Confessions of a Welfare Queen

Did you get your Obamacare Microchip yet? I did! One for each member of my family! 

Microchips! (code name 666)

Except for Gramps, cause he's on a death panel. 

 

Because old people never vote, so who cares...

Actual Photo of Real Death Panel Hearing

 My neighbors got theirs too, but since they're undocumented workers from Mexico they also got a free check from the government.  I'm supposed to receive one also, but it's coming at the end of the month with my Welfare check. Now I'll have even more money to go buy my drugs with. - It's what us welfare recipients do with the money. You see, it's all a big scam that we decided to do together. Here's how it works:

My Big Government Check! (Yay!)

First, you make sure that you NEVER work.  Second, you have as many babies as possible. Bonus points if they all come from different Daddies. Then you go to your local welfare office and tell them that you're trying real hard, but you just can't get a job because the "Mexican's" took them all.

 Point towards my neighbor's house for added effect.

Good Example of crying baby!

See? They took my job!

My Tree Hugging, Bleeding Heart Social Worker

Now this is important: 

It's all in the details... Make sure that you do not clean your children's faces for two or three days. Also be sure to not feed them for about 12 hours because they will get that loud "hungry" cry. Trust me, these Social Services people will totally feel sorry for you. But just to seal the deal, it helps if look as dejected as possible. If you play your cards just right, you'll leave with money in your pocket. Then,voila! You can be on your way to buying new kicks and a quarter baggie of the funky stuff! It's amazing how The Tea Party and certain Republicans have gotten me all figured out. Downright uncanny!

Hey, I wanted that job!

No, really, I was going to work there!

They took Marge's life long dream of picking tomatoes!!!

And this is why I like Obamacare sooooo much! I get more free stuff! I learned about it when I called the ACA hotline. My information packet even came with a tax-payer-paid free cellphone! (Woo-hoo!) It was all in Spanish, but my neighbors helped me. Which was very nice of them, since they're so busy doing all of the work that they stole from white people. It turns out my Insurance is totally free too! Totally paid for, by those who didn't want the Affordable Health Care Act to pass in the first place. They are the only one's who have to pay more money for insurance. Is that a weird coincidence or what?

My Free Government phone offer!

Aren't they frightening? 

There's this family who live in my apartment complex: They look like terrorists, and that kind of scares me. Well anyway, because they're Muslims, they don't have to get Obamacare if they don't want to. 

I've heard that Obama himself is a Muslim. (Everybody born in Kenya is.) He doesn't really look like a terrorist though. I mean, he can't be all that bad. After all, he personally made sure that I got my food stamps. He's trying to get as many people on Food Stamps as possible. I thinks that's totally cool of him. 

My $1.00 Food Stamp. No, it Really does look like this!

Obama's Kenyan/Muslim ID driver's license photo

When I'm at the grocery store, everyone in the check out line gets very angry when I take out my EBS card. Normally nobody pays attention to what kind of card people pay with, but I'm always careful make sure that everybody sees it. That way everybody there can tell their Facebook friends that they saw me buy my beer and cigarettes with it. Next time, I'll be sure to be on my free government cell phone at the same time.  

You don't have to be jealous and hating on me. Anybody can do it. Obama wants us too. I read that on the Heritage Foundation's website. The government wants to take care of everybody. It's super easy and if you decide to do it, you can wear expensive clothes and get stoned all the time too! 

All the Kicks I've bought while kickin' it on welfare. Yessssss!!!

People say, "But what about self-respect?" Most people I know complain about their jobs; how it doesn't pay enough or that the Boss doesn't give a crap.  That's not self-respect.... Self-respecting people don't do things like work for some employer and barely earn enough money to live on. Self-respecting people would at least demand a good wage, or help with their family's healthcare. And I suppose that if a person had no other choice but to work for a place like that, they wouldn't be opposed to affordable health insurance. Otherwise, that would be lunacy. 

Another scary End-of-times Obamacare Mark of the Beast healthcare chip!!!

But now we can all get FREE healthcare. All of us non-Muslim, non-Presidential, non-congressional, illegal immigrant,  welfare queens and middle class Americans get it for FREE!!!  It's okay.... Just insert the Microchip... If you're afraid of needles, the brochure says that you can also use insert it as a suppository.

But YOU told me not to get an abortion!!!

