This Facebook friend of mine shared this photograph with the prerequisite expressions of sympathy to join small army of heartfelt comments...
“Why don't they stop spending money on the military and help the homeless?” one commenter asked. “F...ing government! They have to DO something!” Blah, Blah, Blah...
You know, I can understand these sentiments. I had an argument which turned into a less heated discussion with one person on Facebook over this issue. I pretty much expected the reaction. My attitude about the whole thing isn't what most people would expect, and, at first, it certainly wasn't welcome.
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I've posted about this kind of thing before, but this so drives my point home it isn't funny. My attitude is bred of more experience than I care to remember or write about.
When you are a woman, and you have small children, there is NO END to the amount of help available to you!
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Tri Valley Haven, Shepherd's Gate, Bay Area Rescue and more are all available locally, and there are organizations across the country that will help a mother with children. They'll get them into lodgings, help her get a job, give them child care... cripes... if you ask them, they might even wipe your nose for you!
Let me tell you what it is you're looking at in this photograph.
You are looking at a mother using her small children to collect free money. I've already posted about how people flying signs here in the valley can get $200 in a day. That's about $22 an hour if they're actually sitting on the curb for eight hours. How lucrative do you think it is to sit with your kids when a man flying a sign by himself can get that much money in a day?
And before you decide to condemn me for what I'm telling you, consider this: is the woman in the photograph homeless at all? There are more than a few fake homeless people out there... why? $22 an Hour!
If nothing else, child labour law should apply here. She's not even holding her own sign, for crying out loud... she's making her kids do it!
Folks, what you're looking at is child abuse exercised with greed as the motive.
