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This show just had my blood boiling.
http://www.mtv.com/shows/truelife/ep...61847#moreinfo
The recap doesn't do it justice, but it chronicled the struggles of two teenagers whose parents have fallen on hard times financially.
One is an 18 year old girl who just had a baby, and her father is a laid-off auto worker in Michigan. There was an unseen mother who wasn't discussed, but apparently the mother and father were still together. The house seemed to include the mother, father the teenager with the baby, in addition to a younger sibling.
This one didn't irk me so bad because the father appeared to at least be be trying to look for work. The only thing that bothered me about this story is that the dad was asking someone on the phone for $10.00 (after just asking for an extension from the landlord on the rent) so that he could put gas in the car and get cigarettes for his wife.
Cigs? Really? I'm an ex-smoker and trust me, I realize it's a horrible addiction, but you'd better believe that if couldn't put gas in my car or pay my rent, I wouldn't be fucking smoking.
It's the second story that got my blood pressure up. It followed the life of a 17 year old boy who lived with his mother and two younger brothers. He said his mom has always been single, and that her job history had been sporadic. Also said that he and his brothers had been taken away in the past due to homelessness, and that they were worried about getting split up again since the mother is again unemployed.
This seemed like a genuinely good kid and I felt so bad for him. The cameras followed as they went to a food pantry, and on various errands. The kid got a part time job in the office at his school and was happy to help out with bills for his mom.
At one point into the show, it showed him handing almost his entire paycheck over to his mom and quietly complaining about it to his friend. The next segment showed him bringing in carryout pizza for the family. If money is THAT tight, you have no business getting carryout food. At first I thought maybe he just did it as a surprise, but then he handed her one of the pizzas and said 'And here's the one you ordered, mom.' Gee, I wonder if she used the money he gave her for bills to pay for those pizzas, or if he used it out of HIS portion? Somehow I'm betting the latter.
Then he said he was going to get ready and go to his friends house to spend the night, and she gave him guilt and grief. He asked her what she needed him to stay around that night for and she said 'I just like when you stay with me.' Ugh. Poor kid.
The show ended with him gently confronting her about how she needed to look harder for a job, and that he was having trouble balancing school and his part time job. She of course cried and told him to cut her some slack, etc and guilt tripped him some more. It ended with her saying she was going to go back to school and he said he was going to look for a second part time job in order to help out more.
Ok guys. I am not TOTALLY naive. I realize these shows are edited to show a certain result. As a single mom, I am PAINFULLY aware of how difficult it can be. I count myself EXTREMELY lucky that I have had family and friends to lean on for support in the couple of rare times I've had to ask for help.
Maybe I'm being judgmental. I've never been hungry. The closest I've ever come to homelessness was sweating a shut-off notice from the utility company a couple of times. I have rolled change to put gas in the car, and I've existed for a few days on little more than ramen noodles, eggs and p,b and j sandwiches.
But dammit, I'd like to think that if push really came to shove, I'd do ANYTHING before I accepted money from my kid or allowed him to support me and his siblings. I'd pass out from a nicotine fit before I allowed myself to borrow money for cigarettes. I hate cooking with a passion, but getting carryout pizza when I'm starting my car with a screwdriver (second mom)?
I don't even know what my point is. I know the economy sucks..I know it's tough out there. I might be tempting karma right now for thinking this woman is a piece of shit. Who knows what I'd have done if I had truly been in a bad way. I just hope to God I'd make better choices and wouldn't have to sink having my teenager have to work 2 jobs to keep me in pizza.
http://www.mtv.com/shows/truelife/ep...61847#moreinfo
The recap doesn't do it justice, but it chronicled the struggles of two teenagers whose parents have fallen on hard times financially.
One is an 18 year old girl who just had a baby, and her father is a laid-off auto worker in Michigan. There was an unseen mother who wasn't discussed, but apparently the mother and father were still together. The house seemed to include the mother, father the teenager with the baby, in addition to a younger sibling.
This one didn't irk me so bad because the father appeared to at least be be trying to look for work. The only thing that bothered me about this story is that the dad was asking someone on the phone for $10.00 (after just asking for an extension from the landlord on the rent) so that he could put gas in the car and get cigarettes for his wife.
Cigs? Really? I'm an ex-smoker and trust me, I realize it's a horrible addiction, but you'd better believe that if couldn't put gas in my car or pay my rent, I wouldn't be fucking smoking. It's the second story that got my blood pressure up. It followed the life of a 17 year old boy who lived with his mother and two younger brothers. He said his mom has always been single, and that her job history had been sporadic. Also said that he and his brothers had been taken away in the past due to homelessness, and that they were worried about getting split up again since the mother is again unemployed.
This seemed like a genuinely good kid and I felt so bad for him. The cameras followed as they went to a food pantry, and on various errands. The kid got a part time job in the office at his school and was happy to help out with bills for his mom.
At one point into the show, it showed him handing almost his entire paycheck over to his mom and quietly complaining about it to his friend. The next segment showed him bringing in carryout pizza for the family.
If money is THAT tight, you have no business getting carryout food. At first I thought maybe he just did it as a surprise, but then he handed her one of the pizzas and said 'And here's the one you ordered, mom.' Gee, I wonder if she used the money he gave her for bills to pay for those pizzas, or if he used it out of HIS portion? Somehow I'm betting the latter. Then he said he was going to get ready and go to his friends house to spend the night, and she gave him guilt and grief. He asked her what she needed him to stay around that night for and she said 'I just like when you stay with me.' Ugh. Poor kid.
The show ended with him gently confronting her about how she needed to look harder for a job, and that he was having trouble balancing school and his part time job. She of course cried and told him to cut her some slack, etc and guilt tripped him some more. It ended with her saying she was going to go back to school and he said he was going to look for a second part time job in order to help out more.
Ok guys. I am not TOTALLY naive. I realize these shows are edited to show a certain result. As a single mom, I am PAINFULLY aware of how difficult it can be. I count myself EXTREMELY lucky that I have had family and friends to lean on for support in the couple of rare times I've had to ask for help.
Maybe I'm being judgmental. I've never been hungry. The closest I've ever come to homelessness was sweating a shut-off notice from the utility company a couple of times. I have rolled change to put gas in the car, and I've existed for a few days on little more than ramen noodles, eggs and p,b and j sandwiches.
But dammit, I'd like to think that if push really came to shove, I'd do ANYTHING before I accepted money from my kid or allowed him to support me and his siblings. I'd pass out from a nicotine fit before I allowed myself to borrow money for cigarettes. I hate cooking with a passion, but getting carryout pizza when I'm starting my car with a screwdriver (second mom)?
I don't even know what my point is. I know the economy sucks..I know it's tough out there. I might be tempting karma right now for thinking this woman is a piece of shit. Who knows what I'd have done if I had truly been in a bad way. I just hope to God I'd make better choices and wouldn't have to sink having my teenager have to work 2 jobs to keep me in pizza.
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