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• madhattah

  While anyone with a functioning brain cell knows that there is some fraud in any help system it is pretty difficult to attach much credence to the bloggers story. Her offensive ‘name tags’ are a turn off (at least to this reader) and make her appear more than a little self righteous. So I have decided that half of each story may well be true and the other half is her low opinion of those who don’t have as much as she apparently has herself.

  An why on earth, if these customers were actually defrauding the state, is Wally-World not complicit. They take the money don’t they? Oh wait maybe this is one reason why 6 of the Waltons are worth 69.7 Billion buckeroos.

• http://twitter.com/NorthernRants Bill Buck

  She points out what too many people are afraid to, for fear of being un-PC.  Welfare abuse is common and is in all states not just Maine

   And yes, Made-in-China-Mart, needs to take some accountability for the fraud they know is going on, but the honesty needs to start with the people getting the entitlements.

• Anonymous

  Just a tip of the iceberg!

• Anonymous

  I worked at a Supermarket in New Jersey for over 35 years and never did I see anyone on food stamps do what this girl is talking about! You can tell by names she calls them she don’t like them that’s why it’s just not all true! Yes there were some people trying to buy things like dog food with the food stamps and getting nasty when they had to pay cash! But there  were also nasty customers who paid cash, checks and debit too, some people are just nasty! The Worst Customer I ever had was a older man who hit me over the head with a can of tomatoes when he couldn’t get at last weeks sale price, he wasn’t on food  stamps! But I needed ten stitches on my forehead!

• Anonymous

   Put your fingers in your ears and go “lalalalalala…”  and it won’t be so.

• Anonymous

  Seems to me that this girl could use some experience walking in another person’s shoes; one of the many unemployed, looking for work and on the brink of homelessness before she starts name calling and pointing fingers at the minority of offenders.  

• Anonymous

  I hate to see the triple dipping! Get rid of this super sense of entitlement!  Queen Welfare knows all the ropes! Lifetime expert! They have the car, and can travel to all the stops, and know how to use everyone. They go to the foodcupboard every time its open. They go to the soup kitchen and take dishes with them and fill them. They get their grub stubs! They are plump, and not starving one bit. They wattle thru the line; listen to them wine that they aren’t getting enough!

  I have been an advocate for years of a nutritional program for foodstamps. I was on foodstamps in my later years on college, pregnant with my first child, short lived. I accepted W.I.C and found that program could be tweeked at the time for better nutrition. As a child we grew up poor and my grandmother recieved government food in bulk. Peanutbutter, dry milk, ect. We used these products to survive. People today on foodstamps aren’t surviving, in many instances, they are selling their cards! Or water dumping to turn bottles in for cigarettes, ect. This isn’t feeding their children, in which the stamps were intended.

  Let food stamp reciepients try to sell, rice, dry milk, juice, eggs, peanutbutter, canned pink salmon, tuna, pasta, canned fruit, applesauce, bulk meat packages approved, celery, apples, oranges, no specialty organic fruits and vegetables ( no expensive extravegant seafood) A good qualified nutritionalist, could make up some nice food vouchers! That wouldn’t feed their dogs and cats, but children!!!!

• Anonymous

  I worked in a grocery store for a time. I don’t recall ever seeing welfare fraud (not in the legal sense anyway), but what I did see day after day were people buying “food” (I use that term loosely) on food stamps, while somehow able to buy $40 or $50 worth of booze and cigarettes with cash.

• Anonymous

  You have no clue

• Anonymous

  You know what also gets me. Working with these individuals on a regular basis. They can’t pass a convience store without picking up a pack of cigarrettes, whoopie, soda with a bag of chips. Using stamps or EBT card to pay for it. Can you or I afford to stop everytime we turn around to pick up a coffee or chips. We do have kids in college, who are living on oodles of noodles, literally. We make our coffee at home. Most of us can’t afford to smoke, I know I can’t. It makes me crazy, just that sense of entitlement. They deserve to smoke while the rest of us pay for it and their medical bills associated with it.

• Anonymous

  Um, maybe she should talk about how most of her Wally-world coworkers had to be on Welfare because they could not make a living wage working there “full-time”.

• Anonymous

  Here’s my conspiracy theory:  someone at MPHC writes this while pretending to be a sweet little college girl.

  Kind of like LePage’s anonymous Fax.

• Anonymous

  Miss Rousselle didn’t need to declare her political affiliation because this is not a partisan issue, it is a matter of common sense. A lifestyle of entitlement and manipulating the system to avoid work to stay on the dole certainly does need some serious reform. I’m all for helping out when someone is down and out or disabled, but some people have turned the welfare system into a career, and for some  generations. If you want to get the hand-outs I’m all for random drug screening, but some say that isn’t good for their self-esteem. And we mustn’t forget those pesky privacy laws.  What a mess!

• Anonymous

  A well written piece until I read “The next man in line said that the two women reminded him of buying steel drums and cement. I said I was reminded why I vote Republican.”

  Now the name-calling makes sense.

• Anonymous

  What I see is someone interested in denigrating those on public assistance rather than someone interested in reforming the system. Why not report the real abuse you’ve witnessed instead of calling them names?

  I find it so laughable, the line “that’s why I vote Republican.” Why? Because you’d rather the welfare be of a corporate nature? For government assistance to only benefit millionaires in order to beg them to create jobs for us?

  Put forth some serious proposals instead of launching personal and unfounded attacks on strangers. Sure we could have a better system and sure we could have less fraud, but name-calling doesn’t accomplish that. Voting Republican certainly doesn’t either. Notice they’re the ones discussing a lower “training wage” and longer hours for workers. Notice they’re the ones fine with massive bonuses for CEOs who drove their companies into the ground.  Republicans seem to be the ones pushing the message– hard work doesn’t pay.

• Anonymous

  Well, it’s more of a pesky Constitutional problem. Courts have struck down the random drug screenings for those receiving public assistance.

• http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

  Christine, I sincerely hope that your time at Providence College allows you to get an education that teaches you to not be such a poor judge. It must be hard to deal with uneducated, unintelligent folks like the women you describe, but to call them by such derogatory titles is one clue you are not up to the task of commenting on their plight objectively. You are entitled to your opinion, but to be so misinformed and snarky about people less fortunate than yourself is a sure sign of your lack of experience, objectivity, good judgment. Grow up, and then try writing. You are much too young to be exhibiting such disdain for your fellow human beings.

