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« on: September 03, 2005, 02:45:00 PM »
You both have an excellent point. It hadn't occured to me that it was the end of the month. Same goes for Social Security and pention payments.
Too bad people like you aren't advisors for the government, so they would have had the foresight to release these funds as soon as the threats became real. I still find it hard to believe that that magnitune of people, didn't have any food to pack. Mabe I am just out of touch.
On another note, I have a girl, single mom who gets child support when the bum feels like working. She got her assistance cut when she got a raise.(Punishment for being a hard reliable employee. It kind of takes the incitive away.) We offered a pay cut(in any amount to help her out) but it would have been, six of one, or half dozen of another. She is such a nice girl, but has no understanding of how to save for a rainy day. I try my best to help her understand but I cannot force my ideas on her without fear of pushing her away.
Example, the other day:"Michelle, how much did you get soaked for school supplies?" "Ronnie cost me about $55." "What the hell did you have to buy, I only spent $23 on Marshall?" "Well Ronnie wanted all the best pens, Five Star & Nike notebooks ect." "Michelle, don't you know how to say NO?" Marshall wanted those things too, but I explained to him , as I often do, that if we always get the best items, and spend so much extra on things that are going to do the same job as the store brand, it is wasting money that we could use for fun things. Sure, he is disappointed, but that is how we learn. I am also sure to remind him when we go on vacation, how we can afford this because we didn't waste our money on less important things. He is 11 and he gets it!
I think the government fails our low income citizens by not educating them on how to shop, spend and save. It makes me sad to see a family shoping with four kids, buying Lunchables, indivually packed things like cookies and chips. Hi-C and Kool-aid instead if Juciy Juice, OJ and other healthy choices. I often say "you could save a fortune if you bought a package of sandwich bags and a large package of those cookies instead. Some are thankful and go switch their items, others say "well this is easier, I don't have time for that.
That is why I think our GOV should have classes for this program. I think most people that are poor, would like to get ahead. Who doesn't?
Fact is, it is unfortunate that we cannot all be intellegent( which IS genetic). We have no control over the genes we get from our parents. Unfortunatly, we cannot learn at the same rate or level. Speaking from experience, I dropped out of college. Physics and Algerbra gave me nightmares! My husband, a civil engineer, cannot grasp why I don't get it! I have ADD, which I didn't know back then and hyper focus on what might be unimportant factors.(My point is; I could be poor too, and I am in no way putting these families down.) I just can't believe that that number of people were FLAT BROKE at that time. Some yes, but not that many.
By the way, does anyone know who to contact to provide shelter for the victims? We have a large extra bedroom, and a good sized yard. We could handle 3 people (preferally with a child my sons age, and even a dog. We are far away, but it beats what they have now![ This Message was edited by: Cynthia on 2005-09-03 11:51 ]
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