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I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
I do believe that unless the County's PR department wrote it, or approved of it, that you may never see such an article. Could you imagine a County employee describing clients in the terms that Ms. Salaam described County workers? And I'd hedge my bets that someone would sue. Yes. It is a literary device. However, even a non-employee found that her writing style came off as mean spirited. Can you truly blame anyone for coming forward to defend their co-workers or are we expected to stand by and twiddle our thumbs? Oh, by the way...I think she's entering the trolley. When you look at the photo there is a door on the other side of where she is entering. ;)— January 9, 2010 9:51 p.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
Shizzyfinn, If Mindy were to respond to your goading for examples the county could be sued for violating the privacy of the people involved.— January 9, 2010 10:09 a.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
It is a difficult place to be in--that place of seeming dependence. Being on the dole is not most people's idea of a dream come true. Being a worker whose hands are tied by varying levels of rules, laws and regulations is not every person's idea of how to help others out. But it is what it is and many of those underpaid workers truly do the best they can with what they have. Those workers hear a lot of stories so much more heartbreaking than the writer’s. They develop a thick skin to deal with it. Some will use humor, perhaps sometimes ill placed, to deal with their own feelings of what they see and hear around them. With this reading it would sound as if one particular worker was trying to put people at ease in an otherwise uncomfortable situation. This article smacks of a certain bitterness. Name calling of those individuals is indicative of a lack of respect.. What's to gain by calling the worker mannish? Who cares if she is? Smoky and Red Lips have names. Did you bother to ask them what they were? Did you even care? Perhaps they sensed your mean vibe. San Diego is one of the lowest paying in terms of county employment. But the people needing help keep on coming and the economy ensures that they do. Bureaucracies have been lampooned, cartooned and just plain harpooned in the public culture for decades. The never ending red tape is an unfortunate part of doing business with any government entity. Those bureaucracies are required to make sure that laws are followed. And in the County's case there are folks out there who like to sue. Say the wrong thing and a lawsuit can wind up costing the taxpayers still more money. And all those other people waiting in those unfortunately long lines pay the price. There are people who will try to cheat the system and get assistance they do not deserve. There are people with money in the bank who will hide it to avoid using it for their own care. These people are the ones who ruin it for the good, honest people who need help. They ruin it for the workers who would like it to be simpler for the honest people coming for help. Those workers are unfortunately assigned the job of trying to weed these individuals out and are assigned the Herculean task of knowing and following pages of processes, rules, directives and forms---all designed to protect the taxpayers money. It takes a certain talent and focused level of intelligence to wrap the mind around all that the workers must know. And I can guarantee you that all most of them ever really wanted to do was to help others in need.— January 8, 2010 9:14 p.m.