(With apropos musical accompaniment)

I found this picture the other day. It’s titled Midnight at the Bowery Mission Bread Line, 1906.

From Archive.org

I thought the picture was mislabeled and it was taken sometime around 1930, after the stock market crash. But after I looked more closely at the men, I saw their clothes and facial hair are from an earlier time. But for these small details, it’s not much different from this Depression era picture:

Men eating bread and soup in the 1930s. From HistoryNet.com

Down and out always looks the same. When I say down and out, I mean people whose lives were disrupted in some devastating way. Often it’s financial. They had a job and they lost it. The company closed or the jobs got outsourced. Maybe they got hurt and wiped out with medical bills.

The similarity between the pictures isn’t limited to the evident hardship. No matter why they were there, all the men in the bread lines faced an uncertain future. No one could be certain he would find a job and be able to meet his basic needs, like a home and food.

Feb 7, 1910. New York City: Bowery men waiting for bread in bread line LOC.gov

New York City: Men with coffee and bread from bread lines on 41st Street January 1915
LOC.gov

When people are desperate, they’re either crushed by the weight of their circumstances—or they make a conscious determination to not be crushed.  If these men had been certain that one day their troubles would pass, nearly everyone would’ve survived. It would’ve become comparatively easy to face hunger and heartache. Prosperity would’ve returned sooner. Optimism and confidence are mighty forces of nature that crash through any obstacle. But they didn’t have certainty and it was the lack of hope that killed people.

Looking at their photos now,  I think their beliefs about the world and themselves determined everything about their futures. The accuracy of their beliefs doesn’t seem to make much difference. It’s more important that their beliefs were positive. For instance, if a very sick person who believes she’ll get well (even if that belief is unwarranted), she’s got a much better chance than someone in the same condition who believes they’ll never recover.

If a person is in a bad situation, it’s hard to suddenly reject the evidence of their five senses. Shifting into hope and optimism and perseverance–especially if that was never their nature or if they’ve faced repeated disappointments—may seem impossible. It is difficult—but it’s not impossible.

Yikes! I only intended to post the Midnight at the Bowery Mission Bread Line picture but my thoughts ran away with me. This has truly been a Sunday ramble!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!