• Anonymous

  I work 50 hours a week & my paycheck after taxes has to pay for  food, gas, daycare,mortgage,  heating oil, electricity, clothes , health Ins, dental Ins, car repairs, and MUST I GO ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
  STOP THE FRAUD & YES IT IS “GENERATIONAL”  I have been working since the age of 14 and it has not killed me yet!! Get a Job! or Move out of  Maine!!!!

• kennyh

  But I know what she means by that. Every time I was deeply saddened by a death of a US serviceman/women  in Iraq,  I was reminded why I voted Democrat.

• Anonymous

  I think she’s really trying to qualify for the intern position at the Heritage Foundation’s national headquarters, with the hope of becoming the next Ann Coulter at Fox.

• http://twitter.com/JibJab72 Braid Work

  The Koch Brothers and their corporate overlord friends *** love*** seeing you get worked up about millions of dollars in welfare fraud.    It takes your mind off the BILLIONS of dollars of fraud they commit.    
  Keep whining about the wrong things, sheeple.

• Anonymous

  I read the article in its entirety. What a sad young woman, in college yet not learning rational thought.  Very quick to say nasty things about people with little or no evidence to back her up.

  Is it only a person on welfare who would complain if the register was wrong (in this case, about bell peppers)?

  What does she know about the man from Massachusetts, except that he’s been receiving benefits a long time? Has she reviewed his mental health records? Possibly he has a severe and chronic mental illness. Has she reviewed his medical/neurological records? He could have had a stroke or traumatic brain injury many years ago. She does not know, but she’s quick to rush to judgment.

  She is outraged that a person on welfare has an i-phone. Yet she has no way to know whether or not this person lost their job, hasn’t been able to find another, and finally sought assistance. People are NOT required to turn in their phones and so on as a penalty for becoming poor.

  One customer was kind to her in the midst of a difficult discussion, yet she persists in labeling the woman “Welfare Queen,” slamming her for her thoughtful comment.

  She is willing to blame impoverished people for poverty, ignoring the fact of 4 job seekers to each available job.

  I can forgive her. She’s still quite young, and does not yet realize that she could give birth to a child with a disabling genetic disorder, as I did. She does not realize that her bright future, which she believes she can readily secure with a college education and hard work, will vanish if the unemployment rate continues to be this bad–or if she develops a severe head injury or is hit by a truck. I wish her well, while praying that she will not continue to use her good fortune as an excuse to bash people.

• Anonymous

  Is it in the constitution that we give welfare?

• Anonymous

  Was there any way that this young girl could have called the proper authorities when she witnessed the fraud?

  Oh to be 20 and know everything that’s wrong with the world. I wonder what she will think of her opinions in 10 years when she reads back on her postings?

• Anonymous

  Yeah, cause ONLY Republicans are responsible for wars and sending service men and women into harms way. Grow up.

• Anonymous

  But it’s okay in a wide variety of jobs, where random drug screenings are required. Fair to exclude those on assistance? No, not really.

• kennyh

  Well in this century,  why yes. DanS! I am surprised we are pulling out. There must be hundreds and hundreds of sq. miles of sand where the WMD’s are buried. Cheney and Bush told us they’re there, they told us they had positive, definite proof!…. yet we’re leaving.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Q4AP5EYCYRCGZGIJGWI6TLIUEA Tom

  Having worked in retail (yes, there is a Hell) for years, what she witnessed was par for the course, if not mild. You folks putting her down and what she saw must live in a liberal fantasyland…Next time you’re at the local mom and pop general store, discreetly ask the clerk about EBT cards.

  You’ll get an ear full.

• Anonymous

  Every time a welfare queen cheats the system, a person who truly needs assistance gets screwed.

• Anonymous

  I think you and others are diverting the attention away from the real issues of welfare fraud. Who cares about name calling and “uneducated” people. They will always exsist. What shouldn’t exsist is the simple fact the others get through life frauding those who financially support them. Finally, you tell this girl to not show “such disdain” for others? What do you think goes through the persons mind who is knowingly trying to fraud or cheat the system? Do you think they would show you the same kindness and respect you try to defend them with? Leave your car unlocked and your front door open for the whole day. See what happens….

• Anonymous

  Exactly. Same here.

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1628932330 Naran Row-Spaulding

  There are states already exercising the drug tests for the purposes of receiving welfare benefits.

• Anonymous

  But how could this happen, what this young lady saw? 

  The liberals around here have been saying, rather vociferously I might add, that welfare fraud in maine just “Doesn’t Happen”.

  I would add that I could write a testimonial, similar to this one, based on the fraud and abuse I have witnessed many dozens of times, with my own eyes. Not only that, but I know dozens of other people I have met who could write the same about the fraud and abuse they have seen.

  Anytime you give something away, it is human nature that some will abuse it. As time goes by, with nothing happening to stop it, more and more abuse it. I personally know Maine families who are the third generation of their families to be on the welfare roles. It has become the normal way of life for them.

  The massive financial burden to support millions who cannot and will not support themesleves, is destroying our state and our nation.

  Lest I be accused of “supporting the robber barons of Wall St, and other places, I think that what they do is just as “reprehensible” and needs to end.

  All government “redistribution of wealth” schemes need to end or America, as the world has known it, is going to die.

• Anonymous

  Sure, she may be judging too harshly without knowing all the facts, but that is no worse than refusing to make a judgment at all. Your post seems to suggest that it is impossible that anyone is gaming the system. All the people receiving a government check are suffering saints, aren’t they? This girl is making some shrewd judgments of human nature here. I would place my money on her being more accurate than you are…

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXPTPFL746OV2VGR5WBOEUF6W4 Roger

  One of the funniest things I ever watched related to welfare was a couple summers ago at the Machias Hannaford A guy and girl I am guessing bf and gf  from the multiple and quite inappropriate pda’s. They wanted to buy live lobster they used there EBT card to buy a big bag of them and they where laughing and having a great time doing it. I told the guy I hope you enjoy the lobster I bought you for dinner he just looked at me with a gaze of the totally confused.

  This is not a small thing. The fraud ( though operating within the rules) is massive. The stores sell “hot food” the “rules” say you can not buy hot food with a ebt card BUT the stores takes a couple of the “hot food” items and move them  a few feet over to the “cold” area and sell them as non hot food.

  I would say that in total maybe 5 percent of those getting welfare need it. The taboo is to point our that the majority of those on welfare are single moms. Why is it our financial responsibility to pay for the mistakes of others? Only 50 or so years ago people where much more unlikely to to have children out of wedlock ( Meaning a family unit to support and provide for the child) unlike today where for some reason it has become acceptable and even a way of life for our youth to have kids as a job that the state pays you for.

