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: 05-09-2006
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:27am

You might want to do a bit of research into various companies and their corporate parents before you go around claiming gap clothes never shrink.

Old Navy's parent company is GAP, Inc.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:29am

My 11 year old dd is 5'4" tall and wears a size 9.5 shoe. I guarantee there are no clothes in her closet that fit her two years ago, LOL.

Carrie

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:31am

Lol, "used and threadbare" ? Thats quite a dramatic statement there. I just picked up a brand new Old Navy coat the other day for my son-still had the tags on it and I got it for $2.

I buy lots of clothes for myself at thrift stores, in fact many of the women I know supplement their wardrobes this way. Vintage is always in and anyone with a shred of fashion sense knows that shopping secondhand can yield some amazing items. Especially things like cocktail dresses and such-often they get worn once and then discarded.

dj

Dj

"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:34am
You LOOK at the clothes. A visual inspection will give you a rough idea how much life a piece has left in it. It is very easy to tell if clothes are wearing out. Although you are here claiming that there is no way of knowing whether something is wearing out or not. Washing fades (and sometimes shrinks) clothes. Intense wear will loosen seams visibly and grind down fibers. Telling if something is worn out or not is such an easy skill that likely every poster does it routinely at home without even thinking about it. So why do you think this ability to detect worn-out suddenly disappears once you get inside a thrift store?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:34am

So now people who shop at thrift stores treat their children second best? That is just lovely.

Dj

"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2007
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:35am

<> I get to buy the brands I know won't shrink much. The same's not true in thrift stores - like others have said, it's hit or miss.

I don't have to come home with new clothes from the store and run everything thru a washing on the *hottest* setting since I happily know, even if new clothes were tried on in a store, the likelihood they are covered in mud, urine, blood, and worse is practically nill. We're talking people who may try on new clothes in a store for a passing moment for "fit" - not used clothes that have been worn for years possibly...and by several people!

So I can happily take my chances with not washing new clothes at all or washing clothes on a cold or warm setting. Used clothes from a thrift store ALWAYS need to be washed on a hot setting before warn - won't you agree? - and I have a real problem with how awful that is for the environment. Also, used clothes ALWAYS have to be washed before wear. Not necessarily true with new clothes.

<> LOL. I am the one who apparently donates the good cashmere that gets snatched up by the thrift store workers before going on sale! So, yes, I'm well aware that it can be hit or miss.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:35am
No, that's not what I'm saying. But I'm not going to re-enter that last paragraph. You can just re-read it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:38am
You never know. Age sometimes means nothing. People get money from other places than work, stocks, bonds, trust funds, someone dies and leaves them money, etc.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2007
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:38am

And the fact that Old Navy is cheaper than Gap means they've chosen in the Old Navy division to do things differently, obviously where quality is concerned!

Ever hear of Toyota and Lexus? LOL

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 11:40am

So if someone came on the board and said "Most the black people I know are convicts and drug dealers. I'm sure not *all* of them are, but the ones in MY area sure are." Thats about the same as your comments about how *the people in my area that are poor are low class. The people I know who shop at thrift stores spend all their money on booze and cigarettes. Oh but I'm sure not *all* people who are poor or shop at thrift stores are like that...*

You are making generalized judgements on an entire group based on your own very limited experience. Thats called prejudice.

And as far as not being worried about becoming the working poor, most of America is only a paycheck or two away from it.

Dj

"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~

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