Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Sometimes, I Do Wonder...

"F$#@ THE POOR!" --From History Of The World Part One, written and directed by Mel Brooks.

It seems to me that folks have a major league problem in dealing with those less well off. How else can you explain the fact that when budgets are tight, the first programs that get chopped are those dealing with our most vulnerable citizens--the unemployed, the disabled, kids, and the homeless, to name but a few.

Case in point--unemployment insurance bennies. Currently, Federal law allows for up to 99 weeks of UI benefits. Anybody who gets UI benefits knows that their checks rest on a thin edge...they have to mail in (via snail-mail) their claim forms every two weeks, be honest on their answer sheets, and provide "proof of looking" if required.

UI bennies, in reality, cannot fill the person's full finamcial needs (about 2/3rds). So, those of us who recieve them are not living high on the hog, as it were. By keeping our needs modest, we can get by--even as we scan Craigslist, Yahoo Hot Jobs, and other places to find that chimera-for-today: a job that pays properly.

And yet, I have seen two articles (one by Ruben Navarrette in the SD U-T) that somehow are of the notion that long-term UI bennies contribute to high unemployment rates, and that some form of "tough-love" for UI recipients might be in order here. Do what President Clinton did with folks on the AFDC rolls, goes the reasoning, and watch the unemployment rate go down fast!

Obviously, that load of Bravo-Sierra's odor rivals that of the Harris Ranch Feedlot on I-5 at the Coalinga exit, in that you can smell it for miles. The truth is that many of we, the unemployed, would love to get back to work--if there is truly work to be found that pays better than minimum wage and isn't a make-work "McJob."

In my case, my choices are limited. Janitorial deployment is out, due to the fact I have a severe allergy to two industrial cleaners (Spitfire and Triad). With my skin condition, food service work is, by law, forbidden to me. Same with agricultural work, grocery work...anything to do with the handling of food.

I still have my Guard Card, and constantly check out Craigslist, YHJ, and Employment Guide.com for leads. However, with my Federal Jury Service coming up next month, it makes no real sense to apply...unless the employer-in-question can wait a month while I do my service to Uncle Sam. Not very likely.

It's rather obvious that those who propose "tough-love"-like strategies in dealing with any situation such as being unemployed have never been there! And their advocacy of such "Champange Charlie" Reaganomic drivel is done at their peril. For all that it takes for them to change their tune is to see their job go by the boards, exhaust their savings, and not be able to find a job in their field of expertise.

Then they, I daresay, will be prostrate before their chosen diety, thanking Them for that check from the State that allows them to keep looking for work. Hubris, indeed, breeds nemesis. When you combine the hubris of antiphathy for those who are less well-off than you with the "Pre-Quad-Ghost (Jacob Marley, plus the three ghosts of Chirstmas, btw) Visit" attitude of Ebenezer Scrooge? You will find that the nemesis being spawned will show you the same mercy that you showed the last person you snarled "GET A JOB, LOSER!" at on the streets of San Diego--or anywhere else!

--LPR

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Pranksters vandalize Padres billboard in wake of playoff loss

Where’s the bat at?

"F$#@ THE POOR!" --From History Of The World Part One, written and directed by Mel Brooks.

It seems to me that folks have a major league problem in dealing with those less well off. How else can you explain the fact that when budgets are tight, the first programs that get chopped are those dealing with our most vulnerable citizens--the unemployed, the disabled, kids, and the homeless, to name but a few.

Case in point--unemployment insurance bennies. Currently, Federal law allows for up to 99 weeks of UI benefits. Anybody who gets UI benefits knows that their checks rest on a thin edge...they have to mail in (via snail-mail) their claim forms every two weeks, be honest on their answer sheets, and provide "proof of looking" if required.

UI bennies, in reality, cannot fill the person's full finamcial needs (about 2/3rds). So, those of us who recieve them are not living high on the hog, as it were. By keeping our needs modest, we can get by--even as we scan Craigslist, Yahoo Hot Jobs, and other places to find that chimera-for-today: a job that pays properly.

And yet, I have seen two articles (one by Ruben Navarrette in the SD U-T) that somehow are of the notion that long-term UI bennies contribute to high unemployment rates, and that some form of "tough-love" for UI recipients might be in order here. Do what President Clinton did with folks on the AFDC rolls, goes the reasoning, and watch the unemployment rate go down fast!

Obviously, that load of Bravo-Sierra's odor rivals that of the Harris Ranch Feedlot on I-5 at the Coalinga exit, in that you can smell it for miles. The truth is that many of we, the unemployed, would love to get back to work--if there is truly work to be found that pays better than minimum wage and isn't a make-work "McJob."

In my case, my choices are limited. Janitorial deployment is out, due to the fact I have a severe allergy to two industrial cleaners (Spitfire and Triad). With my skin condition, food service work is, by law, forbidden to me. Same with agricultural work, grocery work...anything to do with the handling of food.

I still have my Guard Card, and constantly check out Craigslist, YHJ, and Employment Guide.com for leads. However, with my Federal Jury Service coming up next month, it makes no real sense to apply...unless the employer-in-question can wait a month while I do my service to Uncle Sam. Not very likely.

It's rather obvious that those who propose "tough-love"-like strategies in dealing with any situation such as being unemployed have never been there! And their advocacy of such "Champange Charlie" Reaganomic drivel is done at their peril. For all that it takes for them to change their tune is to see their job go by the boards, exhaust their savings, and not be able to find a job in their field of expertise.

Then they, I daresay, will be prostrate before their chosen diety, thanking Them for that check from the State that allows them to keep looking for work. Hubris, indeed, breeds nemesis. When you combine the hubris of antiphathy for those who are less well-off than you with the "Pre-Quad-Ghost (Jacob Marley, plus the three ghosts of Chirstmas, btw) Visit" attitude of Ebenezer Scrooge? You will find that the nemesis being spawned will show you the same mercy that you showed the last person you snarled "GET A JOB, LOSER!" at on the streets of San Diego--or anywhere else!

--LPR

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Still Part of Ugly Statistics

Next Article

Young People Need to See What It's Like

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader