User profile: Matois

I'll admit, I'm one of the alleged do-gooders who would occasionally go down to Main or Foremaster and give out water or sandwiches, and maybe perhaps try to provide some spiritual encouragement.

I have to agree with some of you in that there are those that are happier being perpetually homeless akin to the hoboes of days gone by. Then there are the unfortunate who have fallen upon hard times due to job loss, catastrophic illness in the family, a gambling spouse or a host of other reasons and they just lack the wherewithal to find social programs and understand the bureaucracy. There were also those that were thrust in the homeless situation and came from a semi-normal life prior and are just shellshocked and biding their time through the bureaucracy to get some help and get back to what we consider a normal life.

The social service system is difficult for people to navigate - unless you're born to it. Case workers are stretched to their limits and many have lost the compassion and desire to truly help people, and the remainder are just government workers showing up to collect a paycheck. The charities have taken a harder edge to weed out the perpetual gladhanders and scammers and thus make it harder on those truly in need. Throw in the fact that we have bred generations of entitled and it's a quagmire of frustration and in some cases hopelessness. Lastly, so many of these folks do discover the path through the social service maze and realize the lack of followup - once they're approved for everything - provides a sort of easy street existence and they are content to live on the dole and have no impetus to be self-sufficient.

Is there a single good answer to the problem? I don't think so. It's hard to undo years and years of societal training to feel entitled, and it will take years and years to undo the mess that social services has become despite its initial good intentions.

To DS (does that stand for dip sh*t?) who questions my ability to fiscally plan: Did your 401K take a dive of over 70% in value? If you lost your job, would your COBRA premiums be more than your mortgage payments? I'm choosing to pay my mortgage rather than the COBRA premiums out of my "rainy day" fund. Perhaps you haven't looked for a job lately. Because I have a more than decent education, just "any" job isn't going to hire me because they rationalize that as soon as something more fitting with my skills and experience comes along, I'll be gone - and they're mostly right. I'm glad you were able to live in your car (and most probably avail yourself of charity based or tax based community services while you did so - or did you just stink for a year without a shower?) Get off your high horse and look at the reality of the situation. Some decent people are trying to do good in the community and some stuck up wannabe's are drawing back as if being threatened with an AIDS infected sword. You all need to get over yourselves and thank your Creator you don't NEED these services at the moment, and when you DO need them, don't you DARE use them!

To the old biddy who thinks the uninsured are lowlifes:

I'm a master's degreed professional and a victim of the economy and not employed at the moment. It's the first time in 27 years I've been unemployed. I can't afford the COBRA premiums to maintain my healthcare. Does that make me a lowlife? Would I sully your neighborhood? Or perhaps because I'm white and have a waspish name, I'd pass muster with you if I needed to use this clinic.

Be with the Angels. Thank you for bringing so many smiles to so many people.

I agree! Unless the "union" is sanctified by a religious or spiritual organization, it should not be allowed to be called a marriage. Why is it fine to meld church and state for heterosexuals but not for the gay community?

Governor Gibbons, please help me remove this speck from my eye and then I'll help you take the plank out of yours. :)