A good thought.

A fellow blogger had a poll up on Welfare. On how many hours per week one should work in order to qualify for benefits. She has 20, 30 and 40 hours a week. I chose the 20 hours because when my Son was younger, I had no car, no washing machine or dryer. No phone. I was living in pure hell to say the least. My Son was 3 years old, and I had to take the bus up to the laundry mat. It was torture. But I made it thru. On what? Pure determination. I chose not to depend on my family. As it isn't their fault things worked out the way they did. I never wanted to intrude in their lives. Every weekend on Saturday would be laundry day. We would catch the bus at 830 in the morning, ride up to the laundry mat. Do 3 loads, get on the bus again. Sit at the bus stop a mile down the road, wait for 20 minutes then finally go home. It was a 4 hour trip. Going to Public Aid was worse. If I had a appt. at 830 in the morning that meant getting up at 5 just to catch the bus at 6. It was a 2 hour trip there and a two hour trip back home. And what made it so bad was if I left a paper at home I would get denied or my benefits cut. Then have to make the trip AGAIN with my Son in tow. I think the worst day for me was when it was July 1st. I turned in all my ppwk, mailed a copy and took one in. And I didn't get my benefits because my caseworker went on vacation. She didn't have time to make sure I got my benefits. Needless to say, she is no longer my caseworker. I wasn't the only one she did it too. It was a battle for me. That was when I decided to do something for myself and went back to school. I worked the work study program while my Son was in daycare on campus. I earned enough money for a used car. Public Aid went down my throat on that one. They said I could not own anything worth over $1500 on a car. Pissed me off. But that was fine cause I only paid $1100 for it. But I had a car and it was MINE. I had finally got my freedom back. It was so much easier to deal with the laundry thing. Most people don't realize the shit we go through on public aid. Especially on how they can dig into your lives. I thank my lucky stars I have been completely honest with them on every aspect of my life. So for all welfare recipients, good luck on getting off as its difficult to do. Sometimes we have no choice but to get help. And we shouldn't be criticized for reaching out for something that is there to help us.