Overwhelmed

There is so much to talk about today, I'm not even sure where to begin! Lets get the serious business out of the way first...
Three days, three suicides in a three county area...my heart hurts for the loved ones left behind to pick up the pieces and to forever ask unanswered questions. I pray for comfort and peace to find them. Suicide has twice affected my family and I know how raw those wounds can be. It serves as a stark reminder to us all to love deeply, listen closely, hug harder and let the bullshit go.
Earlier this week, the internet blew up with a letter that a mom in North Dakota was going to hand out during Halloween letting some of the children trick or treating know that they were fat and they were not going to get candy. Some media outlets are now saying it was a hoax, I don't give a shit if that's the case because even as a hoax it sucks. Big time. Yes, childhood obesity is a problem in the U.S. HOWEVER having a few pieces of Halloween candy is not a contributing factor. I believe I am not alone when I say that my children will eat a few pieces of candy for a few days after Halloween (after Mom and Dad have taken all of the good shit out of the bucket) then the rest sits. Months later mom will find the remaining candy in a mouse nest under the kids' dresser. Childhood obesity, I believe, is in direct correlation to kids leading a more sedentary lifestyle, coupled with poor nutritional choices on a daily basis, not for one holiday. ANY child on ANY given day will chose pizza, chicken nuggets, ranch dressing a sugar snacks over carrot sticks and tofu. The problem continues when that is all they are offered and that doesn't have a damned thing to do with trick or treating. FURTHERMORE if you don't want to "contribute to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity" either don't participate in trick or treating or hand out stickers, don't turn into a sanctimonious, better than thou cuntbucket who wants to tell little kids that they're fat. And we wonder why there is an eating disorder epidemic with attitudes like this? I was a "thick, cornfed" kid, still am. Do you think I didn't know I was a little bigger than some of my friends? Do you think that it didn't bruise my self esteem and make me self conscious? To have a stranger, and an adult for that matter tell me, as a child, that I was fat would be devastating. I'd like to go knock this woman on her pretentious ass and then do it again when and if she got back up. Gah...this one made me seethe.
Today, it was reported that Food Stamps are taking a cut, effective today. Mass panic, mass name calling, mass political debate on who's fault it was soon followed in chatrooms and on comment sections online. First off, its false reporting, the program is not being cut. The Food Stamp program was TEMPORARILY given a boost several years ago during the recession. The TEMPORARY increase has run out. The funding is being returned to the previous levels. It amounts to a reduction of about $36 for a family of four. Now don't get me wrong, there are times were I would LOVE to have an extra $36 bucks, especially when I have about 36 CENTS to my name until next paycheck, but if you think about it, that amounts to $8 per person less, per month. I have to stay on a budget, I sometimes have to "tighten the purse strings," frankly, I'd like to say to those complaining, tough shit. Next time, don't turn down that bag of potatoes because you "don't know what to do with them." Buy the chicken legs instead of the chicken nuggets. THIS IS A SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM. It's not meant to cover the ENTIRE expense.
I'm not delusional enough to think that there aren't people out there who rely on this program and who sorely need it, I know that. But again, the help is meant to be temporary and assistance. It should not be your sole source of food. If you have children and you are on SNAP, chances are you also qualify for free and reduced school lunch and breakfast, so that's 10 less meals per week you have to provide..it is possible to eat cheap, you just have to plan and chose wisely. The program is not a hand out to be relied on year after year after year, especially when you use what cash you do have on big screen t.v.'s, video games and smokes. Use THAT money to make up for your $36 loss. It also burns my ass to no end to know that there are jobs out there that could help supplement a family's income, as well, but its "more beneficial" to not work and take the hand outs.
I won't even get started on the Affordable health Care Act and the debacle that was the launch of the website...it's the tip of the iceberg folks and I have yet to see anything that tells me differently. Again, there are "parts" of the bill that needed to be put in place, namely, the elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions, but that's pretty much it, granted I haven't read the whole thing (neither has 98% of Congress, so I'm not alone) but what's starting to come to light with this law is troubling, to say the least.
It's play-off time BABY! Can we get a big HELL YEAH, for my Wheelers? Let's keep that "garage full of Wheelers" rolling! So proud of not only how they are playing, but the sportsmanship and team pride they are displaying. Even when being told by the opposing team to "Go fuck yourself" our boys are still helping the other team up off the ground and telling them, "Nice play."
And finally, I was told earlier this week that I had the "Memory of a Missouri Mule"....I think this is a good thing...I'll take it as a compliment, right or wrong...I'd rather be a mule than an ass!