Today I was contacted by two separate Welfare workers. One for the one that we thought had expired, and one for my more recent application. Doesn't mean I get two workers, but it's nice to see a little action on their end. Unfortunately, they want to know about Grandpa Stan's will, and they want to hear it from Mom. I know Mom doesn't know any more than I do, but for some reason, they just really want to talk to her about it. I don't see why. I'm an adult too, right? And the will is in mine and Duncan's names, right? The Food Bank is the same way, and I'm an active volunteer there!
They didn't give me any names or extensions, so this is going to be hard. Mom's going to call, not get anyone, we'll get a response, Mom and her will talk, they'll figure out they need the lawyer's papers, we'll get Aunt Nancy to contact the lawyer, who will contact Welfare, and then we'll be eligible to apply for Welfare. I estimate it will be at least two weeks before we start receiving aid.
Health Canada got back to me, too. Most straightforward thing to happen so far. Now I have what I need to give to my doctor.
You know what's interesting about being impoverished? Generally speaking, the quality of your food rises. When wealthy people give, they give wealthy products. This is seen mainly in the aid of friends, but it also happens through the Food Bank. And if we're not getting any aid, Mom feels honour-bound to provide a proper dinner in even our hardest of times. That means we can't afford any convenience food, which means she has to buy a lot of base products, which require more time and effort to turn into meals, but the quality and proportions are actually better.
I guess our usual level of poor-but-not-dying is the worst in this society for good food.
I guess I could learn to cook, but...
And what a screwy society we live in, where you can go to a court hearing, where people can't afford food or shelter, and yet, lots of them can be seen with cell phones and iPods. I guess the same could be said for us, with our video game collection. If you think about it, a purchase like that sticks with you, but food and shelter don't. And you can't sell your big, expensive things for anything that would allow you to afford anything. So people make purchases in brighter times that they can't afford in harder, and then when things hit the skids, their only major expense is base living, but they still have their high-tech entertainment.
I've been extremely exhausted today.
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Good insight. Electronics depreciate rather quickly, as I found out at one point earlier in my life. Once you have them, you might as well enjoy them; you'll get much more value out of them if you keep them than if you sell them. And there is only so much time you can spend working or actually looking for work.
ReplyDeleteFun is important too, especially if you are in a difficult financial position. Somewhere I remember reading about a professional athlete who, as one of his charitable works, had conducted a one-day clinic (basketball maybe) for a bunch of poor kids.
Somebody asked about the practicality of the act: wouldn't it make more sense to buy them X amount of food or whatever? And he said that yes, that could make a difference too, but sometimes, when you've been a poor kid for a long time (as he had been growing up), you just need something to take your mind off your situation. These kids never got to play an environment like the one he provided, so it was a real treat for them, and it did take their minds off their situations for a while.