Thread: Any work is good work

Here in VA, my mother gets disability type social security and only gets $835 a month and barely has enough to get thru the month. She also gets her rides to her Dr through medicaid. And she received $35 a month in food stamps. If she needs to buy anything over 1 tank of gas for her car or have any home/car maintenance I have to foot the bill for it and most of the time do the work. It's just flat out pathetic what they expect a person to make it on. She spent 50 years working (most of the time 2) full time jobs with a 7th grade education. Being the only bread winner for me and my brother, never made over $9.80 an hour. She worked on factories and as a regional manager of Bojangles and as the head chef/ kitchen manager at the roanoke moose lodge. She was also a security guard and she was a sewer at oak hall cap and gown. Ended up cutting off the tips of 3 fingers on a frank-o-matic making sausage links and had to have tendonitis surgery on both wrists. She finally became disabled because of severe degenerative arthritis in her back that was so severe her pain management doctor told her she shouldn't even be walking.

After all of that disability only giving her $835 a month, what a slap in the face. But it is what it is, and I am very thankful to have such a devoted mother.

Freaking social security and disability tick me off, they denied her twice before approving her application. Witch was approved on my 18th birthday, I had to work a full time job my Jr and Sr year in high school to keep a roof over our heads. I think they should take some of those $135 hammers the government "buys" and do how everybody else does not spending over 50, and use the money where it's needed.

Finally, I have decided to chime in.

(1) - The main point:
Honest/moral work is good work.
Dishonest/immoral work is NOT good work.

(2) - elderly / USA
In the USA, I do not believe social security was ever intended to be primary income, just supplementary.
SS is a pyramid scheme, setup for many workers and few retired people - the pyramid is inverting.

One of my investments is 6 born kids.
They cost a lot of money for me to support.
Hopefully at least one of them will help me when I get old, if I need such help.

(3) Germany - was mentioned above.
Based on reputation, Germans are hard workers.
I had to throw that out there. I am not German.

(4) USA -
I think there is a generation of kids (USA) who do not know how to work.
They want everything their parents had instantly (microwaves, vacations, new cars, etc).

To make matters worst, there is a lot of artificial self esteem pushed on the kids.
My kid's baseball team did not win their division.
A parent was trying to set the kids up with trophies
(fortunately the coach did not go for that - they lost).

I have seen it - every kid gets a prize - we cannot all be winners every time - but the kids are taught that they are special. I say they are not special, unique YES, but not specially gifted in general.

I read in the paper that construction jobs are going unfilled.
Having been through oil field down cycles, I can see how this happens.
The industry does into a down cycle, and folks find other lines of work.
The industry has an up tick, and the industry has trouble finding workers.

Our unemployment rate is pretty high here (do not believe the official numbers, people who give up looking are not counted as unemployed). The news article I referenced above cited a push to import foreign workers to do construction - while we have able capable people that do not want the jobs.

(5) - If life were too easy:

Then many of us would become spoiled.

I have had it easy enough that I feel a bit spoiled.
My house has air conditioning.
I can pursue leisure activities.

(6) - We are here for a purpose.

Cheers,
Jody