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?

United Way = Organized Crime

United Way’s slogan is ... “Without you there would be no way” or “The Better Way”.  The better way for what ... swindling people out of their money?

Back in the day, Robin Hood took from the rich and gave to the poor.  He was a hero.

If an ordinary person takes money from another person, no matter how good his intentions, he’s a thief.

If you’re going to swindle millions of people out of millions of dollars you better be organized and come up with a great name.  A name such as United Way.

In their latest pamphlet United Way states that $50 per person, per month provides 24 newcomers to Canada with transportation.  What ... they came to Canada any money?  What were they planning on doing?  Land in Canada and go straight onto welfare?

United Way further states that giving $106 per person per month gives people in high need neighborhoods access to computers to look for jobs.  What’s wrong with buying a newspaper and sending a resume by fax?  Alternatively, they could go to the local unemployment office and use one of the many computers there. 

In the beginning I looked favorable upon United Way, thinking they helped people in need, but then one day I read testimonies of three people and that made me see United Way in a different light.

The first one was of a woman who thanked United Way for her son’s education.  She stated that her boy was very clever, but that she didn’t have the money to send him to university.  United Way had stepped in and taken care of that.
I was appalled.  The guy got to go to university on the donations of others!  Whether he was smart or not is beside the point.  There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of kids who are smart and never get the chance to go to university because their parents cannot afford it.  What’s wrong with attending a local college?

And if his mom could not afford university or even college, what is wrong with him getting a job?  Thousands of others are doing just that.

The second testimony was of a drug addict, who after years of going through life stoned out of his mind had decided enough was enough.  He was going to get clean.  Admirable, but why should donations of others have to pay for it?  If he had money for drugs, why didn’t he have money for rehab?   There are others who have an addiction and if and when they want to make a clean break, they have to do it alone.

Finally there was the testimony of a woman who thanked United Way for buying her daughter a pony.  The girl wanted one, the mother couldn’t buy her one, so United Way gave her one. 
Do you know how many girls want a pony?  Hundreds, thousands, a pony speaks to a child’s imagination.  I wanted a pony in my younger days.  I got a bike instead.

Other than these I have never actually heard of anyone receiving money from United Way.  I see homeless men and women; I see people in need; I hear about people having difficulties making ends meet; but never have I actually heard that anyone received a dime from United Way.

So where do the millions United Way collects go to?  Do you know?  I don’t.  Another one of United Way’s slogans is “United we can make a difference”.  This is true, united they can come up with believable lies, take your money and put it into their bank account.

Perhaps United Way should change their name to “Organized Crime”.  

 Think before you give.  Where does your money go to?