My aunt is on welfare/food stamps

My aunt is on welfare and shit right now. 

How about some backround how she got there? 

A few years ago, my aunt had a high paying (over 70 grand/yr) office-type job working for some company I am not familiar with.  She frittered away her money buying all the most expensive things... jewelry, an expensive apartment with a high rise ceiling (I think is the right word?), a new car, etc.  The list of purchases gets more extravagent as I keep listing them, but this is all beside the point.  She wasted her money, did not save any of it for the future, and in general, was just irresponsible. 

A few years later, she just decided she hated her job, and quit.  (she was over forty at this time.)  Very soon thereafter, what money she did have in her accounts dried up, and she moved out of her apartment, moving in with other people she knew.  She tried to get other jobs, but couldn't.  Her old job refused to take her back.  For a few years, she moved about, from friend's house, to friend's house, living there, trying to get by, going from small job to small job, working as cashiers at grocery stores, and other small jobs.  Finally, she moved BACK in with her parents, and lived there for a couple years, not working.  She applied for welfare, and food stamps, and got them. 

She then got into disagreements with her parents, and moved in with other relatives of hers.  (My house.)  As I watch, she has no job, but goes out to Barnes and Noble every other day, buying expensive, extravagant drinks at the Starbucks there, and spending the day there reading, before coming home.  Her parents give her money occasionally, which, 90% of the time, is frittered away like the rest. 

That's pretty much it.  I hope you enjoyed the story.  Welfare in America, 2006. 


Oh! For those who are wondering, her political affiliation could summarized with two descriptive terms:  democrat/liberal.  You bet she got pissed off when GWB announced his plans to replace Social Security with private retirement accounts. 

Currently, she whines about degradation of the environment, Bush privatizing social security, conservatives who want to do away with welfare and food stamps, "rich americans who who won't donate to foreign aid", and of course, those "greedy" and "selfish" people who want to abolish tax-supported foreign aid.

>>4
I've been on food stamps before.  I once had an awesome job, everyone loved me (well, not everyone, but you get the idea), I was moving up in the job (I'd easily be senior management by now), I was going to college for my accounting degree (which the company fully paid for--like I said, awesome job), and in general my life was perfect.  I had a new car (not overly expensive, but it was new and mine), and I was almost set to move out of my parents home.

Then I hurt my back.

No longer was I able to work.  No longer was I able to make those car payments.  No longer was I able to save money.  I lost everything I had worked so hard for.  Insurance?  They declined my disability claim because the doctors were unable to determine the name or source of my ailment.  I went from having a savings of $10,000 at the age of 20 to $0 by 22.

It was only in the past year that I was able to start working again.  Only now it is my mother who has become disabled (temporarily, I hope - 2 broken legs + something the doctors haven't been able to diagnose), and I am fully supporting her now.  She will be going onto food stamps like I had for all those years soon, and will hopefully be able to get off them once she finds gainful employment again.

As someone who has been on both sides of the poverty line, I will tell you this: If the system is reformed to ensure that far-less people are abusing the system, then I would gladly pay an extra few dollars per paycheck in taxes to support welfare and welfare-type programs.  I don't even know what I would have done if the state I lived in didn't have such a wonderful state-run health care system at the time.

Of course, we first need to get these god-damned illegal immigrants out of the U.S., do NOT grant them citizenship based on years in the country or whatever bullshit, and start encouraging REAL Americans into taking the jobes they leave behind.

Hell, I know quite a few people who wouldn't mind being part of a cleaning crew for a company.  Why take such a lowly job?  Because it's a job.