I don’t think it has anything to do with pride. It’s possible that his siblings aren’t in any position to put him up without suffering undue hardship as a result themselves. Or they are unwilling to put him up without putting demands on him that he can’t meet. Who the fuck knows? Not you. But you’re perfectly willing to assert that he’s not working because he’s lazy and his alleged pain is a ruse to justify his not actually wanting to work. And you know this because…why again?
True, kinda like how a Hampton Inn isn’t the Waldorf-Astoria?
CMC fnord!
Anybody else feel like finding out if Gastonia, NC has any cheaper temporary accommodations than the Hampton Inn?
'Cause I actually do have the fucking Google redirect virus, and without my [del]rifle[/del] Google, I am nothing. 
Your right. The article mentioned he’s on food stamps, and eligibility for food stamps is limited to 3 months for able-bodied adults without dependents, unless working or enrolled in a workfare (neither of which is the case here). However, that limitation is waived for people over 50. So poor Mr. Verone probably was already receiving some benefits—but he wanted more free money.
Unemployment is not mentioned, although he was terminated from jobs recently. Since he is collecting one form of benefits, I’d be surprised if he had not also applied for UI, but I don’t know that. I do think it’s probable. Unless he was not eligible for UI due to his termination being for cause (such as absenteeism, on-the-job intoxication, destruction or theft of property, etc.)
My guess, and again, only a guess, is that if he was on food stamps, he probably had a case worker who helped him apply for them. This case worker would also have helped him apply for medicaid and disability. This is the biggest reach I’m making, but it does strain credulity that he would go to jail for healthcare before trying the very obvious alternatives of medicaid and disability.
I was quoting what it seems Lobohan believes is an acceptable reason for a person to demand public support. Read his post again: “You have $300 to your name and just got kicked out of your apartment. No family can or will take you in (or pride forbids it). It’s getting on nightfall, and there is a $90 a night hotel nearby. What do you do?”
I think the very plain intendment of what I bolded is: If you get kicked out of your home, and maybe Mom and Dad will take you in—but they cramp your style, yanno?—well then society owes you a hotel room.
Do you agree with him on that, B.E.G.?
Again, lying bitch, I was trying to head off an objection I assumed you’d make. But as I mentioned, you’re so dishonest that you’d focus on this and not answer the question.
But you don’t know this. How do you know he didn’t try to negotiate and his landlord said, “No, thanks”?
It’s already been pointed out to you that the replacement jobs he had were very physically labor intensive and could not be easily performed by a guy with chronic back pain. But you’ve concluded, based on a couple of media reports, that his pain is a lie because…why again?
The Gaston Gazette confirms some of my suspicions:
So:
He didn’t qualify for SSI/SSDI (probably because he was still physically or mentally able to work—it wasn’t failure to meet the asset/resource tests, or he wouldn’t have qualified for food stamps).
The medical complaint is entirely subjective: pain. Gosh, good thing it’s impossible to say you hurt when you don’t. Otherwise we might get some fakers!
He didn’t want to burden his family or take advantage of the safety net we do have and which would have kept him minimally fed, sheltered, and treated. Instead, he wanted something more generous. But if you want something more generous, you go out, get a fuckin’ job, and pay for it yourself, not ask society for a mile instead of an inch.
I don’t know about Gastonia, but it’s just outside of Charlotte, NC.
I just checked out the Extended Stay America in Charlotte and it’s $50.99/night if you book a month, but that’s still twice his previous rent. He could stay at the Motel 6 out at the Charlotte Douglass Airport for about $24/night if he booked a month. There are cheaper places to stay than the Hampton Inn, but I’m guessing that without any job prospects and significantly reduced income on top of medical issues that made most jobs difficult to say the least, Mr. Verone wasn’t planning all that far in advance to getting kicked out a cheap motel.
It happened to be the first link that appeared on a google search. And while it may be just a blog, if you had bothered to actually read it you’d see it refers to legitimate research.
Food stamps don’t pay the rent or medical expenses. Why do you refer to food stamps as ‘free money’? It’s not free money. It’s vouchers for food. Well, it’s a debit card, these days, but you can’t even buy toilet paper with it. It’s only for food. Are you suggesting he’s a mooch for being eligible for governmental nutrition assistance and utilizing this assistance to get something to eat?
