10/15/09

H & W Again!



Went to Health and Welfare Again today and spent 4 hours waiting to be called. I was called finally and found out the cash assistance I was seeking (all of $300 a month) would be taken out of the amount I get for child support...cash assistance is basically a loan for those who don't qualify for loans.

The guy in the cap was blind and moved around hanging on to this ladies purse strap. I watched them as they left, she had 3 little ones and a baby in her arms with this older gent hanging on to her purse strap. Well I guess she had so much going on that she didn't think about the fact that he was aligned to walk right into an Island (about 1 foot up and sunk in about a foot). I'm watching as she by passes the island and leads him right into it. Fortunately he didn't break his neck to add to his other problems!

Health and Welfare is a very sad place to go. Mostly drug recoverers, young girls pretending to be adults by having bablies, and immigrants (from other countries...Boise is one of the American states that take immigrants), the rest consists of people down on their fortune I guess.

A young kid walked in about 6'2 using a cane. He must have been all of 105 pounds and he moved like a very old man. His father told him to sit down while he waited in line for him. I finally asked him if he used a cane because he grew too fast. He looked all of 15. He smiled a sad smile and said no he hurt himself at work. His father looked like a laborer and I worried that he hurt himself working for his father without insurance and how guilty his dad must feel. I asked him if he'd seen the doc and perhaps he could have an operation. He said yeah but the doc said there was nothing they could do for him except give him pain pills. He looked 15 but he couldn't have been more that 20...can you imagine a life in front of you with no other hope except pain medication?????? Soon his father reached the front of the line and the kid had to make his painful way over to his father like an OLD MAN...


2 comments:

Gary said...

This is a very moving story Peachtree. It is has to be one of the more fascinating places to draw. It doesn't get any more real than this place. Nice pages!

Timaree said...

Lots of sad stories. If we get the healthcare bill passed maybe the kid can get looked at by another doctor.

They give you the money and then take it away? That's crazy. If you can't make it on what you are already getting how does it help if they give you some now but take it out of what was already not enough?