I’m always amused (and annoyed) by people who are to “proud” to be a “beggar” and ask for a handout, (so they call it a “loan”) but then, when things get better, are NOT “proud enough” to pay it back!

And, once again, I totally agree with @#30 deRuiter – I was a public sector (Fed. Govt.) employee and the vacation was 4 weeks a year, the pay raises were automatic (but not very large), the insurance was excellent (average co-payment was $10-12 for a specialist visit), the working conditions were very pleasant and there was a (small) pension waiting at age 55 or later. There were many reasons for many of us in “late middle age” not to walk away. It wasn’t pride. It was practicality.

I just got on food stamps. They gave me $16/month, based on me making about $100 more than my rent. I might start going to the food bank, too, but it is hard to want to. I probably will cry after. It’s depressing being this broke.

But something I read by Trent a long time ago was this: if you have to use the food bank, do it. But contribute back to it when you can, and it’ll even out your pride.

My mom and sister have since told me that they never ever donate to the food bank because the only people who use it are too busy spending their money on booze and smokes to bother.

We donate every week, 3 cans of reduced salt/reduced sugar vegetables because we can afford it and being on a special diet can be hard when you have to depend upon others contributing to a vague pool of nonperishable goods. We’ve donated for well over six years now, more than making up for the few months we’d needed assistance.

The food bank is our chosen charity, because sometimes, if you can have more and better groceries, you can rally your time and remaining resources to find that job you need, and get back on track. We got there – so can you.

I understand how that person feels. I just applied for food stamps. Never thought I’d have to do that. But I can’t find full time work and will probably be filing for bankruptcy soon as well. I’ve paid for these social services all my life through my taxes, so I just look at it as getting back some of what I’ve put in. I don’t feel funny about it, which actually surprises me. I guess once I realized that I needed to do it, it became the natural thing to do.

Man, those government workers! Slackers all!

Just something single parents should know. I happen to think that getting the help you need to take of your children in hard times is the right thing to do, and should not be penalized or judged negatively in any way.

When the supervisor took me aside one day I thought I was in trouble for using the forklift to get down more supplies (my coworkers wouldn’t go and find someone with the requisite license). Nope, she offered me a full time job with the company due to my diligence and work ethic. Sadly, I had to decline, as I was already looking forward to a new job in my field in about six weeks.

When I first moved to Colorado, I worked for a landscaper shoveling manure under newly planted trees. And then I went to work repackaging digital thingamabobs. Unskilled work being performed by a degreed professional. And I’ll do it again if I have to.

My old mechanic had a rule of never hiring someone who wasn’t already working. Didn’t matter what the job was, it mattered that you didn’t sit on your duff and wait for something to fall into your lap. That advice has paid off handsomely.

Those are truly beautiful sentiments. We are definitely thankful for our ‘luck’ these days :)

How does being made obsolete by a vastly more powerful entity or entities make you a “drain” on anything? Perhaps THEY could be viewed as a drain on you, looked at from another angle.

Stop blaming yourself for a situation that is likely larger than you (“I don’t want to feel like a drain), and start looking for a solution that is bigger than you or at least includes people outside of yourself.

If you want to contribute positively while getting assistance from a number of sources, seek out opportunies to help those same organizations with your skills or other opportunities to contribute your labor and skills to. If that’s really important to you. Not all contributions have to be paid work. In fact, I never really got the idea that people who have jobs are “contributing” to anything in particular. It always felt to me that people worked for the money and were able to keep their jobs solely based upon whether their companies were successful and people wanted to buy their products (or COULD buy their products.). I call people who are employed for pay FORTUNATE note:this includes ME. I consider myself fortunate to have a paying position with health care. I don’t think I’m special or that I’m contributing selflessly because of that. I work. I get paid. I get benefits. I am lucky that way. It doesn’t make me better than 5 or 10 guys I know who are unemployed because their industry (housing construction) collapsed 2 years ago and people like me are left holding the existing jobs, excluding them from the chance to work).

In fact, I do contribute to something with my work, but I’m not primarily a CONTRIBUTOR just because I work and take home a paycheck. And I don’t call people who ask for help “drains.” I know lots of people who contribute to my own community who are on public assistance and who get food from a food pantry. Some of them contribute by keeping their families together and doing an excellent job providing guidance to their children, or by volunteering at different organizations in my town.