  I have one daughter. I paid her way while she grew up.  Me and my wife cared for her. It is not hard but it does come back to the word so many these days think is so evil RESPONSIBILITY both for your life and your actions in that life. All to many do not have nor accept any these days.

• Anonymous

  No, but “unreasonable search and seizure” is.

• Anonymous

  My “ah-ha” moment came several years ago.  It was snowing and lots of it was forecast, so after I got out of my below-minimum wage (because I was a waiter) I stopped at a convenience store to buy milk, bread, and eggs as it was late and the grocery stores were closed.  The man in front of me first bought cigarettes, a six pack of beer, and a fifth of whiskey, paid with cash.  THEN he bought milk, eggs, and bread and paid with foodstamps.  I watched him go out to his truck that had a snowplow on it.  I assume he was making money (and you can be sure it was under the table) plowing. 
  Am I opposed to welfare?  You bet your bippy I am.  If you can pay cash for your cigs, beer, and liquor, you don’t need public assistance.
  We, the 70% (and this is just a guess) need to put our foot down and say “not another penny for welfare!”  The abuse is total and pervasive.

• Anonymous

  There’s nothing wrong with working at Wal-Mart.  Having a job–any job–teaches you how to be on time, learn the rules of a workplace, and get along with co-workers.  Nothing says you have to stay at Wal-mart.   Or remain a cashier.  You can always work you way up the management line, or once you establish some sort of work history, you can work for another company if you find Wal-mart’s pay substandard.  But then again, most people don’t want to start at the bottom–they want everything and they want it NOW.  The fast food generation with their fast-food paychecks.  Why buy a fixer-upper when you can buy a house you can’t afford with money you don’t have and then when you can’t pay your mortgage, you can cry about how you were taken advantage of by the mean mortgage companies.  Whine whine whine.

• OldWench

  I’ve cashiered before and it was very rare for me to see someone using food stamps be rude or obnoxious.  It was actually the people in line behind them that were rude, condescending and extremely obnoxious and demanding while they complained about the person who had used food stamps.  

  The only actual case of abuse/fraud she even cited was IF the hotdog stand guy was supplying his business with foodstamps.  

  I might also add that just based on how biased this girl was in her writing about people getting foodstamps I don’t doubt for a second that she was the one who was rude, resulting in the customers giving it right back to her.

• OldWench

  I notice how you berate single mothers yet make no mention of the fathers who aren’t supporting the children they help make.  Stop blaming the single mothers.  They didn’t get themselves pregnant.  If Maine has a lot of single mothers it has to be because Maine has a lot of useless, irresponsible, lazy and deadbeat men.

• OldWench

  It’s entirely possible that the man with the plow who bought cash items for himself may have been running an errand for and elderly or disabled person who needed those items and were unable to do it themselves and just needed help.  When my children were little I left an abusive marriage and had to get assistance for awhile.  I made friends with a neighbor who had a brand new sports car.  I didn’t have a car of my own.  My neighbor used to let me use her car to go grocery shopping.  Sometimes she would also give me cash to pick something up for her.  Her husband liked beer and smoked, so there were times when I picked those items up for her in exchange for being allowed to use her car to buy groceries.  I imagine people thought and said the same things about me despite the fact that I didn’t even drink or smoke!  Heck, I even used coupons and tried to be thrifty.

  Things aren’t always what they seem…but if you look hard enough you will be able to see what you want to see so you can cast negative opinions and judgments on others.

• Anonymous

   ” If Maine has a lot of single mothers it has to be because Maine has a
  lot of useless, irresponsible, lazy and deadbeat men.  Mostly cause it doesn’t PAY to be  responsible man and MARRIED the girl who got pregnant.  I know people that have said if we get MARRIED we will loose our paycheck.  It is the responsiblity of BOTH  parties to  prevent  an unplanned pregnancy, and when all else fails both parties need to stand up.

• Anonymous

  You are saying that when you don’t have facts, it’s better to rush to judgment than NOT to make a judgment. I disagree.

  Of course there is fraud in every walk of life. But this inexperienced yet venemous young lady is sliming several people without evidence apart from her preconceptions.

• Anonymous

  Is this the same little girl who wrote to the governor about the mural? ChinaMart is the biggest abuser of the welfare system, not their customers. They are now America’s largest under employer. Their average under employee earns $13,600 a year, or half the federal poverty level. They are eligible for every government program there is, and they should be. The American tax payer takes care of their employees groceries, health care, and heating oil. Thanks to all of us who shop there, work there, and refuse to buy American, they are now worth a combined $93 billion, or more than the bottom 30% of Americans combined. Buy American, pay your taxes, and stay to hell out of ChinaMart while there is still one American left working for a decent wage. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SHNOU64ZBOBIKWUF5IM6WSH7WA entitled4life

  I appreciate your comment because the tone of it points out exactly what is wrong with this  State.  You and millions like you are entitled and would prefer not to work rather than to work for less than you are entitled (in your mind) to receive.  You bring no value to the table but expect to be compensated as if you did.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SHNOU64ZBOBIKWUF5IM6WSH7WA entitled4life

  I do not believe you.  I worked at a Hannaford for a year and saw all of the same stuff happen.  It is not possible to work in a retail store, especially grocery, and not witness the welfare fraud and abuse.

• Anonymous

  While she makes some valid points her entire blog (at least the post in question) drips of judgement.  There are a lot of assumptions in there as well with little basis in fact.  I can’t say that I’m impressed by this young lady.  I’m glad she’s not my daughter.

• Anonymous

  Your points are unrealistic.  Most who work jobs which do not pay a living wage are desperate.  They had good paying jobs in the past which, because of greed, are no longer available.  I see your point about taking a job, any job, however these jobs which don’t pay a living wage are simply legal slavery.  The next time you shop at Wal Mart take a look around.  Most of the employee’s are middle aged or older.  Not kids who need to learn that one must show up on time.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  This poor girl is obviously holds people with less in contempt!

  In her own words, “”thats why she votes Republican”"”!

  Wal-mart , Thats where poor people shop, what did you expect? 

     If you dont like your job go to Tiffanies and cash out Newt with his lobbiest money buying his next ex wife a piece of $500,000 jewelry while his wife lies in the hospital dieing of cancer!

  What, Poor people cant eat Lobster?

  Slaves once rebelled about being fed the nasty bottom dweller more than 3 times a week!

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  Lets expand that to the politicians !

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

     Yeah, that guy buying hot dogs with food stamps to run a hot dog cart would sure be a contender for a CEO position wouldn’t he.