Hey now! Watch what you say! I didn't give you any card! 

Wow. You really figured me out! That's amazing! You sure are smart!

Yes it does seem legit, doesn't it?

Damn.... There's this weird obsession about iPhones.( I have a Samsung! )

-v-

I just need to get this off my chest, then I'll feel better

This is not typical of what I like to post. Today, however I'm in need of a Dear Diary moment. I'm tempted to name names, but for now, I'll take the high road. No Politics today. No observations and musings about life in general.  Today, it's personal.


Today, I'm very disappointed. Actually, that's an understatement. I just don't have a better word for what I'm feeling, despite my efforts of searching through the dictionary and thesaurus. 


Today I needed a certain friend's help..... I asked her: Explained my situation. She knows that she's in a unique position to help me. She could have said "No" and I would have understood. I told her so.


But she didn't say No. 

She didn't say Yes either. 

Instead, she chose to ignore me. 



She left me hanging....



I tried to talk to her again. I practically begged her to talk to me. I apologized, even though I wasn't sure what I was apologizing for. She said nothing. Silence. 

She took the easy way out. Easy for her. Hard for me. Does she owe it to me, to respond to a question? Of course not. Nobody ever owes anybody anything. But, I thought she was my friend. 


I'm hurt.

Dictionary.com defines the word Friend:

1.  a.  One attached to another by affection or esteem
b.       acquaintance
2  a.   One that is not hostile
b.       One that is the same nation, party or group
3.       One that favors or promotes something (as a charity)
4.       A favored companion

1.a, 2.a, and 4 seem to fit pretty well into my own personal definition of the word. 

I have yet to learn the lesson that not everyone has the same view. 

I am fortunate enough to have lifelong friends who I trust above all else. If my bestie, Jennifer were to tell me tomorrow that the sky was green, I'm sure I'd debate and argue the fact with her for days. But if someone were to ridicule her for that statement, I'd back her up all the way. We look out for one another. She is a favored companion. We are attached to by affection and esteem. 

She is my sister. 

Our veins don't share the same blood, 

but we are kin.

I have friends whom I have known most of my life, but for one reason or another, we don't talk much. We keep up on major life events and every now and then we will go out for drinks or coffee, or talk on the phone for no particular reason. When we do, we pick up where we left off without missing a beat. I value these friends tremendously. 

We've grown together. 

Been in each other's weddings

and been in the waiting rooms when our kids were born. 

We may not necessarily be as close as we once were, but we still admire each other for our past memories and future dreams. Some of these friends have widely different opinions than mine, but we respect each other. 

Always have and always will. 

I have friends that relatively speaking, I have only known a short time. 

Some of these friendships have started out of the blue, quickly bonding into true camaraderie. Within a few days of meeting the other, we're on the phone talking and laughing about life. 

Others have started off slowly and grew into something very special. 

Some of these friends, I've met by pure chance. Some friendships were developed at work. And still others I met through friends of friends. 

I love these guys and appreciate every moment with them.

Then there are friends who, turns out, are conditional.

 I Just didn't know it at first. 

These are the people who don't share my interpretation (or that of Dictionary.com) of the word "friend". 

People who convinced me that affection and esteem were mutually exchanged, but lied. These friends never make it into my first two friend categories. Obviously somebody like that, isn't going to make it to the lifelong grouping before the jig is up. 

But up until that time, 

I thought that they were contenders. 

I realize that people can have a "falling out", but as I look back, those who have broken my heart, were the ones that who blindsided me.

Perhaps I'm naive. 

Maybe I have a child's view of what it means to be a friend. 

Maybe I don't understand how the world works. 

It's possible that I'm not as jaded as I thought I was.

It could just be that I am a bad judge of character.

Thankfully, I haven't had many of these "friends". Most of the people I know, respect and love me, even if they disagree with me or need to say something I don't want to hear. But then again, that's part of the duties of being a friend. 

Not to enable, and to point out where your buddy is going wrong. Help them get back on track.

Today was not the first time I've been hurt by someone. I hope she is, but she probably won't be the last. Oddly enough, she's connected to another friend who just walked away without saying why. It amplifies my disappointment.

I'll get over it. 

I have my real friends to commiserate with. They don't judge, but offer empathy and advice. 

