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Ode to the squeegee kids

Commentary://July 22, 2022

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Ode to the squeegee kids

Ode to the squeegee kids

By Commentary:

//July 22, 2022

A scraping tool with a rubber-edged blade

Makes car glass gleam in the Charm City sun.

Our youngsters on the curb, tool in hand, wade

Into, traffic — working, not on the run.

Unknown, resented, they offer their work

Seeking mere change for an honest day’s pay.

So, lock your doors, scoff them, resent them, shirk

Your humanity, go on with your day.

OK for Google, Microsoft, YouTube

To offer fine service, enter our space.

How dare our young men presume to intrude

Our sacred spot at the corner rat race.

Can a scraping tool with a soft-edged blade

Be reason to sling our privileged shade?

Arion Alston is the truancy court program mentor at the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

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