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Old 05-29-2008, 09:12 PM   #1
Dustytuu
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Update!Could they be victims of the economy?

We are still away from home. Stayed in an RV park in Southern Missouri, I grew up there and sometimes call it "Deliverance" country. After the movie.

Stayed in this campground 5 days. The second day we were there, a little tiny older 1 axle trailer was pulled in by a smoking car and followed by another car. Then they left and got another car and brought it there. 2 adults and 4 kids living in that tiny trailer. Couldn't be more than 16 feet. They paid for a month and came from a neighboring town. The kids were clean, polite and well behaved. Kids seem to be well fed. Don't believe they are on vacation. I believe they may have lost their home. Sad situation.

Every day I am very thankful for our blessings. When I see this I wish I could win the lottery to help them.

We found when we were leaving, the campground managers called child protective agency. So they must know more about it than I do. Don't know what happened.

Called the park when we got home and they said, this week, the people rented a large mobile home in a neighboring town. I am happy those people don't have to live in that tiny trailer.
 
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Old 05-30-2008, 03:19 AM   #2
DarMar
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Thanks for the posts Dusty, I try to remind most people in conversation that we are the lucky ones, at least we have the resources to pay for our extravagant rv lifestyle. There are many people each week that have to choose between putting fuel in their vehicles in order to go to work for a pay check or buying the proper amount of groceries to feed their families. I am afraid the future will be filled with many of these horror stories, many of our people in both Canada and the United States are barely existing.
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Old 05-30-2008, 03:39 AM   #3
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These are desperate times for some people who are at a dead end if they lose their job and home and feel the need to go on the road to live. Hopefully they were in transit to relatives homes or to start a new life elsewhere.
I know personally families that have lost businesses and homes due to the economic downturn and are starting over at an age that is not supposed to happen. They are not in their "Golden Years".
I hope the government does some good legislation to assist these people who are and have been, tax paying workers, who are losing their livelyhood due to job outsourcing out of the country and corporate greed in the stock market.
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Old 05-30-2008, 05:35 AM   #4
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In my opinion this only beginning and yes it is sad. I wish I had a answer but don't. I do agree with rvfirefighter. Some of it also called living above your means and has caught up with them. We need to help our people out before we go outside to help others out. We have had problems here in the US with storms and the people here help our people but I have not heard of any foreign aid come here.I think you know what I mean.
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Old 05-30-2008, 06:09 AM   #5
Dustytuu
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Do not know what happened to this family. That tiny old trailer was filthy, and know it would be hard to keep something that small clean with that many people. They had the trailer plugged into a power strip, the kind used for inside. It was raining. Park manager was going to have them fix it or at least cover it.
That area is a poor area unless people own their own business and some of them are suffering. All the little factories there have gone over seas. Lots of people around there on welfare.

We have moved on and are in a better area. Nice campground here with all the extras. Going to be here 4 days, then going back to Branson, then home.
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Old 05-30-2008, 08:43 AM   #6
toolmanroy
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If the children were clean and well fed, why get Children's Services involved? It would have been more of a help to bring their plight to the attention of a church or other agency to offer them help. Some of these agencies are too quick to take children away from loving parents. Ask the children and most of them would rather be with their parents. My 2 cents.
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Old 05-30-2008, 11:28 AM   #7
richfaa
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IMO..the effects of this economic turn down caused by the energy situation have not yet been fully experienced. Folks savings will run down, unemployment compensation will run out. I spent far to many years dealing with human behavior and the effects on the average person when their basic needs are threatened or they can no longer provide them. We need a turn around now or..most of you may have no idea of the consequences.
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Old 05-30-2008, 12:44 PM   #8
dsprik
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This truly is historic times. No one has ever experienced this particular set of conditions before. This is why the "experts" and analysts are constantly being "surprised" by events that are happening. I agree with Rich. We need a turnaround now or the experts will be "suprised" again by the massive social upheaval that is just over the horizon.

