Thanks! I became a court stenographer.
You know, most of the people I went to school with were on welfare and we all got off and got jobs. There definitely are people who use it as a job... but I don't necessarily even get pissed off at them. It's wrong, but I believe they truly don't know any other way than to just get over. I grew up with people like that. It's not really that they think, "Yeah, i could get a job but I'd rather get welfare." They just don't really know any other way.
Even when I was growing up that's kind of the way pregnancy was. I had two best friends. One of them had her first kid at 14, her second at 17, and her third at 21. My other best friend had her first kid at 18. I had mine at 19. Once (when I was in my 30s) someone asked me, "Were you freaked out when you found out you were pregnant?" And the truth was, no. I just accepted it as something that would happen.
Again, I know I'm very motivated and so once I realized that I was in the isht I worked really hard to get out. But I think some people really just accept it as a way of life... not necessarily do it to cheat.
I'm not sure how to help those people. Probably in ways that people already shriek that we don't have the resources for-- making sure their kids go to school, taking them to shows and cultural events to see that there is another way to live. It's difficult.
(As a further example, my best friend was the director of a program with the public schools where they'd call up the parents to find out why their kid wasn't in school. There would be excuses like:
THEM: We kept him home because our electricity got shut off
BEST FRIEND: All the more reason for him to be in school. We're coming over to get him right now.
or:
THEM: I kept her home because I was in the emergency room last night with an asthma attack.
BEST FRIEND: Okay. That's you. She still needs to be in school. We're coming over to get her right now.
That program had a proven success rate after three years, but it got cut due to lack of funding)
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