I am sure you’re right that advance planning might have avoided these problems. All down the line. But the advance planning sometimes goes out the window when, like Trussell, you fall down and find yourself suddenly paralyzed. That sort of disaster, with appropriate coverage and care declined by insurance, really throws you off.
I try not to be gullible, but there have been several times in my otherwise very fortunate and privileged life when, out of the blue, there was a sudden catastrophe. One odd thing I note is that comfortable people, people who have never had such mischances, are a little disconcerted, suspicious, and even a bit frightened by them, as if bad luck could be catching. They look at one’s circumstances closely to find out the error that led to these events. If they can figure out what you did wrong that led to this misfortune, they feel safe—it will never happen to them, because they’ll never make that mistake! Even if the disaster was something totally beyond the control of the victim, like a stroke, an automobile accident, a tornado, some Freepers (not you, of course) really have a blame-the-victim reaction to distress. This is unjust. Being conservative and independent-minded does not mean we do not have compassion for people who are really in a bad spot.
Thank you so much for such a sensitive post. You are so kind...and thank you for the prayers!
I completely agree.
My first two posts were sympathetic and filled with good advice about obtaining public assistance.
I was one of the first people to read the young woman's post.
She did not identify her gender, so I assumed it was an 18 year old boy.
I gave “him” a good summary of the services available to homeless young men.
Then, the Mother posted, and I found out this was a girl, not a boy.
Problem solved - you call the Women's Hotline, they pick you up, you go straight to a shelter or a motel, probably in every town in America, and certainly in larger towns.
There's a reason you don't see women and children sleeping in the street.
It's dangerous, it's frightening, and taxpayers and government do whatever is necessary to help them.
That's what I wrote in my second post.
Then the Mother writes another post and says the girl is in a wheelchair.
That's when I started to doubt the truthfulness of this story.
We have a grandmother, a Mother, and a daughter who do not know that homeless women can go to shelters?
We have a grandmother, a Mother, and a daughter who do not know that an 18 year old girl in a wheelchair is eligible for a multitude of public and private welfare programs?
That's the part of the story I found incredible, and that's why I started to question what I was reading.