My ONE and ONLY (EVER) Experience with Government Assistance...

I have to say that I will NEVER put myself in a situation that I even want to contemplate applying for government assistance again....

After Ike, there was a program that was established to help out families following the storm. Families that would normally NOT qualify for any help would be eligible for some assistance in the wake of the storm. Blah blah blah. It all sounded good and heck, who doesn't need a little boost every now and then. A co-worker went and said that it was fairly easy and that she qualified on her income (same as mine) and that I really should go and apply. So, I figured why not? I should have STOPPED right there.

Oh my! The nightmare began yesterday. I left work early because I called and they told me that they were open till 5 PM. I arrived at 3:15 in what I wrongly assumed was plenty of time. The rent-a-cop on duty said that they were closed. My response was: "The lady on the phone said that they were taking applications till 5 PM." He says "yes, but there are enough people in there now to keep them till 5." Oh OK. Again, I should have taken the hint and just given up....No, I seem to be a glutten for punishment. So, I set my alarm a tad bit earlier and get up and get to the place at 7:05 AM. I figure that they open at 8 so I should be good. Yea...No I park and walk up to the line and count 30 people in front of me. 30 people!

So, we wait in line and they start to open the doors at around 7:50 AM. This is when the lack of brain cells that the people standing around me had started to show. Instructions were given clearly and over and over until I felt like we were in 3rd grade being lectured.
"If you already have a Lonestar card you should not be here."
"If you have already applied in another office, you should not be here."
"If YOU are the one filling out the paperwork, then YOU must list YOURSELF as head of household."
"Please refrain from talking on your cellphone while instructions are being given." All of these things were said over and over. Yet, somehow, there were still morons who did not/could not actually listen to it. People were walking up who already had cards. Women were listing there husbands as head of household even though he was not there, etc. I wanted to just get up and slap these people around. I often wonder why my students cannot follow simple instructions. Well, I will wonder no more...Look at their parents! I kid you not when I say that one of the workers had to go up to 2 different people and ask them to get off of their phones so that they could listen to instructions. It was like something out of a comedy show.

When all was said and done, I was out of there in just over 2 hours. I was not even told if we qualified for ANY money and was just given a number to call in 10 business days that will tell me. I wonder how many of the morons can handle that complicated command???