It is very nice when good people go out of their way to do good things for others in need. That's not in question here. What's in question is why those good deeds should be necessary in the first place. The fact is, many of them shouldn't.
One of the cases bringing that to the forefront most involves a two-year-old with a medical condition that left him in need of a walker.
Logan has hypotonia, a condition that affects muscle tone and stability, which means he needs a walker to get around.
Logan's parents are going through the process of trying to get their insurance to pay for the walker, so they needed a solution in the meantime.
But when the employees heard why they were in the store that day, they insisted on putting one together themselves, spending an hour cobbling one together from PVC pipe using plans downloaded from the internet.
It was all about Logan. "Everyone was crying to see Logan walk around with the biggest smile on his face," employee Jeffrey Anderson wrote in a Facebook post. "Thanks to all that helped and for being a blessing to this family and to this little guy."
Just a nice, heartwarming tale, right? Not so fast.
Because under no circumstances should a two-year-old child or his family have to cobble together a walker from spare parts.
No way should they have to rely on the kindness of strangers at Home Depot to take care of them, especially if they have health insurance that they're already paying for.
It's hard to credibly call a healthcare system functional if parents have to worry that their claim for necessary medical equipment for a child might be denied.
And, sadly, these stories are becoming all too common.
Just think about it: there are plans on the internet for how to make a DIY walker for kids. How many kids in America have been in Logan's position before?
Congressman Seth Moulton, who has thrown his hat into the presidential race, put out a comment on Twitter praising the Home Depot employees and noting that things are still very much not okay.
Qasim Rashid, an attorney and human rights activist, suggested that this was the sort of thing that wouldn't come up in a system that didn't rely on philanthropy and charity.
What do you think?
Facebook | Jeffery Anderson