Or he’s collecting unemployment, but based on low wages from his previous part-time job, it’s not enough to pay for rent and medical expenses. Or his unemployment ran out. It doesn’t go on indefinitely, you know. Conceivable?
The key here is that you keep guessing and your guesses are all along the lines of Mr. Verone not deserving any assistance because he’s lazy.
Again, do you realize that it can take time for SSDI to go through even if the applicant needs it and should have it. Anecdotally, my dad, who has numerous health problems and is no longer able to work, was denied with his first application. It
took over two years to get approval and by that time, the government sent him a lump sum backdated to his initial claim. What would he have done in those intervening years while waiting for the government to spool the red tape if he hadn’t had any other financial means? He eventually got the assistance he was entitled to all along, but fat lotta good it did him when he first applied for it.
Maybe that’s why someone who lacks the resources my dad had will go to the extreme means of committing a crime to procure medical care. You think just maybe?
If only some sort of expert existed that could determine if your pain was real or imaginary. Then, if he could afford it, he could go to one to determine that.
My husband spent 20 years in a thankless job in the US Navy so we have what passes for health care for the rest of our lives. And a very minimal retirement pay. Of course if I divorce him I am fucked because of all the health issues I have I will never be able to get any sort of decent health insurance on my own.
I couldn’t put my brother up for any great period of time, about the only horizontal space left in the place for sleeping is the living room couch. Of course, he lives almost 500 miles away, and the job market sucks. He would be better off in western NY state where he lives trying to bum space off friends.
You do realize that currently most people do not have huge houses with plenty of space and spare bedrooms? Most people I know live in 1 or 2 bedroom apartments, and fairly modest houses. Most of the big old rambling houses seem to have been converted to apartments.
I realize that, but it’s a shame that you latched on that particular phrase, which no, I don’t agree with. Try to read that scenario again and replace “(or pride forbids it)” with “(but your family can’t afford another mouth and doesn’t have the space)” or “(but you’re related to a guy who believes you’re lazy because you’re unemployed and would rather you reaped what he figures you’d sown)”.
Try to imagine the scenario where the guy has pretty much gone down every road and still come up short. Kind of like what Mr. Verone is saying is the case. Try to give him the benefit of the doubt just once. The situation he’s claiming certainly isn’t out of the realm of all possibility, is it?
Ask our very own Quasimodem about trying to get SSDI … I don’t know about you, but personally I do not want a respiratory tech with Alzheimers working on me … Sorry Quasi, I love you dearly but I also know what it does to memory and ability to track tasks.
To qualify for that takes months, and often a lawyer. many people who are disabled don’t ever make it through the process.
Nonsense. A ruptured disk is not at all subjective. They have all kinds of fancy gizmos…those new fangled xray machines, MRI, etc that can verify it. The testing I went through for it was long and painful but the doctor knew exactly what was wrong and where before he cut into me.
Kudos to MR. Verone.
This is basically what it comes down to.
A dog eat dog survival of the fittest type world.
You have the cockroaches and rats on Wall Street and in the government that twist and bend rules along with their slimy lawyers, or just make them up to help their pockets out, to the detriment of millions of people.
What is so wrong about someone creating his own “loopholes” to help himself out?
Ahh you say, he is not playing by the rules, but that would be the rules created against him and for the benefit of those at the top.
More of this needs to happen.
The link that was posted above already does quite a good job in displaying the illogical fallacies Kim so mightily exhibits, which I have seen in many other people.
“It has to be the case that whatever a position a person is in, is all through their own actions, and they alone are responsible”
This type of thinking would be true if we all were born isolated and apart on a deserted island from day one. As long as we are born together and around each other, we all have a responsibility to ourselves and to others because what benefits ourselves benefits others and what benefits others benefits ourselves, but the arrogant and selfish time were are living in is all about ME, MINE and myself, so I don’t blame people like this that show a basic reflection in the mirror to others what is going on in our country.
Jeez, if the guy didn’t mind going to prison, maybe he should have actually tried to rob the bank. If caught, he goes to prison anyway, but he also has the chance of getting away with it.
Step over here, and I will demonstrate the difference in a clear and unambiguous demonstration. But first…is it safe?