     I’ll bet that The CEO from Oscar Myer wouldn’t be above  writeing  that one down in his book of tricks if he ever got a look at this article.

• Anonymous

  No its not common, Its the abusers that are just the most visual. Reminds me when Rudy Giuliani wanted to clean up the epedemic of window washers in New York. This empidimic in the City happened to be 35ish people that were so prolific that people thought there were thousands doing it.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  There are a lot of assumptions in there as well with little basis in fact.    drips of judgement.

  True!

  She be climbing the Corporate ladder FAST!

• Guest

  “what did you expect?”Probably not to see all the waste you encourage? 

• Anonymous

  What would you consider to be a living wage?

• luvGSD

  I agree that this is an immature and judgmental opinion piece.  But it does begin to reveal just how many taxpayer dollars are funneled almost directly into Wal-Mart’s pockets, first by food stamp recipients who spend their food stamps there, second by the working poor who work at Wal-Mart for below-subsistence wages who receive food stamps and Medicare, and third by local and state development subsidies and tax advantages.  It would be interesting to see a pie chart illustrating just how much the taxpayers are subsidizing Wal-Mart’s profits. I think Wal-Mart’s very existence might hinge on taxpayer subsidies, don’t you?

• Anonymous

  things aren’t always what they seem, but if you look hard enough…………..

  it is possible that all these people are just honest, hard working, residents that just are having a hard time trying to make ends meet in a difficult time. the welfare state is here to provide temporary assistance to those and all of the rest of us should be glad to pay those extra taxes to support them.

  but i have to say that all the stories of abuse and fraud are probably not based on some misconstrued republicans complaining. i would believe that plenty of abuse is going on.

  but you can continue to think that all welfare is great, and make your excuses if you choose. i for one like to keep my eyes open, and my mind as well. like most liberals you should try to see things as they are, instead of as you want them to be.

• Anonymous

   from your comments, i would guess that you are a single welfare mother, who  has been left by some useless, irresponsible, lazy, deadbeat man. and so most if not all men are the same. i would also guess that you have been on state aid for some time. and you may not see a way out of your situation. that would explain the majority of your comments. i feel sorry for you. i can only hope that you will someday find a way out of thee nightmare.

• Anonymous

  I don’t know how Watchdog feels but I think it should be enough to pay for housing, complete healthcare, basic transportation, food, clothing, and heat in the winter.  How much is that in the Bangor area?  For a single person I’d estimate almost $20/hour. I know, that would close McDonalds.  Guess what?  I don’t care.  McDonalds, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, LL Bean, Fosters, Duncan Donuts, etc do not pay a living wage so there is no point to their existence anyway.  That is, no point other than to enrich their owners at the expense of the working poor.

• Anonymous

  I love to see people get in an uproar over a simple blog post…..
  Sure doesn’t take much…..

• Liberal Soup N Crackers

  How could you miss the point of the article as bad as this??

• Liberal Soup N Crackers

  The author reflects my sentiments  very well. Maine is in a serious mess.

• Anonymous

  I’d much rather work for an honorable paycheck than sponge off the taxpayers. 

  Granted, many on welfare are needy and deserving of the assistance. However, there are far too many welfare lifer slugs that feel “entitled” to a free ride. These people are worthless in many ways. They are perfectly capable of working, but because the system is broken and easy to manipulate, they end up with the attitude that they deserve the freebies. In truth, the scammers are breaking the entitlement bank. And most of them vote Democrat in order to keep the freebies coming.

  It’s time to get them off the roles and let them fend for themselves. The trouble with this strategy is that many of them would just turn violent and take whatever they felt was “rightfully” theirs.  

• Anonymous

  Christine – Fantastic and insightful article. You’ve seen the problem first hand, and you’ve penned it so well. Welfare abuse and fraud is rampant in this nation, and it’s the fault of the left-wing mindset, from both parties, of our elected officials, both state and federal. It’s gotten out of hand and may be beyond the point of repair without causing a major revolt from those that feel “entitled” to their unearned and undeserved handouts. But, I say, let the revolt happen, because the day will come when no one will get any assistance, including those that actually need it. 

• Anonymous

  If you want change on what they can buy than it HAS to be done at the federal level they are the ones that set the rules on what they can buy .

• Anonymous

  Disgusting flame fanning journalism BDN.  I have been disappointed by the occasional propaganda pieces from neo-cons and revisionist historians that teach your readers intentional mistruths.  This is ugly on a whole other level.

  Whether you know it or not, you are perpetuating the divisions between our people at a time when unity must be sought.  With one in two people at or near poverty, we need to pull together to save this country.  As long as we are fighting these class-wars at the street level, demonizing the poor, ignoring the beneficiaries, we will continue our decent into corruption and impoverishment. 

  The Wal-Mart cashier does not have access to the details of these peoples lives that created their need for assistance.  These attacks on the poor are not founded in truth or analysis but only in bias and prejudice.  In publishing this type of story, the BDN essentially accepts that prejudice deserves a platform to propagate itself through the imaginations of the readers.  Whether this is the opinion of the editorial board, the ownership of the paper or just sensational fodder, it is not acceptable in terms of its prejudicial impact.

  Instead of fanning the flames of demonizing the already marginalized who will not stand up for themselves, why not publish information based on the facts about how a family on food stamps struggles to make nutritional selections when junk food is cheaper?  Perhaps you could serve your community better by showing how many of those on food stamps are the working poor who rise each day, work as hard as they can, and still need help because wages are not realistic any more.

  This is the most insensitive and prejudicial journalism I have ever read on your pages, BDN.  You should be ashamed of what you are becoming, a bully for those who divide to maintain control and against those who have no voice and live on the margins.

• Anonymous

  How do you know that the father is dead or disable an gets just enough money to live on ?

• Anonymous

  They simply want to create populist rants to sway public opinion so that we stop caring for our neighbors.  We are being trained to hate our neighbors.  This is the kind of divisive propaganda that leads to serious civil unrest and bloody wars against our own people.  Left to fester, this callousness gains a life of its own.  Yes, human nature has a dark side.  Atlas Shrugged is not a utopian tale of self reliance, it is the story of how human kind are susceptible to being led astray from humanity itself.  This piece is intended to create anger towards our less fortunate.  In that, it is inexcusably dangerous.  As the social safety nets are rolled back and disabled, elderly and poor people are left to suffer, their unnecessary pain is on the hands of the purveyors of hateful rhetoric like this.

• Anonymous

  And just how do you feel about those who “manipulate the system” to scam home buyers, or to accept premiums and then deny coverage, or those who go for broke on wild bets and get bailed out by the taxpayers to the tune of trillions of dollars.

