Retiring a non-reality?

In his LA Times article titled, "Too Poor to Retire and Too Young to Die," author John M. Glionna tells a heartbreaking story of an almost 80-year old woman, struggling to make ends meet. Dolores Westfall, 79, has spent the past eight years traveling across the United States from job to job simply to stay afloat. With no option of retirement Westfall is forced to work everyday, something that separates her from most people her age. Although this is an increasing issue for many elderly Americans that were hit hard by the economic crash, the spotlight that Glionna places Westfall under tugs at the reader's heartstrings.
Glionna, a professor at UNLV, does an excellent job of showing the reader just how difficult life is for Westfall. His journalistic efforts to allow the reader to draw conclusions while remaining objective, are successful. He allows the reader to feel a connection, and builds trust with the reader by supplying facts about the other elderly Americans going through the same experience. His headline is catchy enough to draw attention, and readers anticipate that the story my be tragic, but they want to read anyway. I found that his angle of highlighting one case--instead of including a few separate cases--made the story feel much closer to home. The old adage: "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic," came to mind when I finished this piece because of how Glionna tells it. The focus on Westfall makes the emotions feel more intense than if I knew how many people were also going through the same thing. Overall, I found this to be an intriguing article with solid journalistic reporting that sends a message to many Americans about saving, work ethic, and what others may be going through.

Too Poor to Retire and Too Young to Die