Long Ago and Far Away the title of this post would have referred to an incredibly long line of people (As Seen on TV) standing for hours to get a loaf of bread.
In Russia.
I’ll probably remember those images for the rest of my life along with the Live via Satellite and in Technicolor transmissions of the Viet Nam Conflict. Nothing like seeing a burnt naked little girl run down a dirt road away from the napalm and bombs while you’re eating your dinner. Oh, yeah, and you’re, ya know, like, 6 years-old.
Anyhoo.
We are heading for all of that lovely stuff and now and quietly honesty as far as I’m concerned we absolutely deserve it. As a country, baby, we got it coming.
As most of you know, hubby and I have been out of work since spring. This family of 3 is living on $637/wk. You have no idea how utterly thankful I am that we have paid off our house because if we had to pay rent or mortgage right now we’d have been on the street along long time ago.
Now, at the absolutely massive amount of “income”, hubby and I do not qualify for SNAP. No, see, we tried to do the Right Thing and save a bit of money for our Old Age and since we have that King’s Ransom of a $12,000 IRA….it’s sorry sucker, from the government to us. They don’t care that we cashed in the other one early this summer just so we could pay the house taxes (and not be homeless) put some aside for January’s house taxes which are swiftly approaching and, again, thankfully, we have held on to that money so we can hand it over to the Shitty City of New London. Oh, yes, we paid the Great State of Connecticut it’s “fair share” of taxes for “early withdrawal” but I hedged my bets when it came to Uncle Sam. We’ll see how that turns out in a few months. We, quite honestly, saved the rest as long as we could but it’s gone now.
So no SNAP for us. I did find out that, because he’s 60, hubby qualified for a federal program that will bring him a box of food every month. Yes, we are signing up for that. He also qualifies to go to the New London Senior Pantry so he’s going to do that too.
I applied for Operation Fuel. We heat with oil. We were intelligent enough to replace the furnace/burner/boiler and oil tank while we had a few bucks a couple of years ago but we still need oil. I thought I had to go somewhere to do this but it turned out I could do it online. It’s a bit confusing especially when it comes to “income” and “disability”.
We get Unemployment but there was no place to say that.
Our Oldest Daughter is fighting for disability and soon hubby will join that fray because he can’t do what he’s trained for anymore because his shoulders and knees are fucked up.
I have a letter from the Oldest’s attorney stating she’s in this process.
No place to upload it on the site. Well, wait, I can try to upload it, the site takes it, but because it’s not one of, around, I dunno, 4 specific forms, you can’t complete the process. I couldn’t upload hubby’s statement from Unemployment either.
This is my fault.
See, when I first went through the application, unconcerned with our “income” (because it wasn’t really asking) we automatically qualified! Silly me, I thought; that was too easy, this is not right.
I went back and did again trying to be honest (stupid stupid me!) about our situation and now….I’m in limbo waiting to hear back.
In any event, I hope we get some oil because a New England winter without heat is no fun at all.
Oh, yes, BTW, in case you couldn’t tell, I have never applied for Operation Fuel before.
I haven’t been to a Food Pantry in decades.
Until yesterday.
Our Oldest gets SNAP in the grand amount of around $300/month. If you think that actually feeds a person for a month in this economy you are out of your fucking head. It helps but it, like a middle aged to older gentleman, it just can’t get the job done…anymore.
However, for us, that $300/month is very helpful. It allows her to get some of the special foods she likes and needs as a Type 1 diabetic but it also allows her to buy some meat for the family.
Have you seen the price of meat?
I can’t remember what a steak tastes like anymore and I loved steak.
Yes, I have found several new ways to make chicken and, when I can afford it, freakin’ hamburger! WTF? Nearly $20 for 3lbs of hamburger???
She also helps get rice, potatoes, onions and things like that. This stretches our beleaguered food dollar so I can get things like….detergent, toilet paper (oh my TPSD is in high gear right now, my friends, yes it is!), shampoo/conditioner, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and all of those lovely but very necessary things SNAP does not get you.
America needs a Ballroom more than it needs food right now so…..
The Oldest and I stood in line for about an hour yesterday outside, thankfully it was nice weather, along with a bunch of very nice people…just to get some food.
We went to the New London Area Food Pantry, which I think USED to be the VFW, not sure it still IS a VFW.