  The reason for this piece is simple, Sharnew.  Distraction allows for continued extraction.  As long as people like yourself are fighting the false demon of “welfare” fraud which may cost the country tens of billions per year, you provide cover for the ones that take trillions of our dollars under false pretense.

  What a mess, indeed!

• Anonymous

  We should START there.  Ever heard of leadership by example?

• Anonymous

  Excellent analysis. This girl is young, so I can forgive her ignorance — hopefully she learns some day. It’s a bit arrogant for her to run on wild assumptions about strangers. You know, obviously as a cashier you’re going to see people on their freetime. But the fact that she automatically assumes these people don’t work and likely voluntarily don’t work because they receive government assistance is a bit disgusting and prejudiced.

• Anonymous

  Like tax cuts for millionaires that send us further and further into debt? You’re never consistent EJP.

• Anonymous

  Christine! Good to see you out in the world, contributing to the national dialogue. You’ve taken what we did in class (AP Lang!!!) and made it real. I should have one of my current students analyze your essay! Keep the discourse flowing….

  jy

• Anonymous

  If everyone made $20/hour you wouldn’t be able to afford groceries or other necessities!

• Anonymous

  Rousselle, being a woman, would have a pretty hard time “working her way up the management line.”  Wally World has a rep for a low glass ceiling for women–cashiers forever…

• Anonymous

  Well, no.    If I made $20/hour I would have enough for groceries…that is the point.

  Less profit-skimming and more for those who actually produce the wealth and do the work!

• Anonymous

  Calling strangers you know very little about “welfare queens” constitutes a dialogue? Scary that you’re a teacher.

• Kitchell

  Great Job Christine! It takes courage to tell the truth with so many PC boneheads out there claiming they are offended everytime someone sneezes. Very refreshing and eye opening piece. Keep up the good work.

• Anonymous

  Not to mention there is no incentive to work hard……Earlier in the year I started a job at 9$ per hour and now I make 11$…I’m not living high on the hog but I can get the things I need….People have to start at the minimum and work their way up….if they never get a raise from minimum they are doing something wrong…

• Anonymous

  So, you don’t think there’s a disconnect when working a 40-hour work week at minimum wage still puts you below the poverty line?

  I guess I’m one of those entitled people ruining our state, expecting a safe place to work and a living wage and all.  I know, the nerve of some people.

  As an aside I will mention that I work well over a 40-hour work week each week, do not receive overtime pay, and am grossly underpaid for the work I do in comaprison to my colleagues in Northern New England (NH & VT). 

  I don’t know what your sitatuion is but I’m not going to be rude and pretend that I do.

• Anonymous

  That’s exactly the problem…. If you don’t give them a handout, some percentage will just take it anyway. 

  Frankly, I’d rather life in a realtive safe community with some amount of welfare fraud, than live in a place with high crime caused by desperation.

• Anonymous

  I never said there was anything wrong with working there.  A job is a job and if its what you can get, then go for it.
   
  However, it is well-documented that WalMart does everything in its power to pass its labor costs onto the taxpayer…  Such as limiting the “full-time work week” so a large percentage of its workers are considered ‘part-time’ and thus do not receive the benefits they otherwise would.  Also by not providing health insurance but actively directing their workers to get on Food stamps and Medicare. 
   
  The real issue is that there is a reason stuff at Walmart is so cheap:  Your taxes are subsidizing many of the company’s costs.

• Anonymous

  It should be tied to the poverty index for a given location – which is established using the costs of housing, utilities, groceries, etc.

• Anonymous

  Not true.  Many countries have minimum wages tied to the cost of living and people still manage to be comfortable, happy, and even fed! 

  Yes, there is an initial adjustment period, where pretty much all wages increase by a certain percentage – for exactly the reason you point out.  A gallon of milk will be $6 instead of $4 and so everyone will need to make more to maintain the standard of living across the board.

  The issue is not so much the cost of an item as it is how thatcost related to your income. 

• Anonymous

  Nobody is saying there shouldn’t be performance-based raises.  But there is a problem when you can work full-time at a minimum wage job and still qualify for food stamps, medicare, TANF, etc.

• Anonymous

  Please…a 19 year old kid works 2 summers at Walmart while living with her parents and she’s an expert on welfare?  She is nothing more than an ignorant, self-righteous kid who can’t deal with the stress of working retail and needs to vent her frustrations.  I’m sure that for every one ‘bad’ welfare customer she had, she had 3 or 4 good ones, that were nice, respectful, hardworking people that used their checks for what they were intended for.  People seem to focus on the bad, and retail workers, servers, etc talk about the jerks more than the nice people.  There will always be welfare fraud, but in my opinion, that is not a reason to eliminate welfare. 

• Anonymous

  I really like this young woman. Clear headed thinking witha first rate smile.  She should be the new sex-symbol for the conservative movement.

• Anonymous

  It’s outrageous spending that put us into debt, not tax cuts. 

• Anonymous

  You mean like declaring an unfunded war in Iraq?   That unfunded war cost us 1.3 trillion.

• Anonymous

  Yes, let’s ignore reality and pretend like it could only possibly be one thing that created the debt. Must be those welfare queens at Walmart, right? Let’s demonize them and feel better about ourselves. 

• madhattah

  Which is part of my point. It is difficult to listen to the blogger’s ‘opinion’ when she feels the need to denigrate with nasty name tags. I have worked in many convenience stores and spent a short time (not short enough) at Wal-Mart. I haven’t seen the level of what she calls fraud in any of these places. More likely that I have seen people who make very poor choices and throw them in the grocery cart. They would make the same crummy food choices if they had a job and their own money I’m sure. They aren’t ‘cheating’ the system’ and buying gummy bears just to tick the closehanded among us off.

  I don’t care what help system you look at there is a % of recipients who cheat. But I have never seen that the majority cheats and I don’t believe they do. It is pretty sad when we cannot help those who need it. And as far as I am concerned even if the parent is less than honest what about the children??

  Oh right. Those who name call and prefer to let the drowning person drown and be done with it are those who would like there to be juvenile janitors.

  Are there no work houses? Shouldn’t everyone just take a bath and get a job? Whether they can or not? Shouldn’t they just take themselves out of the world and out of the way of the Scrooges among us?

  We are not trillions of dollars in debt because of food stamps. We are trillions of dollars in debt because of War and Corporate Welfare to name two.

• madhattah

  Hmmm. didn’t work Jack _Knoph.
  Still seems to be a goodly amount of condescension and self righteousness in the young lady’s blog.

