[nopardons]

The people, whom Dickens was writing about, had enough POWER to decide that they would rather starve than to accept charity. Of course, many poor, in England at that time, turned to crime ( not work, mind you )rather than be in a work house.

You really are about 1,000 feet down now, but you just keep that shovel working. LOL

[Pan_Yans Wife]

When I remember my grandfather, who lived til his eighties, mentioning the poor house of the past, it was always with a chuckle. He would laugh about it in a matter of, "I scratched out enough of an existence to avoid the poor house." This indicated his sense of pride. (He went on to live quite comfortably.)