Granny's gone and done it again

[ValerieJ]

What about older widows who can't work, or the disabled? My husband had died, I had no income, I was in my mid-40's, too young for Medicare and no one wanted to hire me. But it still would have been nice to eat - and to choose my own food! There were food banks, which was better than nothing, but ... they fill a box for you, you don't get to choose. What use has a single woman for a 10-lb bag of onions, 10 lbs of marshmallows, s dozen donuts, six cans of cranberry sauce and a sugary cereal she would never buy for herself? I wanted salad makings, fresh produce, milk, cheese. I needed shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste. No hope of getting those items. Thank God those days are behind me, but many people are still fighting this battle. And the people who are supposed to be helping you treat you like the scum of the earth, as if you don't deserve their consideration and are just a waste of their precious time.

I'm so sorry. I'm not talking about that at all. I'm talking about people in my own previous situation of being able bodied, young and employable. I'm all about helping the helpless. That is a different category altogether. I worked in child welfare services for many years. I could have just as easily worked in services to the elderly, or disabled. I was the chairman of the board of a homeless shelter program in my community in Virginia during the 2007-2008 recession that created many new homeless and worked to get them in homes and pay their unpaid bills. All of these folks had been previously successfully employed individuals, but circumstances changed. They were scared and didn't know where to turn. I was happy to be a little bit of help. I hope I didn't give the impression that I'm callous to the needs of people with an inability for whatever reason. I was simply talking about the welfare system.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm so sorry. I'm not talking about that at all. I'm talking about people in my own previous situation of being able bodied, young and employable. I'm all about helping the helpless. That is a different category altogether. I worked in child welfare services for many years. I could have just as easily worked in services to the elderly, or disabled. I was the chairman of the board of a homeless shelter program in my community in Virginia during the 2007-2008 recession that created many new homeless and worked to get them in homes and pay their unpaid bills. All of these folks had been previously successfully employed individuals, but circumstances changed. They were scared and didn't know where to turn. I was happy to be a little bit of help. I hope I didn't give the impression that I'm callous to the needs of people with an inability for whatever reason. I was simply talking about the welfare system.

No I wasn't talking about you. I didn't know you did that. That's wonderful. It must have been very gratifying to have been able to help people in those circumstances. I was like those people, I had worked for many years. I wish I'd had someone like you when my circumstances changed! But I survived.

 

[microchick]

I got a couple for y'all.

We saw public aid patients in my husband's practice. Always thought we were helping those who needed it the most. Then one day after Christmas a kiddo came in with mom. Asked kiddo if Santa had been good to him and kiddo shuffled their feet and hung their head. I thought oh oh, I asked the wrong question until mom said, Tell Becky what Santa brought you! When kiddo hesitated mom said, he got a big screen tv, an Xbox, a dvd player.....mom then handed me their IDPA card. I asked her if she would adopt us.

About a month later a different mom and kiddo came in, another IDPA patient. On the way out the door mom said she had to drive to the nearby big city and start shopping for their summer vacation coming up the next year. I said it was kind of early wasn't it and she said no, they were going to Australia!

Please somebody explain to me how this works because even after about 15 years I still can't figure it out.......

 

[microchick]

The welfare system sux.

 

[troyer]

I've done that in Michigan way back in my younger more foolish days. The fire nearly froze but I got the steaks grilled.

Freeze grilled steak.

 

[troyer]

We have green oranges

Green oranges?

 

[Nomadicus]

The summer of '65 the two of us and an infant child at pretty well on $5 a week. We ate a lot of rice, ground beef with mushroom soup over it and deviled eggs. Egg salad put me in the hospital for two weeks flat of my back attached to an IV. We have manage somehow to eat ever since by working every how many jobs we had too. Now we work in the dirt still putting food away for stormy days that are coming. Food that we grow is a source of income that is not taxed. We have a family that we can barter with for hair cuts and another that we can barter with for food items we cannot grow. We've been survivors all of our lives. We help now a shelter for battered women with food, vegetable seed and plants for their garden they plant. It seems like dodging punches has been a way of life for over 7 decades but some how we are still standing. I remember a family that rode the welfare system back in the mid 70's and they were getting what ever they asked for. This was in NW MO. One time they wanted to go camping and after they got their gear furnished they went camping and then brought their gear back to the store where they bought it for a refund. That was a pattern with them. Those kinds of actions hardened the hearts of to many folks to the point they stopped or never started helping less fortunate families.

 

[Nomadicus]

Green oranges?

Green oranges like green apples. I like both as long as I have a salt shaker in one hand and the fruit in the other.

 

[Cynthia12]

Got the go ahead for my shot.

What about older widows who can't work, or the disabled? My husband had died, I had no income, I was in my mid-40's, too young for Medicare and no one wanted to hire me. But it still would have been nice to eat - and to choose my own food! There were food banks, which was better than nothing, but ... they fill a box for you, you don't get to choose. What use has a single woman for a 10-lb bag of onions, 10 lbs of marshmallows, s dozen donuts, six cans of cranberry sauce and a sugary cereal she would never buy for herself? I wanted salad makings, fresh produce, milk, cheese. I needed shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste. No hope of getting those items. Thank God those days are behind me, but many people are still fighting this battle. And the people who are supposed to be helping you treat you like the scum of the earth, as if you don't deserve their consideration and are just a waste of their precious time.

I was a single mom wirh 4 kids. Pretty tough all right. I couldn't work because of my Richard. I had to be home in case of an emergency happened with him because no one else would be home, and many times I would have to go to school to pick him up becauseof a fall or something else. Or, take him up to Primary children's for surgery, one being to have his spinal cord untethered. Now I'm older, on SS and have to worry if my SS will be there for me. Tough times ahead for sure. I was sure hoping for an easier time in my older years. Not so easy for a few different reasons in the past few years, but still so much to be thankful for. I've had tough times in my past, got through them with gratitude in my heart, I think I can do it again. No matter how hard it gets, there's always something to be grateful for.
Furnace...and..air-conditioner coming in tomorrow. This I'm a bit worried about because of the cold. They say it will be alright. It's cheaper for the kids right now because come spring it will go higher. OK. I'm still going to drip my faucets in the house as the heat will be off and they'll be coming in and out for hrs. Here's where I'm grateful. A new furnace and air conditioner, and I don't have to pay for it.
,

 

[Nomadicus]

Freeze grilled steak.

In the winter months we could afford $1 a pound steak. During the summer it was hot dogs and ground beef and sometimes chicken that was 29¢ a pound.