The war, the presidential race, abortion, all the popular debatable subjects are no longer being discussed on the street corners and in the local restaurants. Only one subject - the economy (fuel prices and food prices) period. All the news websites are now weighting most of their headlines toward growing economic problems of the average American. That should be an indication of what's about to happen. Have you ever seen so many For Sale signs in front of houses?

In the article I posted on another thread - Trouble in Europe - gives an indication of the mounting anger in consumers - and businesses, too. Specifically: "Polls show that 70% of gas-rattled British voters are now unwilling to pay higher taxes to combat climate change." This is in a notoriously "green" country. Things are changing.

Look at the amount of topics (and postings) on this forum relating to fuel prices and the economy. How many of these did we have a year ago???
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Old 05-30-2008, 02:24 PM   #9
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Many of the so called "victims" are in their particular situation because of their own decisions, and not but because of anything else. I volunteer one day a week (when not on the road) at a store that sells appliances and similar items to the working poor. Many of our "customers" are in their situation because they chose not to further their education, to marry young, to marry the wrong person, to have too many kids too young, to use drugs, to use alchol to excess, etc. Most come in fussing about no money and the price of gas...with a pack of cigarettes in a shirt pocket, a cell phone on their belt and an older pickup with a big V8 in the parking lot.

These people are suffering from self inflicted wounds.
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Old 05-30-2008, 03:30 PM   #10
sailer
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Bill ,, thats called self pride over common sense, the V 8 is all its about, my truck is better than yours , but i can't buy food ,,, sailer
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Old 05-30-2008, 04:31 PM   #11
tom41
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No doubt times are going to get worst because of the oil prices, at least for awhile IMO. I was born in 1941 so I missed the "Great Depression". But my parents didnt. My dad would talk to me about the hard times then. No jobs, and the ones that did have an auto, gas was ration or no one had the money for it. People standing in lines for a job even for a one day job. People going thru garbage cans for food. We were poor just like most others. But Dad did have a farm to grow food, and meat, a cow for milk. He and mom raised 2 daughters (my sisters) during this. Those were very hard times. Banks went belly up. Dad raised tobacco, and at the end of the year it didnt pay the fertilizer bill. What I'm getting at is "There has been hard times in this country before" and people survived. My dad taught me alot about saving and investing. I was taught in "good times" that was the time to put away for the bad times. But it seems to me a lot of people does the reverse. They spend more then they make in the good times...well the bad times are here...dont have to say no more, you read about it every day and see it in the news. I am probably off topic again and I know a lot of people get P---ed about hearing the truth. This probably not the end of the world with this oil deal. But the tough times are here...I have tried my best to be ready...If I'm not, I sure wont be here bitching about it, I'll be out trying to survive!! So Bill I agree with you. thanks
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Old 05-30-2008, 06:30 PM   #12
Wayne and Carolyn Mathews
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I surely hope those children were not victims of the economy, but on the other hand, they may be victims because the parents lost jobs or something similar.

On the other hand, I agree with billhover about decisions: If the adults have gotten into the situation because of poor choices, I have little sympathy for them. For the innocent victims--children--I do feel badly. The unfortunate thing is that no matter how a family ends up in poverty, it's always the children who suffer.

I run the free/reduced federally-subsidized lunch program where I teach school. Every day I feed students who come in to get their free lunches--come in with iPods, cell phones, the latest video game players, etc. This is a tiny town, so I also see many of the parents of those kids going into the local casinos regularly instead of going to work somewhere. Adding insult to injury, it's possible to see some of those parents leave the casino at the local gas/food mart and walk 50 feet to our local food pantry to pick up groceries. We've had a difficult time keeping that pantry stocked all winter. Surely the money going into the machines could buy some or all of the food we're giving those people.

It's not my job to judge those families. But I have eyes, and I do see that we're feeding kids who have more electronic toys than my grandchildren with two working parents have. Instead of working, some parents are playing the machines and leaving the schools and government to pick up the slack. Hungry children can't learn, but it seems to me that the more we hand out at school, the less responsibility some of those families assume for the care of their own family members.

