Looks can be deceiving

You go to the grocery store- You pull in a parking spot beside a lady getting out of her newer model car than what you drive - You do your shopping then go get in line to check out- The lady that parked beside you is in front of you, she is dressed nice, is talking on her cell-phone - then you notice she pulls out the infamous BLUE government funding card AKA Food Stamp Card. WHAT THOUGHTS BEGIN TO FORM IN YOUR MIND? DO YOU AUTOMATICALLY JUDGE HER? DO YOU ASSUME SHE IS ABUSING THE SYSTEM?

This is really a tough situation to debate- I try not to 'judge' anyone based on what 'I SEE' and instead only form an opinion on what 'I KNOW' about their situation.

I was one of those ladies, driving a new car, wearing nice clothes, cellphone in hand, while on food-stamps. It wasnt because I used my money for nice things while allowing tax payers to pay my groceries, it was b/c I already had these things & my husband was laid off work.

It was September 2008 when I gave birth (& almost died doing it) to my youngest daughter. Two months later, my hubs was informed he was being laid off. He was given the opportunity to transfer to a different section of the plant that was promised to not be involved in the lay off, but only if he gave up his seniority (2 yrs) and knowing he had a new addition to the family to support, he took the transfer. It was exactly 28 days later he received his second lay off notice. Now, he was out of work and the economy was going downhill. He searched for work every where, taking odd & end jobs where he could find them. Scared for loosing our home and car and not being able to provide the necessities, I searched for work as well. I was able to find a minimum wage job while my hubs stayed home with our daughters. Going from the hubs having a job that pays close to $20 an hour down to a minimum wage job caused us to make a lot of sacrifices. I had to cancel our internet, our cable, medicines I was taking I could no longer afford so I stopped taking them, buying the top brand diapers was no longer possible - yet the cheap ones caused a rash, no eating out at fast food or restaurants, no excessive driving and we even stopped attending church b/c it was a thirty minute drive one way. Even after cutting every corner I could, the bills started to fall behind. I immediately went and applied for food stamps. This relieved some financial stress.

-Granted, I do know some people take advantage of the system HOWEVER, if it wasnt for that system we would have lost our HOME & VEHICLE due to not being able to afford the payments.

THE WAY I SEE IT - Just because someone 'Looks' like they have it all together, doesn't mean they really do. Isn't is better to assume everyone is acting with good intentions instead of always assuming everyone is up to no good?

Thinking people are up to no good is THINKING NEGATIVELY
Thinking people have good intentions is THINKING POSITIVELY

LET'S TRY TO BE MORE POSITIVE!