The Collision...or is it Collusion... of Ironies

The irony of my trip to the food stamp office today
  does not elude me.

How is it that a woman with two advanced degrees
  and 20 years experience finds herself on
  this particular errand?

Nor does the fact that,
  on my journey to this next assault on my ego,
  I got lost in a neighborhood lined with golden-red trees
  standing sentry to the million-dollar homes
  tucked amidst ornamental lawns.

 The food stamp worker was distracted,
  so I asked if he was bored.
  He smiled and said he was thinking
  about grocery shopping.

The irony here also didn't elude me.

So I sat, holding back the seemingly unending
  deluge of tears, waiting for the next worker
  to bring me a card - a food stamp card.

Now, I will wait for another week or two to
  find out if I qualify.

What, I think, does a family without food
  or means of getting food,
  do during this wait period?

Are they the ones standing on the street corners
  with cardboard 'Please help me' signs?

Or, are they at work and school,
  trying to ignore the hunger pains and
  hoping noone hears the incessant growling
  of a stomach filled only with emptiness?