• Anonymous

  This girl’s parent’s should be ashamed of themselves, unless she developed this level of hatred all on her own. Fabricated, anecdotal stories right out of MHC’s playbook. Disgraceful.

• Anonymous

  So you actually believe everything she wrote? She questioned the character of multiple people, but you are o.k. with taking her comments without question?

• Anonymous

  Thank goodness my kids didn’t have you as a teacher.

• Guest

  New study out: 1 out of every 2 Americans live in poverty or low-income.  So much for the capitalist utopia.

• Anonymous

  Paid for by the Republican party for the Lapage administration…

• Anonymous

  probably glad she took a stand and tried to do the right thing.  hope her parents are proud of her.

• Anonymous

  you only have to see something thirty or forty times to figure out how something works.  you read the whole article, so you read see worked for two summers. how much do you need to see before you can believe it?

• Anonymous

  this may not be the biggest problem, but its still a problem that needs attention.

• Anonymous

  She could see 40 people who have been receiving benefits for several years, draw conclusions about each of them on the basis of zero evidence about their medical, psychiatric, or neurological history (just her own preconceptions), and be wrong 40 times.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OPAW6MFKY2SIYUQYNRYFVIR3V4 Retiree

  Hard work doesn’t pay for the welfare abusers as it is easier to stay home and leech of the tax payers. Are you a tax paer or a leech?

• Anonymous

  Everyone pays taxes.

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1328010142 Brendan O’Brien

  Frabricated? lol I see that everyday i shop at Walmart.

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1328010142 Brendan O’Brien

  We spend a hell of a lot more money on welfare in this country than subsidies. That’s a fact. But yes EBT is a small part of welfare. Also I don’t see any fraud by the Koch brothers. They simply want reduced regulations so they can run their chemical companies without paying for externalities.

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1328010142 Brendan O’Brien

  No they don’t

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1328010142 Brendan O’Brien

  Populist thought is pro-welfare, always has been. It’s very unpopular to question welfare. What’s dangerous is to create a society that fall into ruin, where it pays to be idle.

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1328010142 Brendan O’Brien

  Oscar Meyer is owned by Kraft Food’s whose CEO is Irene Rosenfeld. So not a man, and Kraft does quite a bit in terms of philanthropy. So you are wrong on all parts.

• Anonymous

  $20/hour in Bangor Maine?  To be quite honest and blunt this is one of the biggest problems with America.  I am 24 years old and live in Boston.  I put myself through college and got a BS from the University of Maine and am currently applying to medical school.  Over the last two years I have been taking classes at Harvard Extension School to boost my resume and increase my chances of getting into medical school.  While going to school I also work full time (real full time: being at least 40-50 hours per week) doing clinical research in the ICU at a large academic hospital in Boston.  To get this job I applied for over 50 positions.  All for what?  I  live in a two bedroom apartment (with three people) which is about the size (total) of most common living rooms.  I walk 2 miles per day to work and take public transportation where I can.  I live a VERY modest lifestyle and you know what… the money I make still isn’t enough, so what do I do?  Do I ask the government for help?  Do I cry on public message boards that they don’t pay me enough money to live? No, I take a bus from Boston to Maine 1-2 weekends a month and work 48-60 hours on an ambulance (friday Saturday and Sunday) and jump on that same bus Monday morning to start my week all over again.  Is it the life I dreamed of as a kid?  No, it certainly is not, but I am doing what I have to do to get there.  I was brought up understanding that good things come to those who work hard and success should be considered an achievement that comes from that hard work.  Even our simplest counterparts in the Animal Kingdom understand that in this life there is no “free lunch”, you don’t see a bunch of lions sitting around with their cubs waiting for a gazelle to walk up next to them and shout “eat me!”  They hunt, they work, and if they work hard enough, they succeed.  If they don’t work hard enough then maybe they go hungry and sadly there cubs may too.  My problem is not with providing temporary assistance to those in need.  I understand there are physical/mental ailments that may prevent the aforementioned lion from being able to get up in the morning and go hunting and as a country I feel it is our responsibility to help people out in these times.  However, when I see people suggesting that minimum wage should be $20 per hour because that is what it costs to live, I can’t help but wonder: what am I worth?  If a greeter at walmart or a barista at Dunkin Donuts (as you suggest) in the eyes of the consumer is worth $20 per hour then what is a researcher worth?  Are we worth the same?  Didn’t someone try that whole system where everyone makes the same amount of money no matter what their skills are???? How did that work out?  If you suggest I am worth much more then that (I thank you) but would like to know where you think this money is going to come from?  I see our monetary worth being largely driven by the consumer.   If the person making my coffee makes $20 per hour it is highly unlikely “I-the lowly research assistant from Boston” will be able to afford there product so I will take my business elsewhere.   If other follow suite then before you know it the business closes and a new coffee shop opens up hopefully with a better business model.  If the new coffee shops employees decide they aren’t making enough money then as I see it they have two options 1) get a second job that fits in with your current skill set or 2)quit .  It is not “slavery” as you suggest in that no one is forcing you to stay there. Now you may think I am promoting option 1, but I am not.  There can be a true benefit to quitting this job, maybe the time that you are spending at this “useless underpaying job” is keeping you from learning new skills that would make you happier, better paid or a more productive member of society.  If this is the case then I would say the job is functioning as an opportunity cost and maybe its time to turn in the two week notice and move on to something bigger and bright.  This is where I think the disconnect may happen, people thing bigger and brighter should be just around the corner…well I’m here to tell you: “It’s not” you have to work to achieve these things, and after a few months of school and eating ramen noodles and living off what little you have saved up that coffee shop job isn’t looking so bad after all.  You must first walk thirsty in the mud to reach the cold water spring.  People don’t like to walk through the mud, its miserable and many will give up and walk down to city hall and say “I aint got no job, my life sucks, feed me!”  A shiny plastic card pops out and we are off to Walmart to pick up a slip and slide for the kids.  Phew, all in a days work!  As a society we have become obsessed with the shine of a new toy and the smell of new clothes.  I am a firm believer in every person (male, female, white, black, brown) should have the opportunity to live the lifestyle of there dreams, it is theirs to destroy should they chose to not want to work for it.   So you tell me is it the cost of “living” in Bangor, Maine that is $20 per hour or is it the cost of “lifestyle”, because I am “living” every day following my dreams only make $15 (in Boston).