Carolyn
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Old 05-31-2008, 03:16 AM   #13
Mrs. CountryGuy
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There are a ton of people who make bad choices in life, we all do, we are human, we fail. That said, there are plenty of other reasons for what appears to be poor choices, like Mental Illniess. Too many to list.

For those that make what we consider to be stupid choices, using the system to feed their kids while they gamble, well, that is rather revolting.

But, what about the mentally ill, what about those that were doing everything right, or thought they were, and then wammmo, something bad happened to them. Or they got caught in things like the Great Depression. In the current situation, many of us, and I mean MANY of us, are losing their houses and suffered huge economic losses due to the stock market.

I said it before somewhere here at the MOC, there but for the grace of God, go I.

To think, that we control every single good or bad thing that happens to us is rather arrogant. We do not. Bad things happen to ole Carol and her CountryGuy. Last year we spend a lot of $$ we really did not have to rehab our 18 year old house, why?? because of bad choices by the builder, who by the way, has skipped town. We had water damage in 2 of the rooms, and to check to see if there was other damage we did not know of we had to strip the roof off. Now, if you think that all this uproar was our choice, well, think again. It was a horrible stress, and if we had not had Tana I think we would have cracked. To some it may seem small, it was not a Katrina, not a tornado, that is for sure, but it was traumatic and costly to us.

If you are interested, visit my page: Tana to the Rescue

http://picasaweb.google.com/lashbroo...MonaganRepairs

All I am saying here in my normal over doing it manner is that some make bad choices, others make choices forced on them, choices not of their own making.

Not everyone who is in trouble is stupid, or make bad choices. There but for the grace of God go I.

Historically, don't nations and people make the same errors, war after war, first we had the Great War, then 30 some years later, we go at it again, another World War, this one now named WWII. Good times cause us to forget the bad. And, then, there is the entire subject of greed, corporate and human. That could take a book or two to write about.

As always there is more than one side to a story. Life is not fair, it just is. I feel for these kids, they are in what seems like a world of hurt.

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Old 05-31-2008, 06:16 AM   #14
Wayne and Carolyn Mathews
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Amen, Carol! We fall into the category of people "who have choices forced on them," probably along with some other fixed-income folks. One of those forced choices is being made as I write: We'd planned to make our trip to Texas (to take care of Wayne's mom) a vacation in part, pulling our Monty and visiting some places we've never been along the way. However, with diesel hitting $5.00/gallon up here, and after locating fairly decent airfares last night on Travelocity, we see that we can fly down, rent a car, and fly back for a lot less than what it will take to pull the Monty. For us, the decision about driving vs. flying was made by the economy. I don't like it, but it's a fact of life.

Later in the summer, instead of traveling east, we'll visit places closer to home and stay longer rather than traveling farther and staying just a couple of days. (Does that qualify as a positive attitude adjustment? )

I think a lot of people in Montana do have choices forced on them. This state ranks 49th in poverty, or at least I think it does at the moment--a step up from 50th, where it ranked for years. College graduates here are grateful for $7.00/hour part-time jobs. My daughter is a perfect example. She has a degree in advertising and communications from the University of Texas. The only jobs she could find in Dillon were part-time, paying $7.00 - $7.25 an hour. and she was grateful to take one of them for several years. Fortunately, she is a professionally-trained dancer, so two years ago she was able to open her own dance studio and is now enjoying teaching dance, her true passion.

