“Anyone else here old enough to remember when being on aid was looked down upon?”
Plenty of pre-1965 films have that message, so the younger set can still get a glimpse of America when it was free! ;)
My mother often spoke of the surprise inspections — how the inspectors went through everything in the house looking for some indication that the family was collecting assistance fraudulently. Once, am inspector found a new dress Grandma had made for my mother. The inspector thought it must have been bought at some high-priced store. Grandma had a heck of a time trying to explain that she had made the dress out of scraps of material and whatever she could find for buttons and accents.
The inspector didn't believe her, but he couldn't prove anything, so eventually he dropped the matter. But my mother said these inspections were humiliating. I think they scarred her in some way. When I was growing up, there were some hard times. My mother would go to great lengths to keep us afloat financially. She never wanted to have to go on government assistance ever again. I think some of her penny pinching has rubbed off on her children.
Remember the Watts riots?
No way to delay that trouble coming every day.
Wednesday I watched the riot...
I seen the cops out on the street
Watched ‘em throwin’ rocks and stuff
And chokin’ in the heat
Listened to reports
About the whisky passin’ ‘round
Seen the smoke & fire
And the market burnin’ down
Watched while everybody
On his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash
And slash and bust and burn
Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention - Trouble Every Day
I see these ‘ladies’ at Walmart swipe that EBT card around like it was a Black Amex card....