I Abhor Begging

I just finished listening to a truly inspirational audio book, The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. I suggest this book to anyone with lungs, trust me, it is not just business related, it is life related. This guy is the one who wrote the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. In this book (the audio version is an abridged version) he gives 43 principles to help you succeed in life. While I don't remember them all, they have influenced the way I look at my life, the way I see myself and the goals I shoot for. Anyone can achieve anything with persistence, tenacity and passion.

A Window Into Our Lives:

For the past two years we have been reaching new lows in poverty every day. We have tried to get food stamps (SNAP) a few times, but the people in the office will not return our calls. I called for a month straight and got nothing but excuses. After that month they still hadn't even LOOKED at my application and said I had to fill out a new one beacuse they lost it. I swore I would never deal with these people again. I will not BEG them to do their jobs and give us money for food anymore.

This was back in December, when we waited for MONTHS to hear back from them. One day I called my worker 10 times in a row, hoping that she would pick up so I could find out what we needed to do to get noticed. When she finally picked up she didn't bother to even say hello, "Amanda! I know this is you! Stop calling me!!"
"I am sorry, I am just so hungry, my children are hungry. I just wanted to find out why we are not getting accepted."
"I don't know why you were not accepted, it looks like you should have been. Let me transfer you." Again! I had been shuffled between three workers, none of which could get their acts together enough to look at our papers and grant us acceptance. The next worker said,
"Yeah, it looks like it should have been accepted months ago. All of your paperwork is here. Let me transfer you back to so and so." I recieved voice mail this time (which happens 75% of the time) and left her a message. The next day she called me back saying that she LOST my paperwork and I needed to start the process ALL OVER AGAIN!!! That is when I swore off from the DTA (Dept of Transitional Assistance).

Two weeks ago my husband started the DTA process all over again, as I would have nothing to do with it. He has called and left about 5 messages, never getting a call back. I made him call 4 times today and he finally got a hold of our worker who claims that I have to get pay stubs from the place I worked at months ago. Christopher told him that I no longer work there. Now we have to go to that place and have them sign a letter stating that I do not work there (so much for the honors' system). Hopefully that is all we need. But why couldn't that guy have called Christopher a day or two later, instead of us hounding him for two weeks!?

See how annoying government assistance can be? Some people cheat the system just so they can reap the rewards, but to me it is SO not worth it. I am glad the system is in place for people who NEED it, but that is it. More regulations and better staffing. I am so ready to be out of this pit of poverty.