I have my husband to assure me that "it's not me" and that sometimes, people are crappy. 

His friendship is in a class all by itself. We are a team, and he's my ally. I am so so so lucky. 

I have so many people in my life to remind me of what friendship is. 

My family. 

My Friends. 

Those that are in the same nation, party or group. 

My life.

-v-

The Unpaid Nonessential Employee

So unless you live under a rock, (and to be honest, sometimes I wish I did,) then you know by now that our Government "shut-down" effective Midnight, October 1st.  Now to the rest of the world, this might be highly entertaining. To me, it's incredibly aggravating.

"Why are you aggravated?" you ask --  and I'm glad you did--- Allow me to tell you:

It's not that I planned on visiting a National Park today or that I'm in need of a Federal Firearms Permit.  Nope.  I'm also not shedding any tears over the thought that the IRS is unlikely to  audit me anytime soon. But, (and this is where the name of my blog comes into play) there are hundreds of thousands of people on unpaid leave. 

Thousands of veterans and soldiers aren't getting any money either. 

You may wonder, "Are you out of work as a result of the shutdown?"

No, I don't work for the federal government. "So then why do you care?" you may ask. (You ask very good questions!) Because I do! And I am curious as to why Congress isn't. 

In the clash between the good politician versus the bad politician, very few people have made an attempt to even appear concerned about those nonessential employees who seem to be forgotten about.

The term 'nonessential employee' is a complete insult. We all know that some jobs are more visible than others, and establishments such as hospitals obviously can't run without doctors and nurses... Of course everybody understands that! But the same applies to the support staff: You can't run a hospital without an army of office clerks, janitors, lab technicians, gift shop cashiers, computer programmers.... the list goes on and on.  The same goes for a courthouse, a restaurant  a gas station, a chiropractor's office, a beauty salon, an automobile dealership and yes.... The Federal Government. Every single person has value, and if you take away any one of them, you can't run a business or a government effectively -  if at all. 

To degrade someone's status and call it nonessential is ignominious. These types of elitist terms are how class warfare's begin. It's really no different than the nobleman versus the peasant farmer. It's declaring that one person is more significant than another. It pisses me off! 

Some officials have recognized the disrespect of the term and are replacing it with phrases such as "expected" and "non-expected." That pisses me off too. It's like calling a turd a piece of crap. It's the same thing.

A quick side note here:

I used to work for a Veterinary Clinic: My co-workers and I routinely worked 12 to 16 hours a day, on our feet without breaks. It's the nature of the job and we accepted that. When an animal came in, either for routine care, or due to an emergency, every single person played a critical role to that pet's well being. All the while, we made sure that all the other animals who were in the clinic, received the same dedicated attention. The phones continued to get answered, products  continued to be promoted and sales were being made. Everything flowed. And quite often a satisfied customer would send a Thank You card or a token of appreciation. Without exception however, the card was either addressed to the Veterinarian only, or to "Dr So-and-So and staff". While the thought was always appreciated, there was also a bit of a sting to it. The pet's owner only recognized the doctor's contribution and didn't appreciate the work we all individually performed. I'm not saying that each person should have been addressed separately  but it would have been nice if everyone's role was understood and acknowledged. And honestly, a doctor spends a fraction of his or her attention on a pet, when compared to the rest of "the staff". A doctor reviews the symptoms but the Veterinary Technicians and Assistants are the ones who hold the animal down, give the vaccines or medicines, dress bandages and administer I.V.'s along with practically everything else outside of surgery. But, such is life and I, along with the rest of my co-workers just accepted it. After all  it's not like we had a choice. We were the non-essentials.

Ok, Where was I? Oh Yeah....

For years now, we've been hearing about  "Job Creation" and "Help for Small Businesses!" But suddenly, there are thousands without an income and small businesses can't get help or resources because the SBA is part of the shut-down. We've been listening to them say that we need to spend more wisely, yet for the last several days, our government has been spending a lot of money on everything from printing thousands of little signs that say "Closed until further notice, due to Government shut down" to paying webmasters to put up notices on government sites that says:

That's only a little bit of money right? That little bit of money could go to WIC. Or the thousands of nonessential workers who were dedicated employees: Women and men who have often gone to work sick, scrambled for back up day care, taken the bus when their cars broke down, dealt with the public, (that's always fun!) and missed important moments in the lives, because the business of government is how they earn their livings. But, no.... They were just sent home. The business that they work for, isn't working for them.

