Would you pity her?

Soon my blog will celebrate its sixth anniversary and over the years many readers have asked me where I find inspiration for my posts. One word … Facebook. Whenever I’m short on inspiration, all have to do is scroll through the Facebook posts and something is sure to jump out at me.

Take today for instance. Someone posted a video of a 22-year old African American woman that was aimed to gear up sympathy for the woman’s "dire" situation.

She works at McDonalds at minimum wage, she had a young kid, and has to make do with what she earns, plus what she gets from child support, plus government assistance.

After seeing the video, I got to thinking and watched it again and again and I found quite a few interesting details.

She complained that she only earns minimum wage at McDonalds. Well, at least she has a job. Millions of people don’t and for one reason or another are refused unemployment benefits.

My neighbor also used to work for McDonalds, but he didn’t stay there. He went to night school, put himself through college and obtained a government job.

The woman lives in a two story house with a beautiful big kitchen. Now it so happens that I have friends and acquaintances who are not exactly well off and I can tell you, none of them live in a two story house. One lives in a cheap apartment, the second shares an apartment with a roommate, the third lives in a trailer and the forth rents one room in a house.

None of these people have children (they can't afford them) so they don’t have the benefit of child support and when they applied for government assistance, they were turned down. Subsequently they turned to The Salvation Army, United Way, and other charities and were sent packing.

The woman in the video states that she only buys frozen foods (as fresh food might spoil and be wasted). Not very smart in my opinion. Frozen food is the most expensive. Take carrots for instance. A tin of carrots costs 65 cents, a bushel of fresh carrots costs 99 cents, while a packet of frozen carrots costs $2.45. If she’s worried about wasting food, she can go to the market on a daily basis for what she needs.

She complains that she had to have a tooth pulled because she couldn’t afford root canal. 

I have news for her, I know quite a few people, working people with medical insurance, who can’t afford root canal either. As for me … I wouldn’t want root canal if you offered it to me for free. 

As for the woman herself … she is African American, yet she has long glossy hair. This indicates a) her hair is straightened, b) has extensions, or c) is a wig. Either way, an expensive look.

As for her clothing … she is seen wearing a GAP T-shirt. Anyone who has ever shopped for clothing knows that GAP is an expensive store. Her jacket I recognized as Tommy Hilfiger (designer gear). Some might say that her T-shirt and jacket are knock-offs, but knock off items are still more expensive than no-name clothing.

All in all, my less than rich friends would trade places with this woman any day. She has a job, she lives in a furnished two story house, she receives child support and government assistance … what exactly is she complaining about?

Who receives your donation?

The Salvation Army has a long history of donating to the needy.  But who are the needy and what qualifies them to be on the receiving end of your donations?

Recently I wrote to The Salvation Army on behalf of a friend who is definitely needy.  She is a young woman, who lost her job, and battles a number of medical issues that prevent her from working outside her home.

She doesn’t sit and watch the world go by, she puts her writing talents to good use and earns a little money with freelance writing.  A little being the operative word here.  She works from early morning until deep into the night and even then has to rely on friends to make ends meet.

Having visited The Salvation Army’s website, I sent an email to the contact person and asked if my friend qualifies for their help. 
The reply I received asked me a couple of questions:

Was my friend pregnant?

Did she have children under the age of 18?

Did she have an addiction?

My answer was “No” on all counts, to which I received the prompt reply that my friend did not qualify.  To say that I was stumped would be putting it mildly.  Do only pregnant women or women with young children qualify for financial assistance? 

I dug a little deeper and came across two women whose situation puzzled me even more.  One is a mother of five with a sixth on the way.  The other has three children and can’t wait to have a forth.  By their own admission, they are addicted to babies.  They state that a baby is a gift and should never be refused.

Naturally, I wondered … why have children if you can’t provide for them?  And if you can’t provide for the children you have, why have another?  “Oh, The Salvation Army sends us money” they both admitted.

Needless to say, my wallet will remain firmly closed when The Salvation Army asks me for a donation.  I don’t support selfish women who could go out to work but prefer to be on welfare and receive donations.  The days that women had kids by accident are long gone.  These days they have options. 

As for the question if my friend had an addiction … no, she does not.  Why would The Salvation Army ask me that?  Does the fact that an individual is addicted to alcohol, drugs or gambling qualify him/her to receive money? 

Maybe we should all have a good look at charitable organizations and research how the donations are used.  There are undoubtedly organizations that are honest and help those who really deserve help.  But there are just as many, if not more, who take our money and use it for less honorable purposes.

Instead of giving to charitable organizations maybe we should have a look around us at people who need financial assistance and extend our help on a one-on-one basis.  When we give privately, we know exactly who receives our money and what it will be used for.