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: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 1:51pm

"Only people who cannot afford new clothes at outlets, on sales, with a coupon etc. shop in thrift stores. That's the poor and lower middle class."

Even after about a dozen posters explained to you that they are middle class or upper middle class yet still shop in thrift stores, you still say this? Why? Do you think the posters are lying about their income levels? About whether or not they shop there? Geistigal in particular gave a non-financial reason for shopping in thrift stores- to protect the enviroment. Does this reason not exist simply because accepting it would destroy your argument about the "only people" who shop there?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 1:51pm
Who said anything about threadbare? There is quite a bit of high quality used clothes in thrift stores. I don't wish that all children had new clothes. They don't need them. There is frequently lots of wer left when they have grown through them- it is a sin if they are not used- a waste of the precious energy used to make them. Plus, who said they didn't shop at thrift store for themselves but only for their children. I don't recall saying that. It is much easier to find clothes for children under 4 in the thrift stroes than for adult or older children sizes- that is all I said.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 1:52pm
The point is that I know the cleanliness of my own home and family and friends. If I do not know where it came from, I really don't want it. I have known people who wear clothes over and over without washing and if you didn't know them and just met them, you would not know that the shirt was worn for at least a week without it being changed. Maybe by the smell-lol but everyone is telling me that the clothes can be washed and then there will be no germs. I don't believe it when I have seen people do it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 1:54pm

Lol, thats exactly what I'm telling you. I'd say a good portion of people go to thrift shops because its fun and they enjoy shopping there. My kids love going there. I usually run into at least 1-2 people I know when I go to them, and I live in a fairly affluent area. And I think there are plenty of people out there who ARE concerned with things like consumerism and the environment.

Quite honestly, I dont want my children to grow up thinking they are *too good* for secondhand items. My almost 16yo thinks thrift shops are the greatest thing since sliced bread, lol, and I'm SO glad she is like that. She enjoys the mall too, but is never adverse to secondhard.

dj

Dj

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

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2007
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 1:57pm

<> That's a big problem! I just don't wear clothes with stains so I certainly don't expect my kids to have to either. Different strokes.

<>

You're really reaching!

<> OMG. You either can't understand what I wrote or you're soooo reaching.

<> Stick with me now. The average Joe is familiar with DNA testing by the police. Many-a-time, DNA testing shows the DNA of more than one person because it does carry through a washing...and over a long time period without any washings. That was never to say Forensics wash crime victims' clothes!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 1:59pm
Well then that is your thing and probably is the norm in your area. I come from an area that thinks that if you are making decent money, you should not be shopping in these shops as they are for people who really need the clothes. I would rather let someone who has to decide to pay their electric bill or feed their kids to get these clothes before I do when I am able to do both. Besides not knowing what kind of homes they are coming from, I don't think it is fair to take away things from people who can't afford it otherwise.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 2:00pm
Do you have a UU Congregation in your town? If you do, I can guarantee you that there are middle class college educated people shopping at thrift stores in your area.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 2:02pm
And everyone on here who buys clothes at thrift stores has told you that they don't buy clothes with stains on them. It's not all that hard to do - you look at the item and decide whether or not you want to buy it. If you see stains, then you don't buy it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2007
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 2:03pm
And I think it's a sin that apparently many children aren't getting sufficient activity so as to wear out play clothes by the end of a season. I really do. My kids always wear them out...and I buy new!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-31-2007 - 2:05pm
It was explained at great length in many posts how the needy are not being deprived of clothes by this practice.

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