Talk about a thankless job!

There's a host of costs that were spent to just prepare for this event. And even more money  is being spent and subsequently lost for every day the situation continues. By some estimates, $12.5 million dollars each and every hour. Yes, hour! That pays for a lot of essential things like rent, baby formula, food, electricity, and so on.

Meanwhile, the ass-hats who put us this mess, are using the American budget as a game of keep-a-way, And they are getting paid. A lot! 

Some of those same highly paid, essential politicians are thrilled that our country is in the mess that it's in. Out of principle, (and because it's like shooting fish in a barrel) I generally don't like referring to Michelle Bachmann because.... Well, because she's Michelle Bachmann, but in this case she summed it up perfectly, as told by The Washington Post:

"We're very excited," stated Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn). It's exactly what we wanted and we got it. She followed up with, "People will be very grateful." 
 She later told Sean Hannity on Fox news, "This is about the happiest she has seen Republicans

What does one say to that? I'm at a loss for words, which is bad, because I'm trying to write this blog.....

It never ceases to amaze me how people can have such little empathy and be so out of touch. I'm 42 years old. You'd think by now, I'd learn that people really are that self-absorbed and inconsiderate. 

And this leads me to another thing I've got to get off my chest:

I am on Facebook a lot lately. I seem to have phases, in which I'm either on all of the time, or go months without logging in at all. But, as stated, I'm on a roll right now. I've noticed a particular picture that's been posted several times. It appears to be a letter from an employer who has decided that he/she needs to cut back staff because of the perceived costs of  Barack Obama's Presidency. Now, I have no doubt (or at least I hope) this letter is fake and meant to be satire, but the sad thing is people aren't getting the joke. They think it's real and leave responses like "Hell yeah, they deserve it" and "That's awesome" along with three our four "likes." 

In fact, I got this picture off of a Facebook page that belongs to a sweet woman that I attended high school with. On her page, she has some Republican themes, like "Defund Obamacare' and quotes of Donald Trump trying to sound important. The rest of her page is filled pleas to end animal cruelty and recipes for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, or something like that. I've ran into her several times at the grocery store, and she is still, a very sweet and likable lady. So what gives? I'm having a hard time merging the soft spoken, kind person that she seems to be, with this mindset. Is she really that hard-hearted, to find justification in firing somebody over their voting record? Even if she does understand that this is a joke, I would think that she'd have to be insensitive to find it funny. Does she not realize that if this were real then, someday the shoe could be on her foot? Is she a representation of the average Republican?

I've always thought that the goobers on freeway overpasses, with "Don't Tread on Me" flags and teabags hanging from their hats, are only a few out-of-touch, old white men, but maybe I'm wrong. Could it be that roughly, half of the American public just don't give a damn?  That their lives are all that matters, and to hell with everybody else? Are they sheep who only repeat what the shepherd is saying? Are they just simply incapable of understanding the complexities of someone's life, other than their own?

I'm perplexed.

I've always thought that Republican's feel that government should be very small and as unobtrusive as possible. I agree with that! I do. But reality sucks people! We must look after are own, and that means making sure that our food is safe to eat, taking care of the needy, and paying our veterans. All these things are not happening right now because essential people were sent home. 

One more annotation:

I was once let go of a job, (not the one described above) in large part due to my political beliefs. I didn't come to work waving a  flag with a donkey on it or anything like that. I had an Obama election sticker on my car. True story. So, for those who think that it's funny to fire an employee because of who they voted for.... Be careful. Next time it could be your job. Remember, in the U.S. the rules apply to everybody. It might not be so fair then, huh?  

Even those nonessential employees who only seem to matter after the boss gets the lion's share of the pie at the company picnic or if there's filing that needs to be done.

Finally, it's this type of disregard for your fellow human beings that create a culture where nonessential employees are categorized and undervalued. For those of us who don't have the degree's hanging on our walls or the keys to the kingdom, we need to stop thinking about others and ultimately ourselves, in this way. You teach people how to treat you.

As for my friend on Facebook with the posting of that letter... I doubt you'll read this. It's not really your cup of "tea", but if you do -- know this: I like you. I really really like you! But I hate that damn picture of the letter.

-v-