The Welfare State

[GepperRankins]

sorry

[Barbarossa]

This reminds me of a sociology project I did in my early college years:

It was the first day of a group project researching the homeless. I was in my truck in the parking lot of an HEB (grocery store) when an obviously homeless woman came up and asked I had any work she could do like cleaning house, or washing clothes. She said that she would work for meals. Normally I would have blown her off but having this project I decided to dig a bit further.

Something about didn't add up to me. She seemed about fifty and was wearing a type of old suit. Her shoes looked a bit too nice as did her purse, but she was well weathered.

I asked her if five dollars would help and she said it would. I pulled a fiver from my wallet and asked (before I handed it to her) if she got many jobs working for food. She said "Some" and I then asked how many times in the past month would she estimate that she has worked for food?

"Not many"
"Five times?"
She replied that she didn't think it had been that many. I asked, "Two times"

She mustered a smile and almost a laughed as if she felt she had earned the five bucks in my hand already. "Okay, twice.

I asked her name and she inquired if I was "the law" to which I replied, "No, I'm just an ordinary taxpayer."

She told me her name was Mary (probably bs. I could have yelled "Hey Mary" and a half a dozen women would have looked over)

We got to talking about the "sales pitches" of the homeless and how they attempt to make their living and why she chose this technique.

"A sign would never work, not for a woman. And you'd never catch me out on the freeway, and sure not with a sign. Wouldn't be five minutes before I'd have a cop on me."

I asked her how much she made on an average day and she seemed to get quite angry. For a moment I thought she was going to walk away from the five dollars I still had in my hand. She didn't though.

"Look buddy, I'm not working any kind of game. I'm like a lot of other people right now. I'm down you know. I'm just trying to make it, that's all."

Would she really work for meals?

"Damn right."

How about right now? Would she go to my place and clean it up after I gave her dinner? She was shaking her head before I had finished and I felt that she had heard that proposal before. "No, not today. I can't go right now because I have things to do."

I didn't ask her what things she had to do that couldn't wait. Figured she wouldn't tell me. Probably what she had to do was work that parking lot, offering to clean houses in return for meals.

Before she walked away, she did take the five dollars though.

It sounds like you totally demolished whatever dignity she felt she'd still got left there. Well done.

[missie]

So if someone genuinely cannot work

example?


we have a volunteer at my workplace who regularly comes into de-weed and tidy up our garden area, even though he has a prosthetic limb and mental health problems.

[Chip Monk]

So if someone genuinely cannot work

example?


we have a volunteer at my workplace who regularly comes into de-weed and tidy up our garden area, even though he has a prosthetic limb and mental health problems.

Are you suggesting that everyone is capable of working?

[missie]

no, but almost everyone is capable of doing something.

(sorry yogi )

[Chip Monk]

no, but almost everyone is capable of doing something.

So why would you ask me to post an exmple if you yourself acknowledge that there are people who cannot work?

Are you mocking me?

[Voetsek]

whats work?

[missie]

i'd never mock you, squire.
mainly cos i'm scared shiteless of you. :eek:



edit; not the devil boy, btw.

[Voetsek]

Audrey rules

[Chip Monk]

Like I said, people should work if they can. You're absolutely right most people are capable of doing something. It doesn't have to be earth shattering, just putting a bit back in.

From each according to his means doesn't just refer to money.

However we must accept that there are those who simply cannot work and we must allow for them too. We really don't want to be the sort of society who has this attitude - "You have no money and you can't work, well fuck you." Just look at America.