Content warning: It is very graphic.
This short story is an analogy about conditions in the United States.
You are stranded in the desert, but there is a town nearby. You are desperate for water. It's a long hike, and by the time you arrive you are weak, crawling on your hands and knees. You go to a bar, because you know that's where you can get water for free.
You get in the door and collapse. It's a busy place. You call out for water and are ignored, kicked by people entering the building. You scream. A waiter rudely tells you you can only be served at a table. You pass out. When you come to, you are sitting in a chair, cigarette butts littered on your shoulders, thighs, and stomach.
You ask the waiter for water. The waiter gives you a glass and you drink it up. After a downing a few glasses you inspect the water and see green and brown particles floating in it. Disgusted, you complain to the waiter. The waiter does not care. “Beggars can’t be choosers!” They also tell you that each glass is a dollar. "But water is free!" You say. "Not here it isn't." They respond. You demand to see the manager. The waiter says you can see them after their meeting. As you wait, you look around. A customer beats his underfed, mange-ridden dog for sniffing a man's foot. The waiter hands cash to a man holding a gun. As the man walks out into the street, he is shot. At one large table, a group of customers is gambling. An argument starts and they begin to beat each other. Another group of customers are doing drugs, one is masturbating. Children are being trafficked by a man in the corner; a larger man and a child walk out of the bathroom, the child walks back the the trafficker. The larger man speaks to the waiter. They both walk over, and you realize the larger man is the manager. You describe everything you've seen and experienced. He says that's just how things are, and if you don't like it you can go somewhere else. You don't have enough money to pay for the water, so you are forced to work in the kitchen for a few hours. The kitchen stinks. Surfaces are covered with mold and grime and there are cockroaches everywhere. You finally leave. Outside you see a stack of newspapers from various dates. One of the newspapers is from almost a year ago. It tells the story of a family who sued the bar because the mother died from a parasite in the bar's water. Across the street you see a sheriff's station. You walk in, taking the newspaper with you. You walk up to the sheriff, holding the newspaper and say, “The bar does not have free water! They made me work to pay for it, that’s against the law. The water had disgusting green and brown particles floating in it, it’s not safe, it killed this woman and they are still breaking the law! Not only that, but there are lots of people there committing terrible crimes in that bar, people and children are getting seriously hurt and assaulted, there needs to be an investigation.” The sheriff looks at you, laughs, and says that he needs clear and obvious evidence in order for a report to be made. He asks if you have any evidence of what happened. You say you’d be willing to get a glass but don't have money to pay for it, which is illegal, and you show him the cigarette stains. He says there’s no way of knowing if you were the one that put those stains on yourself, and that he can’t do anything without a glass of water as evidence. “If you don’t have anything else to say, I have some appointments I need to attend to.” The trafficker from the bar walks up with a child, the sheriff hands over some cash, and starts to walk into his office with the child. You protest, and the sheriff holds a gun to your head. “Say another word and I’ll shoot you.” You leave.
A month later, you are complaining about being thirsty to an acquaintance.
They say that you can get free water at any bar, and there’s no reason for you to be thirsty. You tell them that it's not true, you have to pay. They say it's illegal for them to make you pay, and you should sue. “But it’s the Wild West. People don’t follow the law.” They say you just have a bad attitude and should never give up.
The end! :)
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