Why should I support someone else?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-27-2006
Why should I support someone else?
4426
Sat, 12-30-2006 - 1:24pm

Let me start by saying that I"m new here so this may have already been discussed, but this has come up in my office several times and I wanted to get some other views of this.

I do payroll for a rather small company so I know most of the workers and their wives (most of the workers are men due to the nature of our business). There are two in particular who's wives SAH. These two are up to their eyeballs in debt. I have bill collectors constantly calling for them. That part is really their business, it is annoying but I enjoy being rude back to the bill collectors, lol.

The part that bothers me is that both wives have been in the office wanting copies of X amount of check stubs so that they can go and get public assistance (I know because they told me that is what it is for)! Why should my tax money go so that these women can SAH? I know that not all families that one parent stays at home are like this, but I know lots that are. Heck, growing up we were always broke because my mother refused to work, but we weren't on any public assistance.

So, why should I pay for a woman to SAH? Why can't she go and get a job to support her family just like anyone else?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:19am
New? When did this start? I might not wash my jeans every wearing but my kids clothes get a washing each and everytime they wear them. Kids get dirty. These are the same clothes that people donate and want MY child to wear because I can get it really cheap?
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:20am
Me too. I just got a short sleeve shirt at Gap Outlet, with my 20% discount (I get $10 off and 20% off ALL the time because I use my cc-pay it off each and everytime I shop there) for $1.59. It was new, not used and was cheap, like the thrift-shop.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:21am
But that is the point, you are wasting a dollar here, a dollar there. I would rather take my $10 for 1 item instead of 10 and have it last for many years than throw away the 10 items a couple of months later.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:22am
No, it's a case of parents being pratical. When an adult buys something for themselves, they will be able to wear it until it wears out (barring any extremes gains or losses in weight). When an adult buys something for a child, the child will wear it until they grow an inch or 2, which will happen long before the item comes anywhere close to being worn out. So when you're buying multiple items for a child over a period of time versus once for an adult over the same period of time it makes sense to not buy the most expensive thing.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:23am
The "might shrink after washing" problem has nothing to do with whether clothes are in a thrift store or not. Be logical. If something can shrink after washing, won't that be just as true if it's new? In fact, it's even MORE likely to be true if it's new because unless something has been donated without ever being washed even one time during its entire use, it has ALREADY been shrunk by machine washing as much as it's going to be.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2007
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:24am

And you weren't taking something that was donated for the benefit of the poor so that you could sell it on EBay for a profit!

Double bonus!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:24am
Well currently my 5th grader doesn't want to wear any of his shirts that actually fit like a normal shirt, he wears the ones that are extra long, so I guess that means he's second best to other things in my life?
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:26am
And what guarantee do you have that an item you buy new won't shrink and be totally unwearable?
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2007
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:28am

This attitude is downright heartbreaking.

I wonder how it plays out in other areas of the children's lives... :o(

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 10:29am
I only buy my kids clothes at the beginning of each season. My daughter, who is 8 can get away with wearing some things the next year. She has worn a Gap fleece sweatshirt for over 2 years.

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