Damn This Blog is Boring!

Well tough titty!

Yeah, I've always been a slacker on the blogosphere, but honestly I've been working my butt off for the last couple of weeks and The South 40 has been pushed to the far back burner. This too shall pass, just like that 12 hour old chimichanga from the Allsup's deli case.

Workforce hours have been slashed and the load passed on to the hands left behind. Fortunately (unfortunately?) I'm one of the few that still has a job and is on fulltime status. My commute and workload has doubled but my pay remains the same.

I usually try to look at the bright side of things here, but quite honestly I'm worn down to a frazzle. Add to that the fact gas prices are 10 cents a gallon higher between The WC and Jackistan and you get where I'm coming from. And for those that want to slam Chico, let me tell you our little burg is Highland Park compared to Jacksboro.

Sorry if I'm being a Debby Downer. But when my electric bill is $75 higher than my paycheck and I have to buy twice as much gas out of that same check, you'll get a bad attitude too.

I have to admit I'm lucky to have a job and the benefits that go along with it in this economy. But when I watch people on Food Stamps stroll in and buy candy, Cokes and assorted junk food on their LoneStar card then turn around and spend their cash on cigarettes, beer, wine and flavored blunts for their ganja then load it into their new car it pisses me off.

It drives me crazy! You and I are paying for that!

I full heartedly believe in lending a helping hand to those in need. But Food Stamps should be like WIC, only paying for basic raw necessities at the lowest price available and rejecting items not on a pre-approved list. Not paying for luxury frozen foods, high end products, Cokes and candy.

KoolAid, sugar and flour, yes. Pepsi, Red Bull and Reese's, no. How in the cornbread hell is Red Bull and other energy drinks allowed on Food Stamps in the first place? Lean Cuisine, Hungry Man dinners, Blue Bell, ect have no business being paid for with assistance money. And in case you didn't know, it's against the law for the clerk to say anything to these customers about their extravagant purchases.

Before you go throwing the race card, let me tell you that the vast majority of these abuses I see are perpetrated by good ol' white folk, not minorities. I have to admit most Hispanics buy raw materials to make dinner. Most good ol' boy whites buy Mountain Dew, TV dinners, Red Bull and Doritos.

They even offer to buy their friends stuff. "Here, let ME pay for that" makes me want to reach across the counter and slap some sense into them.

Once when I was working in Corsicana, I watched a white woman buy $400 worth of ground beef and pay for it with a Lone Star card. I followed her out to her car that turned out to be a Roach Coach! She was selling hamburgers and tacos with the meat she paid for with Food Stamps!

Sorry for climbing on my soapbox. I'm going to take a hammer and smash my foot a few times to make me feel better.

Thank God I've already paid for my NASCAR tickets and camping space in April. The prospect of a break is all that keeps me from losing my sanity. Now if I can just afford the gas to get there...