Originally Posted by Hamar

Ok, this rich. You think you are well informed because you cater to the poor?? Then Walmart is genius!

Originally Posted by Hamar

I have been poor all my life. You really have no idea. Being poor is not an excuse to beg for government hand outs.

Originally Posted by Hamar

I was emancipated at 15, I had one year in high school and had to quit to work full time in one job (fast food) and 30 hours a week in another (gas station). I consider myself intelligent, but sadly, not educated. I know the difference though...

Originally Posted by Hamar

My first computer was a TI-99/4A I had an affinity for programming languages so I was able to move from restaurants to Internet start ups. My big break was a company that was hooked into the video game industry and I spent 7 years with them, had a great opportunity. But, we were screwed by Sega less than a week before IPO.

I had to leave California. I really could not afford to live there. I ended up in Ohio. I went from making about 45k a year to making about 10 dollars an hour. I work for a company that actively recruits people on welfare and food stamps and has special programs to "adjust" their pay so they can get the most they can get.

Not only that, but I have a form of gout that puts me on my ass sometimes for weeks at a time. I am not talking about the big toe swelling and hurting, I mean an ankle that swells to the size of a football and makes me cry until I pass out.

I am always behind in rent, the only way I keep an internet connection is by paying for dsl (not cable) and pushing the payments out every month.

Am I lazy? Nope, I work as many hours as I can when I can. Can I get help? Nope, I am a white male and as such I am screwed unless I will go on disability and that would take years to get on.

I am white and poor. Oh and Obamacare will do nothing but screw me.

Originally Posted by Patters

"Cater to the poor"?

You're right I don't have your experience, but I've certainly been poor so I know how hard it is when you don't have rent money and can't get work. (The Carter era really sucked!)

Single moms, the physically disabled, and the mentally ill need "handouts." I think of a peron I worked with who landed a job and three days later he collapsed in physical pain from war wounds. He went and asked for "handouts." I think of the guy who landed a job, and after 3 days of 12 hour days he had a nervous breakdown that so humiliated him he would not go back to work. He needs help while we figure out what's wrong. I think of the mom who has three kids, one with a physical disability. She needs help. The people who get aid have problems, and have the patience to deal with a slow and distru(Please be quiet - edited)l system. Where I work, they are more often white than black or Hispanic.



That's where many of my clients are--working 30 hours a week in a supermarket, going to a day labor place and waiting around in the hope someone will give them a few hours of work, finding a few hours of work under the table.



Your story sounds tough and you sound amazing for finding a way at age 15 to rise to the challenges that faced you. It sounds like you have to do it again, but are discouraged. In all honesty, you sound like the kind of guy I see, usually dragged in by a girlfriend!

With my clients, I am often the first one to put them in touch with social services. On disability, they are allowed to do a little work. They are always looking for work because disability pays so little, and their lives are so boring. They are, like you, are hard to employ. They lack education, lack diverse job skills, and have health limitations. Some of them, my age even, are now in GED programs to start the long climb. Others get into job training programs (commercial cleaning, word processing, insulation) that pay a stipend and land them work. Some are on housing lists, waiting up to 7 years to get affordable housing (that costs 1/3rd their income), others live in shelters, others give up and drink or drug. Here in MA, mental health and independent social services are free, covered by insurance.

Disability is hard to get. People apply and pursue it for years sometimes. Housing is even harder to get. But, I think society has a responsibility to people who are struggling and want to do better. I wish there was workfare for people like you. You're the kind of guy that if given a helping hand would better himself so he did not need the helping hand any longer. I believe that helping people is one of the reasons for civilization.

Viktor Frankl, a famous psychologist who survived the Nazi concentration camps, said that we do not know our destiny until we solve the unique challenges that life puts in front of us. Nietsche said, "That which does not destroy us makes us stronger." To me the idea that life is a struggle is empowering.

Perhaps you don't have health insurance now, but Obamacare should cost you around $150 month if you earn around $25k/year, as I understand it. If one uses it to address health issues, it may be worth it. If one uses it to get into the mental health system in order to get a foothold on building a better life, it should be worth it. If one don't use it, obviously it's not worth it.

Lastly, let me say a word about those who take advantage: I do not help them. I've had some ask me to change their mental health diagnosis or leave things out to help their cause. I never have done that and never will. The people who get help are usually deserving of it. A few find a way to abuse the system, but not many.

Originally Posted by IllegalContact

lol......rising to the challenege

it's more like getting things done.........or having an excuse

Originally Posted by Patters

I'd respond, but there's either something wrong with my reading level or your literacy.

Originally Posted by IllegalContact

I took one phrase out of context, because as usual, the rest of your speech is not worth reading

maybe all the excuse-making you make on behalf of others is merely you making excuses for yourself

Originally Posted by Patters

Why are you trying so hard to make everything personal this evening? You seem so angry.

Originally Posted by IllegalContact

Just calling you out.....

You belong in a cult like heavens gate or something