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Try these shoes on.
- Jul 16, 2009 at 12:28 PM
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- Comments (99) Total Views (2860) Everyone can see this journal post.
What does it mean when "times are tough" to you? Does it mean you can't buy your kids name brand clothes? Can't buy yourself that flat screen television you wanted or maybe you can't take a vacation this year?
Do hard times mean that you can't pay your rent or mortgage? Does it mean your vehicle is about to be repossessed and you are faced with the serious problem of transportation to get to and from work, because there is no public means in your area? Or perhaps you are facing the situation where you can't even find a job at all and you have nothing to fall back on and the stress is starting to overwhelm you.
Many of us have lived this scenario or come very close to it. Many of us have reached the point where we have to resort to public assistance to be sure our kids get fed or have a place to live. It's not fun and it's not what we want. But we all know, because the media so happily pounds it home daily, that we are experiencing an "economic downturn" and foreclosures are rampant and job loss is a terrifying reality to millions of Americans. Do you know what the next step is after you've been evicted? Homelessness. Put those shoes on a walk around for a moment. Each step you take is a killer.
And yet, we still have people who haven't experienced desperation who look down on those families on food stamps, cash assistance, even mothers on WIC. It's still a social stigma. The need for help can arrive in anyone's life, but until it happens to you and your family, you will never really understand how smartly your pride stings when you sit in that office and look around and think, "Am I really one of these people now?"
There are those who abuse the system and take advantage of others who want to help. They give everyone else on public assistance a bad image. But there are vastly many more people who are going through horrible times and the stress is eating away like a cancer at their families, and they need help. That is what food stamps, cash and utility assistance are for, to give those families a way to see the light at the end of a suffocating tunnel.
Until you've worn those painful shoes, keep your opinions to yourself.
Comments:
Amen sister. Everyone needs a little help sometimes.
Hear Hear! The last thing anyone needs when they are in a crappy situation, and trying to survive as well as get out, is some one standing around saying mean things about them.
I've been mighty close to that office myself Joye. We nearly bankrupted last year, I couldn't sleep and I was a nervous wreck. Nearly maxed out the credit cards too. We were a month away from the trip to assistance. People should not cast stones, anyone can fall and need help at any time. Great post!
I can't remember a time when it WASN'T tough. Brand name clothes and flatscreens are the last thing on my mind.
that's why I can't wait to own my camper. We'll live on the road, go wherever we want... and take our home with us. And I'm buying used, so we don't have to make any payments on it-- we'll OWN IT. Which means no one can TAKE IT. No one can kick us out. We'll always have a shelter.
After 8 years of drifting, being in debt, collection calls, squatting in houses that didn't belong to us, and being forced to move at the drop of a hat..... I may finally be able to sleep well at night with a roof over my head that is MINE ALL MINE.
I was on WIC with Coley, my 1st born, finishing college. I will never forget the cashier who threw his can of formula down the ramp at the register to the person bagging. I just want to walk up to her now and ask her how she's doing...maybe we could compare salaries...LOL...Oh I have the summer's off, too.
how smartly your pride stings when you sit in that office and look around and think, "Am I really one of these people now?"
Oh damn, do I ever remember THAT feeling.
Amen sister. I agree 100%.
I hate to see people abuse the system because as you said there are so many people who have done everything they could to avoid needing public assistance, but just do. There's nothing wrong with needing help and I hate that people just assume everyone who does is lazy... some of them are the hardest working people I know, they just can't make ends meet.
Great post Joye!!
Something's wrong with us if people who work really hard can't make enough to make ends meet. Something's wrong with the way we pay people and they way that we charge for things. It's so artificial sometimes how those numbers get decided!
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