I want Charles in Charge of Me
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to wake up every day hungry? A few minutes ago I was reading for my social policy final on Friday and eating tortilla chips and thinking about everything else I'd eaten today and I was just thinking about what it might be like to be poor. And not like college student poor, like officially poor.
I can't imagine waking up every day and wondering if there is going to be enough money to feed myself (much less a family!) or what I was going to do when it got cold. Living on the street, sleeping amongst the warm trash in dark alleys, sitting in doorways watching people go by. Knowing, or not knowing, that the government doesn't give a shit about you. "We are not going to perpetuate poverty by substituting a permanent dole for a paycheck" (Ronald Reagan 1967).
I can not imagine standing in line at soup kitchens and watching people walk by, ignoring you or giving you dirty looks and mumbling about lazy-ass bums or giving you that guilty church-goer pity look. I can't imagine what it would feel like to not have anything to do all day but wonder when you're going to eat again or sleep again. Fuck yeah I'd be drinking and snorting coke, sleeping with freaks just to get high. Seriously, if it came down to it, I'd whore myself out just to eat, especially if I had children to care for.
Or, worse, working three jobs and still not being able to pay rent or get your car fixed so you can get to a fourth job. Or buying groceries. The embarrassment it must be to drag oneself down to the dhhr to get food stamps or public assistance. How bad it must feel to have to admit that you can't afford to take care of yourself or your family. There goes all your pride and self-esteem. How humbling.
All this and I just can not grasp how the government and society still refuses to acknowledge the growing welfare roles and unemployment rates. Why we refuse, as a people to help them feel more empowered and make getting assistance less of an embarrasment.
I just don't understand.
I can't imagine waking up every day and wondering if there is going to be enough money to feed myself (much less a family!) or what I was going to do when it got cold. Living on the street, sleeping amongst the warm trash in dark alleys, sitting in doorways watching people go by. Knowing, or not knowing, that the government doesn't give a shit about you. "We are not going to perpetuate poverty by substituting a permanent dole for a paycheck" (Ronald Reagan 1967).
I can not imagine standing in line at soup kitchens and watching people walk by, ignoring you or giving you dirty looks and mumbling about lazy-ass bums or giving you that guilty church-goer pity look. I can't imagine what it would feel like to not have anything to do all day but wonder when you're going to eat again or sleep again. Fuck yeah I'd be drinking and snorting coke, sleeping with freaks just to get high. Seriously, if it came down to it, I'd whore myself out just to eat, especially if I had children to care for.
Or, worse, working three jobs and still not being able to pay rent or get your car fixed so you can get to a fourth job. Or buying groceries. The embarrassment it must be to drag oneself down to the dhhr to get food stamps or public assistance. How bad it must feel to have to admit that you can't afford to take care of yourself or your family. There goes all your pride and self-esteem. How humbling.
All this and I just can not grasp how the government and society still refuses to acknowledge the growing welfare roles and unemployment rates. Why we refuse, as a people to help them feel more empowered and make getting assistance less of an embarrasment.
I just don't understand.