I haven’t written here in a while, mainly because I’ve been trying this zen thing where I don’t let myself get too worked up about the world, but given the way 2016 has gone so far, I can’t guarantee that I will be able to keep it up much longer.
Yesterday, this happened: More than 500000 will lose SNAP benefits in 2016
To me, it was a final straw.
See, I can take the daily facebook memes friends of mine post that refer to people receiving public benefits as scumbags, losers, and scammers. I can take the total ridiculousness of this Trump revolution that is essentially reinforcing the assumption that anyone receving assistance is unworthy of it. I can take the public ignorance, and I can ignore it even when my own friends and family make absurd statements that they would never make if they knew that I RECEIVE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.
I receive food stamps, and Medicaid, and have received temporary assistance before. So you see, when people, random and known, make these assumptions, I forgive them, because I know they are assumptions. I know that these people have never been in my situation.
They have never had to spend the whole day at HEAP only to be told they only way you can get help is to come back tomorrow, with all members of your household. Meaning, the one employed person has to take off work and LOSE MONEY so that we can receive help.
They do not know what it’s like to sit through a 45 minute assistance interview in which you are essentially called a liar, because the whole system is such a mess that everyone assumes if you apply for help, you must be scamming them. I have had a major panic attack during one of these, and was treated as though it was an act. That is the mentality of the people who work for welfare.
They don’t know that the amount of assistance one single person gets is equal to roughly 150$ a week, and that you are expected to pay all rent, bills, food, etc. with it. They don’t know that you don’t receive rental assistance unless your rent is under 300 bucks a month. If you are adult living in Buffalo, you know that that apartment does not exist.
They don’t know that no one on food stamps can fucking afford steak and lobster. Do you know what my food stamps buy? Mac and cheese and tuna fish. Milk, eggs, and bread. From Aldis.
When they bitch about people receiving Medicaid, they don’t know that I have more than one disease that will absolutely KILL ME if left untreated. They don’t know that I had to work less hours simply because I couldn’t afford health insurance, and that prior to Obamacare, me working was a literal death sentence as I could not receive Medicaid, nor afford private insurance.
And the worst of it? The one really bullshit thing that I have to deal with everyday? Social Security Insurance. I have been trying to get SSI for over a year. I was told last spring that I would receive a call about my case in March, 2016. Well, that’s come and gone folks, and I still can’t work, I still can’t pay my bills, and I still have to put up with ignorant people who assume anyone who isn’t working is just taking up space.
I don’t work a 9-5 job because I am not capable of it. If work comes my way that I can do, I will gladly do it. You see, this is a classic case of the grass being greener on the other side: people with jobs don’t like people without them because they don’t want to work every day and are jealous of those that don’t. Let me assure you: not the case. We hate it. You would hate it too, after a while. We feel unproductive and unsure of our futures. We live in day to day existences, where the rent is never on time and there’s never enough for extra groceries. We live a life where having to buy someone a birthday gift means no gas next week. We hope for the light at the tunnel, but then shit like the above happens and it just gets harder.
So here’s my point: You know someone who receives assistance, and needs it. Seriously, you do. Me, should you know me, a friend, a family member, a coworker, the cashier at the grocery store. It is the people who believe that everyone on assistance is scamming it that lead laws like this to come into existence. I am begging you, pleading with you: stop making assumptions. Stop assuming everyone who needs help is a liar, because trust me, the government is already calling them such. To their faces. Seriously, this is not a joke. The interview to get assistance is like a police interrogation.
(Side note: Also, can we please stop thinking people just walk in and get free money? First of all, in NY, we have a welfare to work program, which means that if you are physically able, you have to attend job class every day until you get a job. You also have to provide tons and tons of paperwork, occasionally have a physical and mental health screening, sit through the “you’re a liar” meeting, and then wait 42 days until you see a dime.)
So I can take it when the general populace is ignorant of how it works. I can take it when they post mildly offensive shit on facebook without thinking about the friends they have that might be receiving benefits. I can handle this crap.
What I cannot handle is ignorance becoming law. What I cannot understand is anyone, ANYONE thinking that another human being doesn’t deserve to eat.
Because that’s what this is saying. They don’t deserve to eat. And technically, until my SSI application is finally approved, I am one of those people.
Just sayin’.
Ham and Eggs 