Now That I'm Someone Else

LIfe and loves of the bubble bath queen

Friday, October 16, 2009

Rant of the day

I’m surrounded by idiots. There really is no other explanation. Yes, I know I’m one of them, but my idiocy shows in different ways. Today I am on a rant about people who bilk the government, charity organizations and churches instead of getting a job.



I understand that lots of people cannot work and need these programs, they can’t go away, if they do there will be even more problems than there are right now. My issue is with the people who can work, but simply choose not to, they have plenty of excuses, lots of reasons why they can’t work.



My first example is a person I used to be friends with, let’s call her Marie. She is funny, smart, articulate and refuses to be a contributing member of society. Marie has two children, neither of which she currently has custody of, but she uses their names and ages when she goes to the bishop for help.



Marie is an alcoholic, she has lost custody of both of her children. DCFS paid for her to go into a rehab facility as part of a plan to regain custody of her youngest. In other words, you and I paid for her to go into rehab, I know many people who work hard and either they or their children have drug or alcohol issues but their health insurance doesn’t cover rehab and they make too much money to qualify for any programs. There really aren’t a lot of programs for people who are indigent, that’s why so many substance abusers are homeless. Marie got lucky that her daughter’s social worker could pull some strings to try to get help for her.



So what does she do? Marie, in her infinite wisdom, WALKS OUT OF THE PROGRAM!!!! She doesn’t need it, this isn’t really for someone like her, she says all of this while looking down her nose, as if she is better than the other people in the program. Marie says things like- “They have drug problems, I don’t.” Well, no you don’t but you did drive your child to school so drunk that the teachers took your keys and refused to let you have them back- and this was at 9am.



I am amazed by other peoples stupidity and their sense of entitlement. Marie has not worked since she got pregnant with her youngest, the state of Utah and the LDS church has supported her for the last six years.



When she walked out of this program that the taxpayers of Utah were kind enough to pay for, she was right back up to her old tricks. The state and the church are again paying for her apartment, her utilities, her food, her cell phone, her internet. And she doesn’t see a problem with this.



Did you know there is an expensive frozen food delivery company here in Utah that will allow you to pay for your home delivered food, with your food stamps? Me neither, but Marie used them to buy me ice cream for Christmas- there’s one Christmas present I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy. How many children go hungry while Marie buys ice cream, to give away, with her food stamps?





The second example is a woman I work with, she has two daughters, late twenties, they both have toddlers, no baby’s daddies on the scene in this world. All day long I hear this woman over in her cubicle on the phone telling her daughters how to apply for housing, who to call for sub for Santa, what stores they can use their food stamps when they shop. Not only will these girls not work, they are not even ambitious enough to actively seek help, their mom does it for them.



Every year I do sub for Santa or pick names off the Angel tree, I stopped two years ago. I got the name of two little girls, 5 and 7, talked to their mom about what they wanted, spent more money than Sub for Santa recommends but I didn’t care, these two little girls were going to have a nice Christmas.



A week before Christmas I make arrangements to drop off the gifts. The house I deliver the gifts to is huge, in one of the best neighborhoods in the valley. The mom answers the door and tells me to just put the gifts in the front room. She was talking on her cell phone and really didn’t have time to talk to me. I walk into the front room, dragging bags and toys and wrapping paper and tape and stocking stuffers. The front room looks like something out of a Martha Stewart magazine, the tree is at least ten feet tall and beautifully decorated, the entire home is beautifully decorated for Christmas. There are so many presents under the tree, the majority of which have tags with the little girl’s names on them. The mother didn’t even acknowledge me the whole time I made trips in and out of the house. She never said goodbye. She never said thank you.



I feel like an idiot, I didn’t help anyone. This wasn’t a case of giving to someone who might not otherwise receive, this was all about greed. I have discovered that people who are living off government or church or charity can never get enough. They know there is always someone else out there who will give to them as well, and they want it all.



There has to be a better way.

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