Poverty in America: She Left her Bootstraps on the Bus

Continued from America's Poor: Lazy, Irresponsible, Dependent?

Introduction HERE

Some say that the "New Poor", not to mention the "Old Poor", need to learn "personal responsibility".  They need to stop sponging off of those rich "job creators"!  

Meet some of the "New Poor" (and some of the "Old Poor" as well).  We're watching them sponge off of others,  show no "personal responsibility", and demonstrate how little they value money and how dependent they are on the government:

Lazy Sponger Number 3:  She Left her Bootstraps on the Bus

A young woman had two children out of wedlock at a young age. It created a life of struggle for her, but she vowed to work hard and not pass a life of struggle on to her kids. She worked for a large retailer, but pay slightly above minimum wage doesn't go that far when you have two kids to raise.


She realized she would have to go back to school to get some kind of skill, and she went to school on the weekends and worked during the week. That didn't go over well with her retailer employer which insisted that full-time staff work on the weekends. As a result, her hours dropped down to 34 a week, the fewest that one could work and still be considered "full-time". The automatic scheduling system often scheduled her for difficult hours, a few hours in the morning, then several hours off, and then a few hours in the afternoon. As she traveled by bus, it added hours a day to her working day, and working a split shift was just something she really couldn't do.  Her boss would try to fix her hours, but he often got grief from his boss, as the automatic scheduling system was to be left alone.

But with fewer hours and ever-decreasing pay (due to changing pay policies of her employer), she did qualify for food stamps, housing, energy assistance.(In other words, the government was subsidizing her employer who didn't pay her enough on which to live.) 

She did not do well in school; she feels due to the pressure of kids, work, and school, and she has not yet been able to finish her program. She finally found a different job, still just a bit above minimum wage, but without the pressures of her old job. She's still not getting ahead, but at least this job seems to be less stressful, and the hours aren't as capricious.


Lazy sponger Number 4:  Grandpa Cuts Grass

The young man grew up in a dirt poor neighborhood on the "wrong side of the tracks". He was very bright, did well in school, went to college on a scholarship, and graduated with honors. Vietnam started up just as he was finishing school and he was drafted. 

When he left the Army and came home, he struggled to "find" himself, which was the story of so many vets who returned from Vietnam in the 60's and early 70's. 

After a series of odd jobs, a broken marriage, and a stint in graduate school, he got a job as a ...

Lazy Sponger Grandpa Cuts Grass Continued HERE