GM trucks outsell Ford first quarter !

ShinerBock wrote:

GWolfe wrote:

Wow, judge much?

Even with a roommate and social help it's going to be tough to save. Try showing a little compassion in these hard times. Since you are obviously doing OK why don't you donate your stimulus check to those in need?

I have seen both sides of this. Back when I helped build houses for Habitat for Humanity on the weekends, you would have those that truly needed these homes and I was more than happy to help them. You get to know most of the owners of the houses because they are helping you build their house. However, there were many that did not need these help and purposely abused the system. Sadly, there were more that abused it than not.

Most of the houses we were doing at the time were in a small subdivision allocated for section 8 housing so we were building one house then building another next to it once it was done. I don't know many times I would see cars and trucks that were newer and nicer than mine parked in the driveway of the houses that we finished on weekends. You would also see cable and dish crews going in there constantly hooking up cable along with Swan trucks. Then you would see the people that you helped get out of their vehicles with new tattoos that I know cost hundreds of dollars(I have a few myself). They would not even look at you or acknowledge you as they walked into their homes yet they were more than willing to act like they were in need when we were building their homes.

Another way they would game the system is that they would not marry their children's father and would say that he is gone to claim the benefits of being a single mother, but he was actually not gone. He was living there with them and would leave anytime a social worker would come. The father would be forced to pay child support, but it did not matter since he was living with the mother so it just went back to him. This was so common that some of us on the H for H crew had bets on whether or not the "single mother" we were building the house for was in fact a single mother. Like clock work, a week or two after completing the house we would be talking to the "single mother" of the previous house we did and lo and behold the father would come back and live with them because he has changed yet they never end up marrying because that would reduce their benefits.

It was disheartening because I knew what it was like growing up poor and we could not afford any of those luxuries because it all went to our needs. Sadly, there were more people who played Habitat for Humanity a fool than those who really needed it which is why I consider those that do play the system thieves from stealing from those in need.