THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 25, 1996 TAG: 9608210393
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: REAL MOMENTS
SOURCE: BY VERONICA MICHELLE BUTTS, SPECIAL TO REAL LIFE
LENGTH: 83 lines
THE OTHER DAY, a 19-year-old single mother rushed into a 7-Eleven to buy her child formula before going to work. She tossed the can of Similac on the counter along with a candy bar and $10 in food stamps.
After searching through the cash register, the clerk slammed the drawer shut and pulled the formula and candy bar behind the counter. ``I can't take food stamps,'' she coldly said, ``unless I have change in food stamps.''
Then she went on to say, in front of line of noticeably embarrassed customers: ``We're never guaranteed to have change for `those.' Try the Be-Lo down the street. They always have `those.' ''
I angrily put the food stamps back in my purse. I bought the formula with money I had set aside for gas.
Everyone, it seems, has something to say about welfare. Especially 7-Eleven clerks and politicians.
Welfare reform is one of the most controversial topics in this year's presidential election. Both President Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole have their ideas about what would be a fair and sensible plan to produce increased employment and decreased government spending in the welfare system.
Then there are senators and representatives who have their opinions. And don't forget the opinions of independent parties and special interest groups.
Add up all the opinions and what do you get? You get the impression that welfare is our country's biggest burden.
The problem with this whole scenario is that for me and the other more than 15 million Americans unfortunate enough to be dependent on welfare it means increased status discrimination.
What's status discrimination?
It's having the cashier at the grocery store snatch your food stamps from your hand and frown while checking out your purchases.
It's overhearing conversations at banks and offices or even on the street about how the welfare system is ``bleeding America dry.''
It's being provided with only basic care and minimal courtesy when dealing with health-care professionals when they discover you're a ``Medicaid case.''
It's trying to buy formula at the 7-Eleven.
It's something that people on welfare are subjected to daily.
If we want to reform welfare, we could start by reforming our ideas about ``those people'' on welfare.
I went on welfare when I had my daughter four months ago. And I am not, by any means, a person without any ambition. I've been working part time and going to school full time since I was 16.
Aside from being a dedicated mother, I'm a second-year college student, working five nights a week, 30 hours a week as a news clerk at a local newspaper. I make more than $2.50 per hour over minimum wage but still qualify for both food stamps and Medicaid.
That means that the paycheck I bring home still doesn't bring me above poverty level. With the added responsibility of raising my daughter, it's nearly impossible for me to be financially independent now.
And after all my working, studying and struggling to progress and to provide for my daughter and me, there's no greater insult, no harder slap in the face than when someone treats me like I'm inferior because I'm on welfare.
People are free to have their beliefs and opinions, but when they are expressed through attitudes, gestures or words that are detrimental to others it is a crime.
To me, it's as bad as murder or robbery because, by doing so, you kill people's self-esteem and rob them of their confidence.
A poor person should be treated no differently than someone with a Gold Visa and a roll of $20s in his pocket.
How are people on welfare supposed to have confidence to stray from the safety net of an AFDC check, food stamps and Medicaid to find work if they are, subtly yet constantly, being put down and made to feel inadequate by the ``working-class?''
How are they supposed to build self-esteem, and moreover, how are they going to be able to instill pride and self-esteem into their children?
Pride is something that everyone needs - including the unemployed and the poor.
Status discrimination hurts. It is a very ugly part of reality - even uglier than the mess of long lines, detailed paperwork and frustrated social workers that welfare has become.
Welfare is not some big faceless thing. It's people. People with feelings and dreams.
People like me.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Veronica Butts by CNB