47%, huh?

I don't ever write about politics. And this isn't necessarily about politics either, but rather about my personal ties to this comment. I don't pretend to know about politics. I don't pretend to CARE about politics. I know what I know, and I care about what's important to me and my family.

Mitt Romney makes the comment that 47% of Americans are dependent upon the government, who see themselves as victims. He suggests that these are people he'll never be able to convince to take personal responsibility or to care for their own lives. Luckily, he's not worried about "those" people.

Unfortunately, I was one of "those" people. I remember when Aaron first left for MN. I had no job, an $850/month rental house, two kids, a car payment, among many other day to day expenses. Two weeks after Aaron left I interviewed for the company where, three years later, I am still employed. With that said, there was a time that things were hard. Very hard. I remember calling my friend Rachael, telling her that there was no way I was going to be able to pay rent. There was no way I was going to be able to pay any of my bills for that matter. And I was freaking out about how I was even going to afford groceries. It was then that she told me to call the Township for help with rent, and to call and talk to someone about getting food stamps and any other assistance that I might need. I sat on my porch and cried like a baby. I was not one of "those" people. How embarrassing. And all I remember her telling me was "you do what you have to do when it comes to taking care of your kids Gretchen." Gulp.

Making the call to the township a few days later was probably one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I made an appointment with a lady named Barbara. I'll never forget her. I met with her a few weeks later and had to explain my situation. How do you tell someone that your life fell apart in front of your eyes and you were too naive to stop it? To make a long story short, the Aboite Township paid a portion of my $850 rent for two different months. It was helpful, but humbling.
I remember making the appointment with the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA). I remember taking my kids downtown to the "welfare office" to find out about getting help. I was mortified, but I had no other choice. We got food stamps for a  few months until I was working and making a little money. I remember one time going into the grocery store on Scott Rd. and when I paid with the food stamp card, the lady said (VERY LOUDLY), "Oh, I didn't realize that was a food stamp card. You don't look like the type. You'll have to swipe it again."  I wanted to die. Seriously. The most embarrassing moment of my life.

So once I was working for a few months and could finally afford rent, groceries, and everything else on my own I was able to stop using government assistance. With pleasure.

But then there was still the issue of daycare. At that time I had applied for CANI, which would help pay for daycare expenses. Of course I qualified for it, as I was bringing home only $1600 a month at that time! A couple years, two promotions (and raises) later,  I came to the point where I no longer qualified for any kind of daycare assistance at all. I went from paying $90/week to paying $278/week for daycare.

My point is, never during that time did I feel entitled to that assistance. Never did I think of making a living from it. Never did I enjoy being on it. It was mortifying. It was humbling. It is not something I ever want to relive. But I did what I had to do during those seasons of my life, to be able to care of my kids on my own. It scares me to think that some single moms in the future may not have that option. It worries me to think that other people will struggle and never have anyone to help them.

Of course there are people who abuse the system. I get that. And like I said, I don't intend for this to turn into a political platform. But it worries me to think that we may elect a person who isn't concerned for nearly half of the country. It saddens me to think that there may be families who aren't granted these things during tough times in their life. All I can do is speak from personal experience and say that there is nothing in the world more humbling than having to ask for help. But to think that someone views me as one of "those" people because I went through a tough time makes me sick. In fact, I feel like I'm the exact example of someone who used this assistance as it is intended to be used. I needed a little help until I could get back on my feet.

I thought carefully about putting my business out here for ya'll to read, but I guess it matters enough to me to do it. It matters to me that people know that even "regular" people go through some tough times. When we have a presidential candidate openly shunning "those" people, it worries me. It makes me want to stand up and say "wait a second, it could be any one of us." We need to be very careful of everything that we're voting for in a couple months, young and old, this affects us.