The lady in the welfare office is banging on again,
why do you move so often you need to get a life plan!
The recipient once more belittled tries to explain
it’s difficult to live more than 40% below the poverty line
in a supposed developed country.
But the highly paid worker has heard this song far too long,
got several pay rises due to the hardship of listening to the whiners.
Dole has not changed for 25 years
and how much has daily cost of life risen?
Landlords prefer those with jobs and income
Beggars can’t be choosers!
Carrot Ranch Challenge, April 11, 2019, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story using the phrase “beggars can’t be choosers.” You can play with the words, alter them or interpret them without using the phrase. Give it any slant you want — show what it means or add to its meaning. Go where the prompt leads!
Well said Kate and sadly so true and in Ireland even civil servants, employees of the state, teaching adult basic education are let go every holiday, to sign on for social welfare and are on the same hourly rate of pay as when they started work 11 years ago or in some cases even longer, yet the cost of living has soared just like middle and top management’s wages! I’m in the market for new employment!
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wow that is unfair but at least they know it’s coming and have some paid employment … many here will not have any!
Good luck with finding something more reliable Marie 🙂
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Nice take and so true in many places.
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Such a great piece Kate! Well said my dear! ❤
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I currently live in an area where the median rent is $2000. No one on relief can afford to live here so consequently our homeless population is through the third highest in the country. Is it just me or does that make no sense at all?
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lost me with this one Violet, what city are you in, I could do some research …
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San Francisco bay area.
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yes I have heard it is super expensive over there … can’t imagine how anyone can afford to live there if they didn’t buy their home years ago!
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Another day.
So he rises from his house of cardboard and rotting blankets to greet the dawn. He lights the remainder of a cigarette discarded in the gutter overnight.
Slowly, slowly the rhythm of a city envelopes him and a tune comes to life in his mind. A song is singing in his ear ….
‘I’ve spent my days
Just chasing shadows
Looking for a winner
Set in my ways
I have become
An unrepentant sinner
Surrounded by
The also-rans
My fans are full time losers
They’re junkies, drunks and prostitutes
But beggars can’t be choosers.’
Such is life.
……
OK …. it’s a bit silly. BUT – it is 99 words, no more, no less!
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well done, but I know too many homeless that have degrees, good qualification but due to isms can’t get employment … many are not in the lower end as you’re suggesting! Although they are there too … submit your 99 words for the challenge.
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I didn’t really suggest that it was the ‘lower end’. Many of the smartest people I know have drug addictions and mix with prostitutes. But for fate I would too.
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and so many have come from abusive backgrounds … difficult to recover!
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Very nice!
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We have legislated and also allowed the cracks to be real that so many fall through without any compassion, instead a selfish judgement is offered. We have succeeded in becoming a self-focussed society that that cannot see the cracks or hear the people, great lines crying out for justice.
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as the poverty gap widens they need to remember that desperate people will take desperate measures Paul …
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Nice take on the prompt. Battle between haves and have nots continue. Meanwhile a room has to be found for the poor and needy. Or increase the subsistence allowance.
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Ah! I remember our good old friend from the Alpaca farm.
I agree to to what Paul has said but being a “developed ” country at least there is some possibility of welfare which is not possible in India.
The problem is not the population but lack of vision and determination from our political parties. All are same.
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I so agree with you Rupali. No vision only political parties taking all the buck and the majority of Indians suffer to make ends meet.
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Ooh, there’s Mr. Long-Skinny Snake! 😮 🙂
So true, Kate, and you expressed it so well I must say, “Right on!”
I don’t see how most people are surviving these days. 😦 And things don’t seem to be getting any better. 😦
(((HUGS)))
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Beggars can’t be choosers, this stanza summed up your whole poem which had so much truth in it dear, Kate. Awesome words spoken.
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Sounds like they want you to conform and become a robot for society…
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anyone from another culture or religion, over 60, looks different, etc … it becomes very bigoted when there are so few jobs about Si!
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Should look like this, actually…. a bit easier to read
‘I’ve spent my days just chasing shadows Looking for a winner Set in my ways, I have become An unrepentant sinner Surrounded by the also-rans My fans are full time losers They’re junkies, drunks and prostitutes But beggars can’t be choosers.’
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You are quick. I didn’t do this prompt yet. The snake… not fair to the snake to compare him to any government.
Just hearing so many ‘horror’ stories about folks trying to get help – that’s one reason I look at those ‘Good New’s’ pages. A stranger recently donated a car to a twenty year old who, since her parents died ,was also taking care of raising her five siblings. I’d venture to guess that the government wouldn’t help in that way. More likely to give the gal grief for what she may not be doing.
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I wish I could add my voice to it Kate but the problems faced by a developed country are different from those faced by a developing country. Yet it cannot be denied that some government officials and most politicians are the same world over! ☹️
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Your story looks at the widening gap between those who have and have not. This line really says it all: “…got several pay rises due to the hardship of listening to the whiners.”
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their resentment is palpable …. they don’t see the irony!
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What a great use of the prompt. Very poignant and telling, Kate. Well done. ~nan
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Point well taken, Kate. There’s something wrong with our system here in the US. Section 8 apartments are not enough to take care of the people with income 40% below poverty level. There should be major government subsidized housing to accommodate this population. You’re right about the homeless folks.
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In australia the only way to get subsidised housing is generational birth right, MH admission for more than 6 months or volatile domestic violence … the general public never stand a chance Miriam!
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Oh no, Kate! When I went back to Hong Kong to visit, I realized that there was almost no homeless people because there are so many levels of housing subsidies. People can be very poor and still have a roof over their heads. They may be in the same kind of neighborhood but they are not on the street.
Where in Australia are you?
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I love the way you tackle the theme of poverty! The usage of dialogue really emhasizes the predicament that those below the poverty line find themselves in. Enlightening!
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I’m not over in the US, but poverty really is a major problem. I’m currently just so sad about Notre Dame 😦
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oh aren’t we all … I live in Australia so I have no idea about US.
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I do spend a bit of time in San Francisco where the homeless seem to be multiplying daily. I must say though, that generally speaking, they maintain a cheerful disposition. Especially now that the hooch has been legalised.
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This is very sad, Kate.
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and too many people’s reality Robbie …
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