We hear a lot about the under privileged on the boards, but that term itself is kind of misleading. I live in a working class, lower middle income neighborhood. Because of commercial zoning, my business sits on a street dominated by low income housing rentals. As a matter of fact, I am the only resident on the whole street that owns their own house. The other day we had some severe, damaging wind. The wind blew sand and small rocks into my siding, chipping away paint which I will have to be working on next week. Across the street however, the landlord hired people to repair the siding that blew off the wall, as the residents sat outside watching as they talked on cell phones. The front door wide open letting out the heat they weren't paying for, as a flat screen TV was on inside. Clearly visible from the window of my poorly insulated studio. I have a 25" 13 year old Magnavox in my living room. There were Halloween parties at the school this week and my wife is a room mom. Whenever parties are thrown, a list of items that can be donated is sent home to each child's home. 4 Out of the 19 parents offered to send something in. We supplied the Halloween craft, the ceramic sundae cups, four pizzas and the ice cream. We also sent in plates and napkins for my son's class despite the fact he went with a packed lunch to his party because he doesn't like pizza.
I remember back in '97 when my wife and I were married, her parents bought us a honeymoon trip to Jamaica. You know the big Sandals resort? It was the one next to that but a wonderful place. I felt horrible as we drove to Ocho Rios and I saw extreme poverty with little shacks with rippled tin roofs and goats tethered outside. If they were poor in America they would feel as if they hit the lottery.
I hear a lot about the unfortunate that don't have enough to get by and yet I see many with much more than me and a lot of the people I know. I see a lot of the 'poor' people on the sidewalk smoking $5/pack cigarettes and I see them walking back from the liquor stores with beer.
When I managed a supermarket, I would rarely see the family first card used to purchase sensible and nutritious items. Soda, chips cupcakes and generally paying little attention to sale prices the way most people who need to purchase their own with their own cash. I had to deal with a lot of customers over the 15 years I was a manager, and the people that got the most for free expected the most.
This isn't a rant against the poor or even the point that the vast majority could do a lot better if they could act responsibly. My point is that so many think its OK to tell people when they have earned too much, or how much they have to pay, and yet there are no controls over the recipients of that money that other people earned.
