Soapbox Time

I had the misfortune to have my first "appointment" at the WIC office yesterday to get R's next set of vouchers for his formula. I really wonder if yesterday was a test from God to see if I could keep myself from beating the crap out of people. My "appointment" was for 8:30. I got to the office a little before 8 since Rob has to be at work for 8, and his office is a few blocks away. I sat in my car for about 10 minutes, and decided to go in and wait. I finally find where I'm supposed to go, and there are 6 people already there. I go to sign in and I notice that we all have the same "appointment" time. I take a seat in the middle of the room as I try to ignore all the big pregnant bellies and small babies. Over the next 20 something minutes another 25 people show up, all either with bellies, babies, or bellies and babies. This is an infertile's nightmare!!!!

I notice that a lot of the women there are wearing designer clothes, pushing huge expensive travel systems, and carrying designer diaper bags. I listen to several conversations that range from a couple of women mentioning that this is kid # 4, 5, or 6. One talked about how her other 3 kids are with her mom now, and she was mad that the state lowered her food stamps to only $600 a month now that the kids are gone. WTF?! One woman that looked very strung out talked about hoping to keep this baby since "they took the other 3". There were a couple of guys there with their baby mamas, and I couldn't help but wonder why they weren't at work? No one talked about work or needing to get to work they only talked about material things and how much $$ they get from the state from this program or that program, and I wonder if any of them hold jobs?

I couldn't help but get angry that these people can lay on their backs all day, pop babies out left and right, and I have to take care of them. I have to budget and shop sales, but they can live high on the hog! After telling my co-worker about my "appointment" she asked "what are we doing wrong that we have to work and work for what we get while others just get hand outs?" And my reply was the problem is that We Work! If we were sorry enough not to work when we could we could get hand outs too.

This "appointment" was finally started with a class on eating fruits and veggies that I had to sit through. I've known since I was a little kid that you have to eat fruits and veggies! But obviously some people don't know that. After the class they started to hand out the vouchers. But instead of fucking going by the sign-in sheet they just printed out all of the vouchers and started randomly calling names. People who came in 20-30 minutes after me got their stuff first. Why the fuck did you have me sign-in and put what time I got here if that wasn't going to be used for a damn thing! I understand that you're used to working with people that have nothing else to do all day, but sit and wait, but some of us work for a freaking living! Thank God I was called pretty quickly.

I don't understand why they put foster parents through this like we're the ones asking for the hand outs. This is part of the state's package that they provide for the child we're caring for. Most foster parents work outside of the home so for us to come to your office and sit around is not fair. I think I would rather pay for his formula myself than have to sit in that WIC office every couple of months to get some vouchers! I don't understand why we can't be like other states, and be able to get the baby's formula from the social worker's office. That would make life so much easier. No group "appointments", no waiting around with 30 other people hoping that your name gets called early, and no more being stuck in a room full of women that are like cats that have a litter every time they go in heat. Yeah, I said it and I could care less if I offend anyone! Don't breed 'em, if you can't feed 'em. I know that there are some people that are hard working, trying to make ends meet that genuinely need assistance, and they should be able to get it. But for the majority of the people in the system that's not the case. I agree with an email I read a few weeks back about Bill Cosby should run for president. One of the 1st lines was that "All federal and state assistance will be paid out at the end of either a 40 hour work week or full week of school attendance. No one is going to pay you to do nothing!"