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Last week, the folks at Row House Cinemas posted a kind offer for those affected by the impending loss of SNAP benefits. Anyone receiving those benefits can come and see a movie, free of charge, with popcorn included. An offer like that isn’t going to change anyone’s fortunes, but it’s still thoughtful — and important. It’s a reprieve from an era of stress and uncertainty.

Such offers are available all over the city. We published a roundup of resources and food banks offering help, as pantries and nonprofits throughout the region are rallying to help mitigate the effects of hunger. Even 880 Wrestling, a local pro-wrestling promotion where I occasionally do some ring announcing, asked for donations at last Thursday’s show, filling bags and bins with food for the needy.

It’s encouraging. And it’s a solace in the face of an inherently absurd problem.

We live in an era of deep dissatisfaction with the levers of government. As of this writing, President Donald Trump’s approval rating sits at a meager 41%, according to Gallup; when he left office, former President Joe Biden held a similar approval rating. The Supreme Court barely outpaces the president with a 42% approval rating.

All those numbers, however, are considerable compared to America’s opinion of Congress. Gallup has that figure at a staggeringly low 15%.

Meanwhile, faced with the knowledge that 85% of Americans cannot endorse their behavior, Congress continues to double down on its deeply unpopular approach to governance.

Similar polls usually find that Americans want their elected representatives to compromise in the pursuit of solutions. These numbers vary widely depending on the exact nature of the question presented, but they range between about 50% and 75%. We elect representatives and senators with the belief that they will work toward the common good — that they will represent our interests in the halls of power.

Yet millions of Americans may go hungry this week because of an obstinate refusal to do just that. The government shutdown, which sometime this week will become the longest in history, began when the majority party offered an unpalatable bill. The minority party requested good-faith negotiation; the majority party then went home.

That’s where we are. This shutdown exists because a significant number of our representatives believe that political gamesmanship is more important than the life-or-death struggles of everyday Americans.

The imperative, moral and otherwise, is for all members of Congress to return to Washington right now and negotiate on a solution to this impasse. Not to issue statements and appear at grandstanding press conferences; to actually sit down and do the job they’re paid to do. That, apparently, is too much for the American people to expect at this time.

You could, I suppose, call the numbers that cause phones to ring in the offices of your elected representatives. If you don’t get a full mailbox, you might get a staffer who will dutifully note your concerns and report them up the chain. I’m not convinced that this has any meaningful impact in this era, but it’s worth doing. You should be able to petition your representatives in person, either at their offices or at town-hall meetings, but precious few elected officials are willing to even appear in front of their constituents, so that idea may be out.

The effort you could spend yelling at a Congressional wall, then, might be better spent volunteering for one of those nonprofits or food banks — gathering what you can to help your neighbors. It is encouraging that so many of us choose to offer help at times such as this.

It’s encouraging because, it seems, we’re largely on our own. We can no longer trust our senators and representatives to fight for us.

On this point, unlike so many others, most Americans agree: They’re not going to do their job.