• Anonymous

  $20/hour in Bangor Maine?  To be quite honest and blunt this is one of the biggest problems with America.  I am 24 years old and live in Boston.  I put myself through college and got a BS from the University of Maine and am currently applying to medical school.  Over the last two years I have been taking classes at Harvard Extension School to boost my resume and increase my chances of getting into medical school.  While going to school I also work full time (real full time: being at least 40-50 hours per week) doing clinical research in the ICU at a large academic hospital in Boston.  To get this job I applied for over 50 positions.  All for what?  I  live in a two bedroom apartment (with three people) which is about the size (total) of most common living rooms.  I walk 2 miles per day to work and take public transportation where I can.  I live a VERY modest lifestyle and you know what… the money I make still isn’t enough, so what do I do?  Do I ask the government for help?  Do I cry on public message boards that they don’t pay me enough money to live? No, I take a bus from Boston to Maine 1-2 weekends a month and work 48-60 hours on an ambulance (friday Saturday and Sunday) and jump on that same bus Monday morning to start my week all over again.  Is it the life I dreamed of as a kid?  No, it certainly is not, but I am doing what I have to do to get there.  I was brought up understanding that good things come to those who work hard and success should be considered an achievement that comes from that hard work.  Even our simplest counterparts in the Animal Kingdom understand that in this life there is no “free lunch”, you don’t see a bunch of lions sitting around with their cubs waiting for a gazelle to walk up next to them and shout “eat me!”  They hunt, they work, and if they work hard enough, they succeed.  If they don’t work hard enough then maybe they go hungry and sadly there cubs may too.  My problem is not with providing temporary assistance to those in need.  I understand there are physical/mental ailments that may prevent the aforementioned lion from being able to get up in the morning and go hunting and as a country I feel it is our responsibility to help people out in these times.  However, when I see people suggesting that minimum wage should be $20 per hour because that is what it costs to live, I can’t help but wonder: what am I worth?  If a greeter at walmart or a barista at Dunkin Donuts (as you suggest) in the eyes of the consumer is worth $20 per hour then what is a researcher worth?  Are we worth the same?  Didn’t someone try that whole system where everyone makes the same amount of money no matter what their skills are???? How did that work out?  If you suggest I am worth much more then that (I thank you) but would like to know where you think this money is going to come from?  I see our monetary worth being largely driven by the consumer.   If the person making my coffee makes $20 per hour it is highly unlikely “I-the lowly research assistant from Boston” will be able to afford there product so I will take my business elsewhere.   If other follow suite then before you know it the business closes and a new coffee shop opens up hopefully with a better business model.  If the new coffee shops employees decide they aren’t making enough money then as I see it they have two options 1) get a second job that fits in with your current skill set or 2)quit .  It is not “slavery” as you suggest in that no one is forcing you to stay there. Now you may think I am promoting option 1, but I am not.  There can be a true benefit to quitting this job, maybe the time that you are spending at this “useless underpaying job” is keeping you from learning new skills that would make you happier, better paid or a more productive member of society.  If this is the case then I would say the job is functioning as an opportunity cost and maybe its time to turn in the two week notice and move on to something bigger and bright.  This is where I think the disconnect may happen, people thing bigger and brighter should be just around the corner…well I’m here to tell you: “It’s not” you have to work to achieve these things, and after a few months of school and eating ramen noodles and living off what little you have saved up that coffee shop job isn’t looking so bad after all.  You must first walk thirsty in the mud to reach the cold water spring.  People don’t like to walk through the mud, its miserable and many will give up and walk down to city hall and say “I aint got no job, my life sucks, feed me!”  A shiny plastic card pops out and we are off to Walmart to pick up a slip and slide for the kids.  Phew, all in a days work!  As a society we have become obsessed with the shine of a new toy and the smell of new clothes.  I am a firm believer in every person (male, female, white, black, brown) should have the opportunity to live the lifestyle of there dreams, it is theirs to destroy should they chose to not want to work for it.   So you tell me is it the cost of “living” in Bangor, Maine that is $20 per hour or is it the cost of “lifestyle”, because I am “living” every day following my dreams only make $15 (in Boston).

• Anonymous

  Yes they do. Unless you’re somehow privy to a manner in which people entirely get around sales taxes, excise taxes, gas taxes, payroll taxes, federal and state income taxes, etc. 

• Anonymous

  WAIT A MINUTE! I want to make sure I am getting this straight. The author is the cashier. She saw people paying for alcohol with DBT. The law strictly prohibits the use of DBT, food stamps or food assistance as tender for alcohol. I do not hear her saying that she informed these people that she could not legally accept their food subsidies as payment for those items. Instead, Christine Rousselle is admitting to having violated the law! At the very least, she is admitting to very poor job performance and should have been fired by Walmart. (NOTE: the food stamp system is not what is flawed in this discussion—Ms. Rousselle’s lack of responsibility is!)

• Anonymous

  You’re the only one saying that. Take off the blinders and join in the discussion.

• Anonymous

  I could afford those things I listed including groceries.  What I could not afford is a $40,000 truck that never see’s a gravel road and gets 15 mpg.

• OldWench

  Yes, it IS the responsibility of BOTH people to either abstain, use birth control or responsibly raise and support their children.  Unfortunately, trying to raise a child as a single parent is NOT easy and without a good job with benefits you are going to need some help if the other parent isn’t contributing.  I am SO sick of hearing all the berating and insults against single mothers with no mention of the fathers.  If they supported their kids the single moms wouldn’t need help.

• Anonymous

  Fairly immature writing and more than insensitive and denigrating.  This child knows little of reality and writes like she resented her job more than as a credible critic.

• OldWench

  Nope, I’m not.  I was married for 10 years to a man who became an alcoholic a few years after we got married and beat the crap out of me, threatened to kill me, beat our kids…among other things.  I left and put about 1500 miles between my children and I and him and started over.  Early on I did need to get help, but I always tried to work, even without a vehicle and having to walk several miles to and from work as soon as my kids were all in school.  I don’t drink or do drugs and don’t smoke.  I’m intelligent, too.  Of course, I got married when I was just out of high school and since I was always a good girl I was really naive so I didn’t see the red flags with my ex.  So yeah…I left him, not the other way around, and I left for good reason.  He was bitter and controlling and would quit jobs as soon as child support caught up with him.  

  I worked my tail off and now have two college degrees.  I have been where those single mothers are, and I know how difficult it is when you are as strong as I am and do everything right.  Many single mothers have been abused in many ways and continue the cycle because they just don’t know any better, so they let themselves be taken advantage of.  It chafes my butt to see some of the hateful comments thrown out towards single moms.  You get discriminated against, looked down on, judged unfairly when all you are trying to do is just survive as best you can.  The most important thing these people need is encouragement and to be treated with dignity.  That will lift people up.  If you kick them when they are down they just stay down.  Try reaching out and actually encouraging them to get up, even if it means that you help hold them steady while they get back up onto their feet.

