Am I annoyed or sympathetic?

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
My GOD!!! How DARE they show initiative, a work ethic, the ability to run a small business!! Someone report them to the KGB!

Yeah it's fraud technically, but I think it's kinda cool. Big Brother, AKA The Beast, gives you say $125 a month to feed yourself and 2-3 kids, you take $1.50 worth of food and put in some creativity and make it worth $5, then you have enough for enough food, plus shoes, clothes, etc. This used to be considered a good thing. You know, back in the bad old days when kids were encouraged to mow lawns or work paper routes, and kids sold lemonade.

 

[Camelot Farms]

I think that we all come from very different backgrounds and experiences. Working with families who qualify for FS has shown me that more people are responsible than irresponsible. I worked with an average of 80 families each year and I would say that maybe 10% of them were not using their foodstamps well, as in purchasing junk such as chips, soda etc. Then about 10% used their FS more wisely that I sometimes use my own grocery money. The other 80% purchased alot of processed foods...TV dinners, fish sticks, frozen entrees etc. Not because they were wasteful but because they just didnt know how to shop, how to use coupons, how to cook real food. You could give them a roast, potatoes, corn, etc and they wouldnt even be able to cook it because they didnt know how. That wont change just by placing further restrictions on FS.

People dont just jump up out of poverty. They have to be taught how to do these things. How do you think that they got there in the 1st place? Many times it was learned from their families.

There are programs that could be implemented that WOULD change the way that we work with people in poverty. Empowerment is a powerful thing.

I question whether the powers that be really want to change the system....

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I am not sure that any of us are saying we should not have compassion. I am all for programs that help out the truly disabled, the elderly and children. I think we need temporary help programs in place to feed and house people that have fallen on hard times and need a helping hand. Let's face it. We all need help from time to time and most of us are happy to pass it on. What most people HATE are those that live their entire lives on public assistance and never even try to be a contributing member of society. I resent, truly resent, giving aid to those that will not try to help themselves first. I hate giving more money to women who continue to pop out babies despite their inability to take care of them. They have doomed that child to a hard life. Plus, for working moms there is no additional money for extra babies. Why should those not working get money for procreating? Once is an accident. After that it is intentional. We know how babies happen.

I will share everything I have to help out those around me that need it when I know that they are busting their butts to pull themselves out of hard times. I would hope those around me would give me the same help should I need it. But I resent that the gov't takes more and more of my hard EARNED money and consistently gives it to those that will not work. (By the same token, I hate that our gov't gave piles of money to bail out private banks and industries.) I know that most people that need help are the working poor. By all means let us help them out to ease their struggles. But if you are not working or even trying, why should I fund your lifestyle? Feed the children. Feed the elderly. Feed the truly disabled. Everyone else should be working.

 

[GarlicEater]

A very small percentage of FS/welfare recipients are scamming the system. Most really need the help. When I was "spare changing" I always gratefully accepted food, from leftovers to someone buying me a meal - I always chose the cheapest thing on the menu. If someone handed me their leftovers from a restaurant, I generally ate them right there, which wasn't always easy since I was having trouble keeping to the hobo habit of always keeping a spoon in my shoe. Or pocket or something.

The reason I refuse to get FS etc now is, I'm eating just fine, and since I consider FS to be something you get if you're having trouble feeding yourself, I don't feel I need them. The other thing is, for that $200 a month, you have to put in 4-5 days a month doing what I call the "co dependency dance" with the FS office. The people there "churn" the system, dropping you, making you apply over and over, accepting you then dropping you again.... to keep their jobs. Frankly I can make that $200 a month putting in 4 decent panhandling days a month - not that I'd do that again unless it came down to sheer survival.

Another interesting angle on FS fraud. A lot of people are becoming homeless now. When you become homeless, you really find out who your friends are, if you're left with any, that is. Many homeless people find that a "friend" will take them in, but on the condition that the homeless person get FS and use that to pay rent. In my case, a "friend" I'd known for a long time took me in but put me under this condition. A guy I know online also felt very fortunate to have a friend let him live in his garage, the condition being, he spends his FS on food for his friend. Sometimes the homeless person gets some food, sometimes it all goes to the "landlord" and the homeless person then scrounges, panhandles, visits the soup kitchens for food. It's predation and fraud, but at the same time a homeless person has at least a place to sleep at night. This I feel is really widespread. I think a guy I know who was paying $250 a month to live in her living room, was also "paying" his $200 in FS making the rent more like $450, which is more in line for the area he was living in.

When I moved here, I logically assumed that I needed to get FS and start buying food for the land owner here. I HATED getting FS so in a sort of revenge I was getting cold sushi plates etc with it, decided to go nuts the first month then buckle down and start buying stuff for him. Well, two things happened. First, with the million meetings and interviews and letters of warning that if I dare buy a car or get a job I'll be sorry, I got aggravated as hell and told the land owner about it and he said I was not required to get FS to live here. Secondly, after a month they cut me off, so I'd have to continue the "co dependency dance" that keep them busy, and employed.

Now this thing on Craig's List. This is called cyber-begging, and it's been around for years. Google that term and you'll get some laughs, the problem is, people got a bit more skeptical of it after the dot-com crash dampened people's enthusiasm for all things cyber and also, there are SO many people begging now, people are tired of begging in all its forms. This is just another idiot scammer, and asking for certain brands etc may be an attempt to make it hard enough for people to try to help that they just say "Oh, hell, I'll just send you some money, what's your PayPal?"

