...another long one, bear with me please.
OK, I am going to carry on and try to remember what I had posted yesterday when my message flew off into cyberspace! Argggh! I tend to use I when *edit: sometimes* meaning we, just to clarify I know it is not just me at all.
The dire state of all our nations right now financially is absolutely unacceptable. We produce more food than we ever eat, so to the landfills it goes. We are truly in the midst of a Recession that feels much more like a Depression. Trying not to bring politics into it (which is hard when it is government(s) who we vote for, in whom we put our trust into. The Billions and Trillions in incentive programs right now almost feels like my face is being rubbed in it.
I fully understand the "reasoning" for this, as without these buyouts/loans etc there would be millions more people losing their jobs. This of course then impacts the entire infrastructure as people tighten their belts just to try and live. If we are not able to afford to go even to McDonalds, someone local will feel the repercussions, the till clerk, the cook, the manager, the owner. Every one of us are dealing with harder times.
I am plagued by an old school pride my parents instilled in me and I know how they would feel, if they were still here, to see myself and my family in the boat we are in. Pride goeth before the fall, so I am going to have to suck it up and take the help that is out there. I have been to the food bank a couple of times in the past, here is what I would get as a single parent with a 17yr old young man. :
1lb of burger meat (occasionally), oatmeal, macaroni, milk (1L)(occasionally also) small bag of cereal, as much bread as I can carry, a couple of cans of soup, kraft dinner, perhaps a couple of mini yogurts, doughnuts, rice, perhaps if there is some, some fresh veg and fruit.
This is allowed once a month, on Thursdays, they call it bag day and they are very stringent about the timing. In order to get the "good" or "best" foods, it entails standing in line for at least an hour, usually two, first thing in the morning. I did just google my local food bank and found out (something I did not know) that I can go daily, early, for fresh veg/fruit and more bread if needed!
Amazingly enough, the food bank is within walking distance for me so it would be a good way to kill a couple of birds at once. The times I did go before, I was so appreciative that I came home, wrote a note and took it back, thanking them. 
When I am working, I donate to the food bank every time I shop. Seeing I now understand what people may need being on special diets, I try to donate things appropriate for that. Canned fruit (packed in water, of course!) low carb fixins of any kind.
I certainly don't have any answers to these dilemmas we are facing. I am not a politician, nor do I want to be. (I am far too brutally honest! yes sir, I did inhale) but I am certainly going to be looking into some sort of advocacy, first to help myself, get educated about this and other aspects of living below the poverty line (well, he LL, I guess I am about as educated in that as a person could be!) and then to help others.
In the meantime, yesterday I decided that on Thursday I will indeed go to the foodbank. I then took some of my rent money (omg, I hope that I have not gone too far, but they actually owe me for the past 3 months, I do small maintenance around the building, sweeping, clearing snow, keeping the laundry room clean, etc, about 50 bucks a month) and went to shop. I grabbed meat, veg, fruit, a couple of treat/snacks for my son, all things store brand, so I ended up with quite a few bags for about a hundred bucks. We had a GREAT dinner last night, all good food, all good for us, and both of us complaining about being full (lol, oh the irony of life)
The weight off my shoulders, especially for my son, has been lifted for the now... I do have to deal with the rental people later this morning, but I can deal with that then. I just pray that they don't try and evict me, as there is absolutely no where to rent here in our little town. I also have to make a couple of phone calls about the power and phone/internet (which, my sister so kindly told me, are NOT necessities!! WTF?) Dealing with my business today is going to make things better, I know it is. Not dealing with it causing the snowball effect, which I am not in any way able to deal with.
The dire state of all our nations right now financially is absolutely unacceptable. We produce more food than we ever eat, so to the landfills it goes. We are truly in the midst of a Recession that feels much more like a Depression. Trying not to bring politics into it (which is hard when it is government(s) who we vote for, in whom we put our trust into. The Billions and Trillions in incentive programs right now almost feels like my face is being rubbed in it.
I fully understand the "reasoning" for this, as without these buyouts/loans etc there would be millions more people losing their jobs. This of course then impacts the entire infrastructure as people tighten their belts just to try and live. If we are not able to afford to go even to McDonalds, someone local will feel the repercussions, the till clerk, the cook, the manager, the owner. Every one of us are dealing with harder times.
I am plagued by an old school pride my parents instilled in me and I know how they would feel, if they were still here, to see myself and my family in the boat we are in. Pride goeth before the fall, so I am going to have to suck it up and take the help that is out there. I have been to the food bank a couple of times in the past, here is what I would get as a single parent with a 17yr old young man. :
1lb of burger meat (occasionally), oatmeal, macaroni, milk (1L)(occasionally also) small bag of cereal, as much bread as I can carry, a couple of cans of soup, kraft dinner, perhaps a couple of mini yogurts, doughnuts, rice, perhaps if there is some, some fresh veg and fruit.
This is allowed once a month, on Thursdays, they call it bag day and they are very stringent about the timing. In order to get the "good" or "best" foods, it entails standing in line for at least an hour, usually two, first thing in the morning. I did just google my local food bank and found out (something I did not know) that I can go daily, early, for fresh veg/fruit and more bread if needed!
Amazingly enough, the food bank is within walking distance for me so it would be a good way to kill a couple of birds at once. The times I did go before, I was so appreciative that I came home, wrote a note and took it back, thanking them. When I am working, I donate to the food bank every time I shop. Seeing I now understand what people may need being on special diets, I try to donate things appropriate for that. Canned fruit (packed in water, of course!) low carb fixins of any kind.
I certainly don't have any answers to these dilemmas we are facing. I am not a politician, nor do I want to be. (I am far too brutally honest! yes sir, I did inhale)
but I am certainly going to be looking into some sort of advocacy, first to help myself, get educated about this and other aspects of living below the poverty line (well, he LL, I guess I am about as educated in that as a person could be!) and then to help others.In the meantime, yesterday I decided that on Thursday I will indeed go to the foodbank. I then took some of my rent money (omg, I hope that I have not gone too far, but they actually owe me for the past 3 months, I do small maintenance around the building, sweeping, clearing snow, keeping the laundry room clean, etc, about 50 bucks a month) and went to shop. I grabbed meat, veg, fruit, a couple of treat/snacks for my son, all things store brand, so I ended up with quite a few bags for about a hundred bucks. We had a GREAT dinner last night, all good food, all good for us, and both of us complaining about being full (lol, oh the irony of life)
The weight off my shoulders, especially for my son, has been lifted for the now... I do have to deal with the rental people later this morning, but I can deal with that then. I just pray that they don't try and evict me, as there is absolutely no where to rent here in our little town. I also have to make a couple of phone calls about the power and phone/internet (which, my sister so kindly told me, are NOT necessities!! WTF?) Dealing with my business today is going to make things better, I know it is. Not dealing with it causing the snowball effect, which I am not in any way able to deal with.
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