Funny--we bought our Monty to live in while our house is going up, to travel in when we could, and to live in full-time some day if we eventually found that we could happily free ourselves of our worldly possessions. But now, we look at the Monty as a permanent future home, freedom of sorts, and a way--we hope--to keep the dream of full-timing and traveling alive! And the house we're building? Because of location, location, location, we hope it will be an investment of sorts for the future.
Carolyn
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Old 05-31-2008, 08:07 AM   #15
TLightning
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quote:Originally posted by Wayne and Carolyn Mathews

I run the free/reduced federally-subsidized lunch program where I teach school. Every day I feed students who come in to get their free lunches--come in with iPods, cell phones, the latest video game players, etc. This is a tiny town, so I also see many of the parents of those kids going into the local casinos regularly instead of going to work somewhere. Adding insult to injury, it's possible to see some of those parents leave the casino at the local gas/food mart and walk 50 feet to our local food pantry to pick up groceries. Instead of working, some parents are playing the machines and leaving the schools and government to pick up the slack.

Carolyn
This is one of my pet peeves also. It's the mind set that they don't have to work or look out for their family...the US tax payer will do it for them.

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Old 05-31-2008, 08:56 AM   #16
Dustytuu
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Don't know what happened to those kids. I truly believe they are homeless. No one should have to like that. Not 6 people! Park managers said the trailer was filthy. Would be hard to keep clean with that many people in that small of a place. Their vehicles were older, but why did they need 3 cars?
Park managers must know more about the situation than I do because they are the people that called child protective agency. Must be more to the story. (update on that, they did not call, but are thinking about it.) I think they should do something different but it is none of my business. It is their call.

One thing I noticed strange. That little tiny very old trailer had 2 big padlocks on the door when those people would leave. This trailer was so bad, I have seen better looking trailers at a salvage yard. Wonder what he had inside he was so afraid someone would take?

So much poverty in that area. No jobs and people without proper education and too many children. The people around there usually get married out of high school, if they finish, and go work at a factory. No factories now.
My family had their own businesses and what family I have there are doing well. Took a lot of hard work to get where they live comfortably.
We are in Mt.Grove Missouri now. Nice park. Feel like we are back to civilization! No cable but do have more than 2 TV stations which make Don happy.
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Old 05-31-2008, 09:47 AM   #17
dsprik
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quote:Originally posted by Dustytuu

One thing I noticed strange. That little tiny very old trailer had 2 big padlocks on the door when those people would leave. This trailer was so bad, I have seen better looking trailers at a salvage yard. Wonder what he had inside he was so afraid someone would take?
Maybe everything they own? But does seem like overkill - unless there is a lot of crime in the area.

People are a product of their environment. They don't know what they don't know.

It's easy for us on the outside looking down on them and their life and situation and say that they should be making better choices in life. Their only input is parents and peers. They just don't even know they have choices.

Like I say... it's easy for us to judge. I know I've done it...
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Old 05-31-2008, 10:03 AM   #18
dsprik
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Tom, just saw your post. I have worked in those environments. I have been surprised by the mentality that pervades many rural, low income areas. My dad taught an alternative ed program in a rural area. He relayed to me once that some of the teenage girls in his class actually were trying to get pregnant so they could get more welfare money from the govt.

I experienced a situation in an alt ed group myself one time as a state election drew near. A few of these kids were coming to school almost in a panic telling everyone they needed to make sure they and their parents voted for a particular party because it was rumored that the other one was going to do away with welfare in the state. These kids are getting this from their parents. They really think that THEY are the norm. They don't even think of where that money is coming from.
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Old 05-31-2008, 11:46 AM   #19
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quote:Originally posted by dsprik


I experienced a situation in an alt ed group myself one time as a state election drew near. A few of these kids were coming to school almost in a panic telling everyone they needed to make sure they and their parents voted for a particular party because it was rumored that the other one was going to do away with welfare in the state. These kids are getting this from their parents. They really think that THEY are the norm. They don't even think of where that money is coming from.
Yep. As for the voting, I'm afraid that soon, there will be more people taking the gov's hand outs than working. Therefore, since there will be more of them than us...they will just keep voting for the party in power that keeps the hand outs coming.
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Old 05-31-2008, 12:06 PM   #20
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I agree, Bill. Now THAT's scary...
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