Once-prosperous family struggling on the edge

The Dallas Morning News ^ | Aug. 18, 2003 | SHERRY JACOBSON

[bert]

Sob sob sob

[TheSpottedOwl]

for that scenario to work, she would have to divorce her husband.

[FreedomCalls]

Most cities, and being in TX myself, I'm fairly sure her codes allow for a few chickens for meat and eggs.

Definately no chickens allowed in Los Colinas!

[mtbopfuyn]

Last winter, they scoured the neighborhood for tree limbs to burn in the living-room fireplace, instead of using the furnace.

That's rich! I guess I'd zoned out by then and skipped right over the Texas furnace, lol.

[mtbopfuyn]

...not putting her children on various government programs (which are scarce and hard to qualify for in Texas)

Whoa! Government program in TX are NOT scarce or hard to qualify for. I should know, back before I became a stay at home mom (and adjusted the budget accordingly - there's that pesky habit of mine of prioritizing and living responsibly within the budget) I worked in the Texas Department of Human Services and before was a jobs placement counselor with Manpower (on the job training and re-training programs for low income adults and youth). There are dozens of programs out there and many with very good benefits and pay. I had two secretaries at DHS quit because they couldn't stomach handing over welfare checks that were larger than their hard earned paychecks.

Apparently we can't agree on this topic.

[Old Professer]

It can get cold on hot August nights.

[mafree]

Today, kids learn about the Grant and the Asshopper.

LOL! I do independent business consulting. If I had a buck for everyone who ever asked me if they could get a grant to start a business I could go buy a Ferrari tonight.

[new cruelty]

wow. that really sucks.

[mtbopfuyn]

Holy crap! A whole can of coffee! They're leeches!!! I guess she should have bought a few tea bags and made sun tea. No wait, tea has no nutritional value either! What a crock...

Teas do have healing properties however the food was for the children. For the price of a cheap can of coffee, a better choice would have been 2% or whole milk. Powdered milk costs less and has the same nutrient value as fresh though I wouldn't fault anyone for opting for the fresh milk because some kids (me) refuse to drink that swill. Children up to the age of 4 need fatted milk in their diets as it aids in brain development. Children especially need the calcium for growing teeth and bones.

[Dick Vomer]

First of all I'll guess that the husband lost his job either from outsourcing or an H1-B visa replacement. He probably thought he could land another job rather quickly due to his job skills. Ask middle aged workers who are displaced how much luck they're having finding anything. I mean anything. You could run a mainframe with one hand tied behind your back, but do you have cash register experience?

Geez, you sound like this other Californian on another message board about the middle-age tech worker and the H1B replacements.... blah-blah-blah. Same stuff different post. I'm really getting sick of people living above their means and then having a pity-party when times get tough. The coffee can gimick was the giveaway.... had to be from either New York, Cali or some other lib bastion. All I can say for the story is....

[WorkingClassFilth]

This has probably been said a hundred times already, but once more won't hurt...

If these people went from $100,000.00/year to panhandling in a year's time, they've got much bigger problems than joblessness.

Give me $1,000.00 and I'll make anyone rich overnight...

[new cruelty]

wow... now that is interesting. 1,000 and you'll make anyone rich overnight... how so?

[natewill]

Coffee has no nutritional value as opposed to fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, and dairy!

Yes, but...must have coffee...need caffeine...must drink..cannot function...give me my coffee :)

[natewill]

I'll say one thing. Reread this story and the comments following it. It's amazing how one story on one webpage somewhere can stir up this much ire and tumult. Is FR therapy for all of us, or what?

[laconic]

With the two bucks she could have saved by not buying a can of coffee she could have: 1) bought ten pounds of potatoes (if her husband picked them for the family at a pick your own place, it would be more like 25 pounds; or 2) a large bag of rice; 3) a large box of macaroni or other pasta. I'm not saying its an extraordinary amount of money, its not, but when tough times descend (and they hit us all sometime in life) you make accommodations with what you have, as nasty as they may be. And that includes strict budgeting of resources and expenditures; taking temporary advantage of government programs for health, housing and food subsidies, if needs be (that's what they're originally meant for, not for the generations who live off them); and moving to New York until you can get back on your feet. Its far better than the alternative.

[StolarStorm]

Have you thought about moving to India, to be a requirements analyst for a group there? If I lose my employment and things look bleak, I've thought about going overseas and seeing if they need any Americans proficient in our business practices. Think what a even a low American slary would do for you over there. Heck, a 30,000 a year job would get you a maid, a drive, a house and a mistress in India.

[FoxPro]

That has actually crossed my mind. I actually spent 3 months in Mexico on a sailboat last winter. I think the experience was very simular to India. I actually wrote a few web sites for bars and resturaunts down there. The big problem is culture and family. My 3 grown kids are here (Washington DC), and they keep me running emotionally.

[Iwo Jima]

You're a fraud.

[monkeyshine]

Yeah, the $15 an hour smells like BS. And why did she get to that point, to the point of needing "a last resort" job at panhandling? Did she not even look for an $8 an hour job?

Maybe this is a backhanded push for a living wage law.