• Anonymous

  What is this, an undergraduate thesis?  Some future employer will teach you the value of putting your ideas across in a short, concise, and succinct manner.

  Should you graduate from medical school rest assured that you will do fine in the salary department.  Your monthly wage will exceed that of someone who works all year round, 60 hrs/wk, for today’s minimum wage.  Meanwhile I’m glad you are living “the dream” in Boston for $15.  I also worked in the Boston area for many years so do not make any assumptions.  I know that it is expensive to live in that area.  I also know that you are being subsidized by someone or some entity.  That said, I would assume that you are smart enough to realize that the life of a student is not the same as the life of a middle aged person raising a family.  Then again, perhaps you aren’t.  I must say that I find your lack of compassion disturbing in one who aspires to be a physician.

  ps Retake your English grammar course or apply for a refund.

• Anonymous

  Yes.

• Anonymous

  So, to be laid off and down on your luck is dishonorable?

• Anonymous

  Name one country that is not socialist.

• Anonymous

  This is the best reply you can come up with?  What part of working for what you want do you not understand?  How do you know anything about this person?  You don’t so you must be one of the lazy whiners the commenter is referring to.  The reason the commenter has to elaborate so much is so people like you can comprehend what they are trying to put across.  Or perhaps they used too many big words?

• Anonymous

  Then how do private sector companies get away with it? Why is it that “unreasonable search and seizure” only applies to welfare recipients?

• Anonymous

  Because they’re private, obviously. The government can’t conduct unreasonable search and seizure. 

• Anonymous

  This is probably what you would like to believe but, if true, then she probably wouldn’t be working there anymore.

• Anonymous

  Why?  Afraid they might have learned something?

• Anonymous

  Why not?  Most of you liberal idiots do the same thing here?

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

  She was a high school student of course she was immature and hated her job. She still saw what she saw. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  Step right up and be the first to disclose all.

  Ever take a Tax Deduction or Exemption?

  Be careful what you wish on others!

• Anonymous

  What about the previous century?

• Anonymous

  Would MPBN fall under the “corporate welfare” umbrella?

• Anonymous

  First off, I never made the assumption that you did or did not live/work in Boston?  The only assumption I see made here is you assuming I have a “lack of compassion” when you know absolutely nothing about me.  Truth be told, I would consider myself one of the most compassionate providers you will find.  My entire purpose of going back to medical school was to help people.  Working on the ambulance through college I witnessed first hand the suffering of so many with no access to health care, many with no heat, no food and most shocking to me at the time no Physician.  They relied on the local Emergency Department to provide “sick-care” but had no one to turn to for “health care” needs or to provide advice on making healthy choices to improve quality of life.  It is something that I hold very close and I want to make a difference.  I have no interest in politics and feel I can make the biggest contribution by becoming a provider that will take on these types of patients, I want to make visits to their house or trailer or shack and provide true health-care to them and their family that goes far beyond the scope of writing a script or casting a broken arm.  I have no interest in making a salary that will exceed that of someone who works all year round, 60 hrs/wk, for today’s minimum wage.  I come from a very humble background and do not believe money can buy happiness.  I am far happier today making my $15 per hour, living paycheck-to-paycheck (and of note paying $400 per month for my UNSUBSIDISED student loans if you must know my personal finances) then I was making $40 per hour in my Engineering position.  I also am well aware that my situation is far different then that of a “middle-aged person raising a family”, I never suggested that it was not.  We all have story, a problem, a hurdle and different approaches to making it from day to day.  As I mentioned, I think it is very neccesarry to help families in times of need but I am not sure raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour in Bangor will accomplish that.  We need to restructure our welfare to providing temporary assistance to those in need and put time and effort into counsiling these people into making better decisions and help them find a path to a career that matches their skill set.  This is clearly much easier said then done and a complex problem that requires more then hiring a few government paid life counselers, it is a social movement that needs to take place.  Some days I think the US would be better off going back to the days where you had to hunt or grow your own food and you had a family donkey with pots and pans clanging from sided to side around his back as you rode into the market to trade a hen for a sack of grains.  Maybe not for a long period of time, but just long enough for people to realize just how great we have it.  I gladly pay my taxes for the oppurtunity to share this great country and can only hope that my money is used in some way to help those less fortunate then I.  I dont suggest I have all the answers, I simply wanted to share my story with you in hopes you could see that it is very possible to “live” on far less then $20 per hour.  I dont dine on lobster and steak, and I dont buy designer clothes or Iphones but I try to smile before I fall asleep every night, I discovered a few years back it brings great hapiness and doesn’t cost a thing.

  PS I apoligize for my poor English/grammar, I have a tendancy to think and type at the same time and certainly some old grammar habits will come out.  I dont have the time to go back and edit this and probably will never publish a book but I appreciate your criticism(I get it from my girlfriend all the time) and maybe in the future will try to fit in an grammar class. 

• Anonymous

  Japan.
   
  And how are you defining socialist exactly?  No European nation (which is what I think you are huinting at) is purely socialist at this point – no, not even Sweden.  All have a capitalist economy.  The difference is that they don’t let their economy run all facets of their government as some other nations do. 

• Anonymous

  Good for you, I sincerly applaud your hard work.

  However, do you want this to be the normal state for an american citizen?  How can you raise children on that schedule?  What about those who are too old to walk two miles to their 50-hour a week job each day?

• Anonymous

  Japan is not one of these imaginary countries.

• Anonymous

  I didn’t realize I could actually read the article until just now.  Holy cow, you are a very mean little girl!  Just remember, what goes around comes around.  Just because you are living good now, doesn’t mean you always will.  The shock value of this article is what got it noticed, certainly not the amateurish writing ability of the author.  Stay in school, Christine.

• Anonymous

  You told your story well. There is no need to apologize to someone who is going to be against you no matter how logical your comment is.  I really believe that liberalism is a mental disorder.

• Anonymous

  Did the commenter state that their way was the only way to accomplish any goals?

• Anonymous

  So you have no problem with giving your tax dollars (assuming you even pay any) to drug users?  Or are you relying on the honor system?

• Anonymous

  I suddenly have the desire to rent the movie “Mean Girls”.

• Anonymous

  Your parents should be very proud of you!  Thank you for working hard for what you want in life…you’ll appreciate it so much more for all the effort that you’ve put in!  This country needs more young people like you!