Are you being misled? Do you believe that those who are on government assistance are fooling us all into thinking they need help? Taking our hard-earned money and purchasing booze and drugs or selling their benefits for profit?
You see them pulling out a nice looking cell phone at the checkout line, dressed in nice clothing instead of used hand me downs. So, you know darn well they don't need government assistance, right?
Meanwhile, that young woman with her newborn baby and toddler in the checkout line lost her husband to a horrible car accident a few months prior. She has applied to every job available since then in her small town. She has no transportation because her only means of transportation was totaled in her husband's accident. She also hasn't been able to find a daycare affordable enough for her two children.
Her family isn't able to watch the children because they work full time, but they were able to provide her with that nice looking cell phone you see so that any potential jobs have a way of contacting her. And that life insurance policy her husband had, it went to his funeral expenses and all of his hospital bills.
What little savings they had, she spent on food and necessities for her children, while she quietly tries to control her own hunger pains from not eating. As embarrassing as it was for her, she knew she needed to continue to feed her babies, so she swallowed her pride and applied for government assistance.
Meanwhile, the woman in line behind her, glares at the young mother and mouths the words, Freeloader as the mother shamefully pays for her groceries.
Now let me tell you another story...
When my children were little, my ex-husband had just joined the military. Once we were stationed at our first base, we were shocked to learn that at his basic airmen status, McDonald's cashiers made a lot more money at minimum wage than he did. In an attempt to help correct the problem, the military created a program that was supposed to help families like ours, on government assistance, get off of it.
But, when we applied for the program, we were denied the help because my ex-husband made too much money as a basic airman. Yet, ironically we still qualified for government assistance. Even more interesting was the fact that we were never looked down upon by anyone for using WIC and food stamps. Instead, they looked up to us because my ex was in the military.
It's funny how our reality is. We choose to see those who are on government assistance as lazy freeloaders taking our hard-earned money. Yet we have no problem with those we see as heroes who need a helping hand.
We never stop to think that not everyone who is on government assistance, no matter what the situation looks like is abusing the system. We simply assume that we know we are right and we judge. Yes, we judge.
Stop, step into their shoes for a moment and stop judging those who need a helping hand because you just never know. Heck, there even may be a time when you or someone you know and love needs a little help too!