Anyway, unlike in Days of Old where you were shamed nearly to death for wanting to eat, the people at this pantry are outrageously nice! I was in shock. I have to say, I was utterly shocked by how kind, compassionate, and understanding these folks are. They are actually there to HELP and not just to make themselves feel better.
Incredible.
We stood there for about an hour as I said, which did my knees and lower back no good at all…in fact just before we left, I fell over because of it and those folks actually rushed to help me, not stand there asking me if I was drunk or something. Again, I’m just so bowled over by them, I cannot say enough good things about those truly wonderful folks.
I didn’t know the rules. The people in line were very helpful as well. Nice. Polite. Definitely not the ‘dregs’ some of you have been falsely led to believe they are. In my ignorance, I only brought 1 bag for each of us, myself and my daughter. I was raised Catholic and one thing that has always stuck is Ye Olde Do Unto Others thing along with Greed is one of 7 Deadlies. Even during COVID I tried my best to remember there ARE other people and they NEED things too so…don’t be a fucking pig.
Turns out, that once we got inside and all registered and whatnot, they gave us each a tiny shopping cart (the kind I love to grab when I’m just making a ‘short trip’ to Stop & Shop because it prevents me from over buying). We walked into this little tiny grocery store. So cute. Very very reminiscent of what stores sort of looked like when I was much younger than today. We pushed our carts through this little maze and at each ‘station’ there was some nice person there to help. Not judge. At all.
Amazing.
As I got to each ‘station’ a nice person asked me “how many in your family” and I told them and they held up what they had to offer and asked me if I wanted them.
Oh, yes, please. Thank you so much.
I don’t think I have said that quite that much in 25 minutes ever in my entire life. But I couldn’t stop saying it to these fine folks.
They filled my little cart and even gave me an extra bag to carry it all.
I really must write these people a Thank You note and I haven’t done that in decades but they deserve it.
Here’s an example of what we got for those of you with big mouths but have never stepped into a place like that and please keep in mind there isn’t a Name Brand label in any of this:
Tuna or canned chicken (more water/oil than meat in the can)
Canned veggies (this week corn or green beans)
1/2lb of rice
1/2lb dried lentils
Pasta
Pasta sauce (tiny tiny can, just enough for maybe 2)
Dried Mangos (chili flavored)
Chicken Jerky sticks (Cool Ranch flavored)
Handfuls of “fresh” fruit & vegetables (all bruised and on their way out)
Yogurt (Maple flavored)
Shelf stable milk
5lbs potatoes (threw out several when I got home because they were rotten)
3lbs onions (see note on potatoes above)
1 package frozen chicken
Dozen eggs…thank you!
2 loaves fresh bread (you know from a bakery and it’s delicious!)
1 package “biscotti” (leave it milk 5 minutes and its soft enough to chew)
Does that sound utterly yummy to you blow hards complaining you can’t afford Grey Poupon while you’re paying $12/month for a “verified” sticker on your Social Media?
I want all of you to hear this loud and clear: the bruised fruit, the never before heard of foods, the second hand, second rate stuff….NONE OF THAT is the fault of the people who run the pantry. But you can trust and believe it IS what those companies think of poor people. They donate half rotted crap for the tax write off. So don’t be thinking those folks have big hearts or something.
But that’s how poor people get treated as though they’re supposed to not only BEG for scraps but be damn happy with them. Trust me, I worked at that church for 5 years and I do not ever need a better example of hypocrisy than that. On the whole, some nice folks, but they only do this kind of stuff to make themselves feel better not to actually help.
The folks at the New London Area Food Pantry get it. What they do comes from the heart. Honestly, I was doubting people like that existed anymore.
I have an updated list of pantries in the area and we will be availing ourselves to them as often as possible during this unnecessary time of upheaval, reconstruction, revisionist history, greed, gluttony, fear mongering, just plain old utter BS.
I am eagerly awaiting the Second American Revolution.
Which is why today, Election Day, I’m not wasting my time on it. To be clear, it’s just local elections for me this time around. I’m so fucking sick of them all. If I were to go and vote I would have to vote my conscious which is NONE OF THE GODDAMN ABOVE.
That’s not a choice. It should be. It should ALWAYS be a choice on the ballot.
Other than that, I’d have to vote for people who CANNOT READ my No Solicitors sign and feel perfectly fine littering my front stoop with their political garbage. If you can’t get that much right…why the hell should I vote for you?
No, today I have to take what little money I do have and try to find some meat for the family.
Lisa Beth Darling 