Can We Live Off That?

          We watched a part of a documentary called 30 Days, following a man named Morgan and his girlfriend Alex who lived for 30 days on the United States minimum wage to see if it was really possible to survive. The minimum wage has not increased in over several years, but the amount of money needed to live sufficiently has as inflation and other factors have increased. This is proven by what Morgan and Alex experienced. They both worked full time jobs, Morgan at times with two, and still could only afford one bus pass between the two of them. They literally had to live check-by-check and if one of them was sick and could not work for the day, they didn't know what to do. During this time Morgan and Alex both had a medical problem and had to go to the emergency room. Seeing how much they had to pay just to enter into the room is ridiculous. It really opens your mind to see that not everyone has health insurance, not everybody has a safe and comfortable home to return to at night to relax. There was one scene that really caught my eye. When Alex and Morgan were looking for furniture for there apartment,  they came across a place where people volunteer their own time to help people in need, giving them free furniture to make others feel as comfortable as possible. Alex cried at realizing how nice human beings can actually be. I want to make a difference somehow as well. Not just do the "required" community service hours to "get it over with", but really do something that affects the lives of others. If all of us can just give one more thing in these world, open our eyes and see that there is a serious problem that is being ignored, maybe we can make a change. It might be small at first, but a first step can go a long way.