The Welfare Trap

The Welfare Trap

Last night a friend told me that today there was going to be a free BBQ out the front of a food bank in another suburb today and that he’d be there around 10:30am.

I told him I’d be there, but I had slept in and when I had arrived there just after 12pm. He must have been and gone because he wasn’t there.

The BBQ was there, and I was told that the next batch of sausages would be ready soon and I was offered a free can of soft drink.

I had asked if they had any sugar free drinks and they apologised for not having any. I saw bottles of water in the esky and chose one of those instead, and they generously provided it.

While waiting, I walked into the food bank.

The Food Bank

The outside of the food bank had a sign that said that they strictly only accept credit cards and that absolutely no cash was kept on the premises.

Inside there were rows of shelving which held various canned foods, perishable foods, meal packs, soft drinks, and other shelves that held various everyday supplies like toothbrushes, soap, sanitary napkins, etc.

At the back there were fridges filled with relatively cheap frozen meats and low on code yoghurts.

There was a fruit section were most of the fruit was fresh, but the potatoes were out of date by a few days.

Signs posted at the end of the shelves say that taking photos is strictly forbidden.

I had selected a few items and went to the cashier who asked me my name. I told her and she checked my bame against a list.

See, in order to buy food at a food bank, you need to provide a voucher.

The vouchers to buy the food are provided by ringing up one of two local, very wealthy, professional charities and making an appointment.

When I admitted to being ignorant of their voucher system, I was told that I could get a “customer voucher” to pay for the basket of stuff I had picked; I just had to wait to be interviewed but there was a waiting list of 3 people already.

There was one guy in the office being interviewed by a woman. I know this because the woman came out of the office holding a phone to her ear. She came back and shit the door. The other two people waiting outside were two women with babies in prams. Then two morbidly obese women turned up and sat down.

I waited for 5 minutes more, got board and went out to get a sausage on bread with tomato sauce from the BBQ, ate it and then decided that it would take forever and didn’t go back inside.

Instead I caught the next bus back to the nearest train station and did some normal shopping / picking up project based supplies.

The Resolution
While shopping, a pen fell out of my pants pocket and someone chased me down to hand it back to me.
I checked my pocket and found the phone numbers of the charities I needed to make the appointment, to be able to shop at the food back.

It dawned on me that these charities are gatekeepers;
They essentially want you to beg to be allowed food and essential supplies.

I also know from asking Google, that these charities earn millions of dollars in profit every year. Not a bad grift if you can get away with it!

But at the same time, I didn’t need to be shopping there despite the bargain prices. There are discount stores that can be quite competitive, without the restrictions.

There’s a better way to live and the welfare mindset is very much a trap. I took a long time to get off of welfare, was off it for 3.5 years before the work ran out and I had to back on it again just to make rent payments.

I do have the occasional high paying shift at a few casual jobs and that sometimes means earning too much for a welfare payment, but it’s not enough to come off of it completely.

But I have a plan and I received a huge tax return.

I looked at the piece of paper one last time, screwed it up and threw it in a nearby bin, resolving to never go back.

There’s a better life available if I want it; and I just made that decision. Will you?

Thank you for reading and may you never have to deal with with the welfare / charity system.

They are a trap and you’ll be reliant on their system if you fall into it.

Shaidon

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