of the dinner, there are dozens of personal stories that need to be told as well.

The personal stories of the patrons would be the main source that outsiders could really learn about the problems of the people. Reading about the experiences of others allows people to learn and increase their own knowledge which could help the readers in their own lives. Many people will hear the stories about the struggles of the patrons and decide that they should take action and help them out as much as possible. This type of action could not happen unless the citizens of Dubuque are aware of the problems within in their city. This type of situation has happened throughout history; once people become aware of a problem, they take action to try and solve the situation. This specific situation with the people of the Washington Neighborhood is no different and the best way for people to decide how to take action is by hearing about it from firsthand accounts.

Martha Nussbaum writes in her book, Cultivating Humanity, about the value of reading literature. Nussbaum argues that much of what people do and believe comes from how they interpret the things that they read. According to her, nearly everything can be interpreted in a different manner depending on the reader. She spends a large section of her discussion focusing on tragedies. I think this area of literature most connects to the lives of the people that attend the dinners as their lives are not what is seen as desirable by most people. Nussbaum says, “Tragedies acquaint the young citizen with the bad things that may happen in a human life, long before life itself does so.” I am sure that many of the patrons that attend the dinner are in that situation due to circumstances completely out of their control or just because of poor luck. Despite this fact, Nussbaum would still say that by reading about the personal stories of these people, people can learn how to avoid that situation as best as they can. The stories of the people that attend the free dinner need to be heard by the rest of Dubuque. By doing so, people will be more likely to offer their services. Life is unpredictable and any person could be in that situation of need at some point in their lifetime so hearing about the experiences of others will help them to survive in that situation.