Hilarious story, or at least I think it's pretty hilarious: John was in his Economics class and they were talking about something that I didn't understand when John's teachers said, "John, how much would you pay for a shirt?" He said, "12 dollars", thinking that that was totally reasonable especially considering that the shirt he was wearing cost 4 bucks. Well, everyone in the class laughed. I thought that was reasonable with my thrifty shopping. The teacher asked 2 other people who said $30 and another said $50. I can't even fathom spending 50 bucks on a shirt. Maybe $30 if it was diamond studded.
Don't get me wrong. We haven't always been like this. Well, yes we have. I feel like I've always been fiscally responsible (fiscally boring as my sister says). Before we had kids, we could afford things like flying, flying other people, buying useless breast milk pumps, going out to dinner often, road trips, mini road trips, and other things. Keep in mind, all responsibly. Now with my $250 income (from our rental) I can afford rental repairs.
Wow. This sounds awful. I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I'm actually really happy to be at this point in my life and I'm excited for things to happen in the future!
So, how am I going to live? Easy. Loans.
And (keep your fingers crossed) food stamps.
Is this too much information?
Probably.
Do you even care?
Probably not.
Or maybe you do if you want to feel rich.
Anyway, point is, I want to share with you reasons why I am not afraid to take food stamps and I think that other people should too in the same situation that I am in. I actually asked a new friend of mine about government assistance and she said that she feels that people need to take responsibility for themselves instead of getting money from a government with no money. She makes a good point. I think there are a lot of reasons not to take assistance, but here are my reasons why I am.
1. I feel like food stamps are like a loan from the government with a 99% continuous compounding interest. Government assistant programs are for people like my family (or at least I think it is). When John's done with grad school, a bunch of his paycheck will go to taxes, far more than we will receive in stamps. They're investing in us.
2. I always thought people should be really ashamed to be on food stamps. But then I met a lot of really great people who just struggled financially and needed this aid for a short period of time. I thought everyone on food stamps were lazy slobs who had no plans ever to get a job or shower. I was very judgmental until I met real people who didn't fit my stereotype. Normal people do it too!
3. I need to feed my family.
That's actually all. I feel like they are good reasons and I don't think anyone should be ashamed. It takes courage to apply, but it's there for a reason. Oh by the way, I'm not on food stamps yet. I'm still waiting for my interview because apparently the process takes 2 months. Love government agencies, but I can't complain, or at least shouldn't complain if I qualify.
Don't get me wrong. We haven't always been like this. Well, yes we have. I feel like I've always been fiscally responsible (fiscally boring as my sister says). Before we had kids, we could afford things like flying, flying other people, buying useless breast milk pumps, going out to dinner often, road trips, mini road trips, and other things. Keep in mind, all responsibly. Now with my $250 income (from our rental) I can afford rental repairs.
Wow. This sounds awful. I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I'm actually really happy to be at this point in my life and I'm excited for things to happen in the future!
So, how am I going to live? Easy. Loans.
And (keep your fingers crossed) food stamps.
Is this too much information?
Probably.
Do you even care?
Probably not.
Or maybe you do if you want to feel rich.
Anyway, point is, I want to share with you reasons why I am not afraid to take food stamps and I think that other people should too in the same situation that I am in. I actually asked a new friend of mine about government assistance and she said that she feels that people need to take responsibility for themselves instead of getting money from a government with no money. She makes a good point. I think there are a lot of reasons not to take assistance, but here are my reasons why I am.
1. I feel like food stamps are like a loan from the government with a 99% continuous compounding interest. Government assistant programs are for people like my family (or at least I think it is). When John's done with grad school, a bunch of his paycheck will go to taxes, far more than we will receive in stamps. They're investing in us.
2. I always thought people should be really ashamed to be on food stamps. But then I met a lot of really great people who just struggled financially and needed this aid for a short period of time. I thought everyone on food stamps were lazy slobs who had no plans ever to get a job or shower. I was very judgmental until I met real people who didn't fit my stereotype. Normal people do it too!
3. I need to feed my family.
That's actually all. I feel like they are good reasons and I don't think anyone should be ashamed. It takes courage to apply, but it's there for a reason. Oh by the way, I'm not on food stamps yet. I'm still waiting for my interview because apparently the process takes 2 months. Love government agencies, but I can't complain, or at least shouldn't complain if I qualify.
You're awesome :) I don't think you have any reason to feel guilty at all! I don't know if you were referring to the conversation we had, but I only meant that I feel (slightly) guilty accepting Medicaid specifically because our particular circumstances are such right now that we could pay for private insurance, but I can't get it because no one will take you when you're pregnant. But I guess that's what it's there for, as well, right?
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone needs to feel guilty accepting government help they can't provide for their family, even if they aren't on track to pay it all back and then some later in life like you guys are. We should be concerned about and care for the needs and health of our country's families, because people are important, period.
And as much as it might make me cringe to accept it, at times (no one likes to think of Themselves as needy or dependent, right.? Even temporarily) I hope acknowledging that I need help and accepting it will make me a less judgemental person in the future. Tons of people could look down their noses at me for having kids before we could "afford it all ourselves" so I hope I'll remember that and not judge others whose circumstances and choices I don't fully know either!
Thanks for your comment! Reading back I realized that I think I phrased our conversation wrong. I loved your comment about people taking responsibility! That's why I put that in but then I got really excited to get to my points, that I didn't emphasize that importance. And yes, every circumstance is different and I really like the way that you put it! I should talk to you more often for ideas for my blog!
ReplyDelete