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    Categories: PoliticsUS

Reflections: Another Day at the Welfare Office

<p>Everyday people in need of government assistance make the journey to our Social Security/Welfare Office for General Relief and Food Stamps. What they get is 75 pages and a full day of questions about their bank accounts and what they own, how much money they have earned in the past or how much has passed through their bank accounts in the last three months. Tell me how any of that matters if I need help today? They ask me for my citizenship card. Then they use it against me because with that citizenship comes also a history. If you have no citizenship you also have no history, so does that make me any less worthy of the help I am asking for? Well…Yes! You cannot ask for help if you didn’t need it yesterday. How dare you ask for help when you own a home? How dare you ask for help as you lose it? You still have 20.00 in your bank account. Don’t ask your government for help if you do not have any children, or if you have lived here all your life. If you can still work and just cannot find a job do not think about coming back here. Until your homeless, disabled, blind, crazy or have the status of being an illegal alien do not expect any general relief in the form of cash. You are just wasting your breath, time and dignity as they pound you to the pavement and then tell you to scram.</p>
<p>Worst of all representatives in this room full of woes is the 30ish Mexican lady whose job is amazingly gratifying as she opens the door and proudly tells you, &quot;You are denied!&quot; To be redolent with words that hold a wretched stench filled with holier than thou snobbery, she remains fully composed and callous to the tearful recipients she sends home. For the few that pass through her revolving doors, there is only one way you can convince the wicked welfare witch that you are a worthy recipient for GR. That from simply checking the box in the language section that says you are of Mexican origin. This is the status quo for the help from our government in the form of GR (General Relief).</p>
<p>If you are a citizen you will be one of the lucky ones to be denied GR and be granted food stamps. You can look forward to another full day of waiting and signing of statements. If you are in the top 1% of citizens who do receive GR you can be thankful that your representative was the black woman or male who not only told you what to write , but also what not to. Then the rest of your afternoon will be signing documents promising to pay them back if various circumstances take shape in your future. Mostly aiming for a chunk of your first social security payment that may be a skip away. One way or another you will eventually have to break down into a fit of kicking and screaming, begging and balling to get GRa whopping 200.00 a month. The blatant prejudice can make you violently ill if you stay too long.</p>
<p>Then after all your time and trouble you finally go home with your 200.00 in food stamps. Meant for that and only that…food! There is no gas in your car, no toilet paper in your bathroom, or paper towels or plates to eat on. No kitchen utensils. No grooming equipment, like soap or deodorant. No Band-Aids, razors, or tampons. No dish soap, detergent, toothpaste or brushes, and if you were thinking about that pre-cooked chicken that looks so good in the grocery store, it is considered a deli item and also not included.</p>
<p>Anyone in this position is going to need money and most of the time offer to buy someone else’s food in exchange for cash. You will have to start the snobbery sniffing all over again, and if you’re expecting your fellow shopper to help you out, well think again and be prepared for a very rude awakening. There answers are short, and always with tired and useless excuses for their lack of mercy. The only way you may succeed is by offering them a discount on their food items. It is all kind of ironic when you actually need it a hundred times more than them. However, do not say anything too loud because the Mexican lady is now working the cash register at your local grocery store, and she cannot wait to tell her supervisor what you are trying to do. It is illegal, you know. You cannot buy someone else’s food, unless they are a friend of yours. It is not permitted. So, unless they start making edible toilet paper you can eat forget the toiletries.</p>
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Laura McCallum: I am currently attending CSUN and in the process of obtaining my Bachelors Degree in Journalism.
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