by Roxanne Cottell

Created on: October 05, 2008

Too many people who do not know any better have way too much to say about how long someone who they do not even know should receive help.

I am a firm believer that there are people in the world who work, pay their bills on time, take care of their families and do everything "right" by societal standards, but when it comes time to choose between the lights and the possibility of actual meat instead of ramen noodles for dinner, unless you have been there, there is nothing that can be said about someone who receives welfare benefits, so long as said recipient does not intend to be a ward of the county for too long.

Lots of people think that the typical welfare rat is a single mother who has never held a job in her life, whose only goal in life is to suck the system dry while folks like you and I work our fingers to the bone providing for them. What I would like to know is where these people are getting their information from. I would like to know when the last time it was that they had to think about where they were going to sleep for the night, let alone live permanently, and I would like to know if any one of those whose thinking is limited and judgmental have been in that very hard place to have to ask for help, especially when they have never been in the position to have to ask in the past.

Asking already judgmental people how long a person should receive welfare is too open ended, because there are too many people in the world right now suffering from the current economic situation in the United States. People who actually need welfare should be able to have that help for as long as it takes them to get back on their feet. And make no mistake - getting approved for welfare benefits is not as easy as those not informed would assume. There is the wait in the lobby with all those other "unworthy" people. Then there is the spilling of your entire life, financial and otherwise. Also there is the issue of letting a stranger in on where your kids go to school, who watches them while you are out finding work. Of course, these same people want the right - no, they reserve the right - to barge into your life at anytime they damned well please. They do this to make sure that you are not spending your paltry 500 to 900 dollars a month on something like fur coats or custom rims for your Pinto.

How do I know this, you might ask yourself?

Because I have been that person who has had to look at her college degree and stand there in that place in your soul where it seems like somewhere

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