Ebay also had, and has, begging scams. Buy this teddy bear because the money goes for my sister's iron lung, that kind of thing. So people bid the teddy bear up to $2500, etc. Some may be legit, but since 98% of everything on the Internet is crap, and the other 2% isn't real, I like to keep my donations face-to-face. Yep, now that I'm not homeless (And cross my fingers and knock on wood, it could happen to me again at any time; I'm working in secret on a skill that will hopefully support me so I won't have to beg for a living if I'm on the street again) I give stuff to homeless people who look like they need help. Mainly cans of food. I just got a bunch of Army can openers, and I'm planning to put little lanyards on them and hand those out, a lot of homeless ppl don't have can openers and have to rub cans open on concrete etc.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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[yotetrapper]

Quote:

Thanks for saving me the typing time. You said EXACTLY what I feel.

I also feel food stamps SHOULD be regulated to essential, healthy food. I imagine if you are starving to death, you WILL figure out how to cook some carrots. You may even get creative enough to find a recipe for carrot cake!

 

[newchknmama]

Quote:
I agree with everything you said 100%

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

You mention carrots...

When I was 15 years old I got my first job volunteering at at inner city swimming pool helping translate swim lessons for the hearing impaired class (this was in addition to a full time babysitting job for a 2yo whose mother worked part time. I was with him from 7:30am- 6pm three days a week). The next summer at age 16 I worked full time at the pool and worked there summers for the next 10 years moving up from building worker to lifeguard to pool manager. I did 40 hours a week for the entire summer season and paid my way through college and grad school.
While I was working there I spent a lot of time with the local kids. All of these kids were on public assistance. All were on FS and in public housing and whatever else their parents could get from the gov't. The random, rare child had parents or a parent (usually mom) who was working to break the cycle. Truthfully, I remember one, only one, woman who was working herself ragged to move her three kids into a better life. I had TONS of respect for that woman and loved her kids. Mostly though, the girls started popping out babies around age 15 and by 18 had moved into their own publically funded house to continue breeding children that they would ignore. It was tragic. We were covered up with young kids taking care of the younger kids with them all desperately seeking a little affection and attention. I never saw their parents. Kids as young as three would be hauled to the park and pool by the older kids (10 and 12 yo) with zero adult supervision.

One summer I was on a carrot kick. I brough a bag of small carrots as a snack everyday. One day I was sitting out in the sun munching away on a carrot. The kids were prone to beg food when they saw us eating, so when they saw me sitting there I instantly had a gathering of new "friends". One little boy wanted to know what I was eating. I told him "a carrot". He then wanted to know what a carrot was. ???????? This 6 year old boy had no idea what a carrot was. Really and truly, he and some of the others had no idea what it was and had never seen it before. I promptly passed out my carrots and we all munched away. The kids LOVED them!! After that I had to pack two bags for lunch so all the kids could have their carrots. If it hadn't been so sad it would have been funny seeing them beg vegetables.

 

[CluckyJay]

This is a depressing thread. Seemingly total lack of compassion on some "better off" posters parts.

I will say this about the expensive clothes and cars-- my husband, child and myself wear very expensive clothes. Linen, silk--you name it. Were dirt poor but have nice, expensive clothes, shoes and I even have nice Agner and Dooney and Burke--etc. bags.

I purchased over 20 pairs of awesome vintage and new shoes from all sorts of designers for $1.00 a pair, the bags for about .50 cents. Looking at me walking down the street you'd think I was rich.

Well, before I got into our beat up Toyota, LOL. Maybe I'll call it a vintage truck.

I got all of our clothes by saving pocket change for a year or so and then bought them at the thrift stores in Florida when I was visiting my family. I spent less on three HUGE, name brand wardrobes than I would have spend on a wardrobe for one person at Walmart. Poor people can "afford" to dress nice when they can find nice stuff at thrift stores. I purchase things with tags still attached because rich people toss them before wearing!

To clothe my entire family like this I spent around $200.00.

I don't really wear jewelry but there are lots of really nice things for like .10 cents at thrift stores. For $2.00 you could acquire quite a bagful. They aren't usually real, but some of that fake stuff looks pretty real.

After shopping I got into a nice, shiny new van. It wasn't my van, it was my grandparents. Nobody knew that but us though!

I do NOT think the government should regulate any more what people buy with food stamps. Why can't someone's child have a piece of candy or a soda pop as a treat--because they're poor?

This whole punishing the masses for the sins of the worthless few really STEAMS ME!

Punish the BAD people, leave the good guys a lone.

 

[yotetrapper]

Quote:
Sad!

I remember once when I was very young, after my mom and dad split up, I lived with my dad, and he got him a new girlfriend, and she was on foodstamps. Looking back, I'm sure she was scamming the system, as my dad made decent money. But anyhow, I remember her food "stamps" consisted of bricks of cheese, bags of rice, powdered milk, veggies, pasta, etc. I think she had to go pick it up. I only remember, because I loved that weird, waxy cheese, lol. THAT is what foodstamps should consist of. All people in urban areas should have to pick up the food, and for those in rural areas with people unable to travel, each county could have ONE driver who delivers the food throughout the month.