Dear President Barack Obama,
First
and foremost, it would give me great pleasure to say that it is an honor having
you as our country’s president. I
honestly never thought that I would live to see the day. Thank God for you and your family. You are truly an inspiration to our youth and
culture. I pray that you have many more
blessings in your life.
Secondly, I am
writing to you to express my concerns as an American citizen and not to
complain about things that are beyond my control and yours as well. I am not sure if my letter will reach you nor
am I certain if my letter will make a difference but I decided to write
regardless. I believe that I may need a
little guidance in understanding how the U.S. government really works. I know that we do not have the perfect
government and I know we do not have the perfect officials but I was under the
impression that I am living in a just and fair country; a place where equality
is abundant. Isn’t that is why so many people
from different nations with different skin tones and religious views points
migrate to our great land? So I find it
hard to believe that a country this great does little to help it’s American
people but you can spend $2.5 billion for NASA to send a little toy car to
rover around Mars out of “curiosity”.
However, if a young woman, such as me, applies for government assistance
and is denied because she does not meet the requirements enforced by the state
of Florida,
no one cares and nothing is done to suffice.
Finding life on other planets would be a dream for many not most. Everything has a purpose and I believe there
was a purpose for the Mars journey. We
could possibly use resources from the planet, who knows, we could possibly find
a way to survive on the planet but Mr. President Mars is 140 million miles (225
million km) away from Earth. Would you
agree that it is better to focus on home first before we go and disturb another
planet’s natural environment?
I
am asking you Mr. President, what should I do?
Should I accept the injustice?
While our government spends money on miscellaneous and far fetched
operations or endeavors, the people are being forced to starve and pinch
pennies. I realize that things may be
done according to certain protocol, procedures and/or requirements but if I did
not need assistance, I would not have wasted my time applying for them in the
first place. What does the term
assistance means? The dictionary
describes assistance as: To give support
or aid; to help. All I am asking for is
a little help. I do not need anyone to
take care of me because the survivor gene flows proudly through my veins but I
do need help. We all need a little help
and you know this is true.
I
am twenty- nine years old. I work only
part-time. I do not have any children
nor am I married. It may seem like I
have a slice of the American dream but things is never the way they seem. Until you walk a day in my shoes, you will
never know or even understand my struggles.
Two years ago, I lost my job
working as a waitress at IHOP. I found
that to be a great opportunity to finally go back to school and get a
degree. I was working as a part-time
work study while going to school and even though I had some income, the small
salary was not enough. After I graduated
with my A.S. degree in criminal justice on May 4, 2012 and was fired as a work
study. I found myself with numerous amounts of accumulated bills and now a
student loan. I had to down size by
changing telephone service and moving in with my little sister and her three
children because I was evicted from my apartment. I am not turning this into a pity
letter. I need no pity. Things happen and I am coping and managing as
best as I can. God is making a way. I do find it hard to eat a decent meal these
days. I find myself at the gas pump
making life altering decisions. Food or gas; which is more important? In today’s economy, five dollars for gas will
send me further into debt. I would
gladly sell my four cylinders 1998 Mitsubishi Mirage but I do have to get back
and forth to work and unfortunately, there are no bus routes to my job in this
city. There are cut backs every
where. I can’t even use my criminal
justice degree, even though it cost me $28,000.
I find myself eating off a fast food restaurants’ dollar menus despite
the fact that most everything you find on these dollar menus is high in fat and
calories. That makes it difficult to
maintain a healthy lifestyle. Let’s not
forget that I am a woman, so I am struggling to maintain hygiene. Just like everything else in the ghetto, the
prices for feminine hygiene products are raising every couple of months. That forces me to buy necessities like maxi
pads at the ninety nine cent stores.
Maxi pads from the ninety nine cent stores will not absorb a small
puddle of water off a kitchen counter, let alone absorb a woman’s nature
juices. It is almost as if the prices
are rising to keep everyone in debt and starving. When that happens, crime also increases. Crime is increasing but the criminal justice
field is taking cut backs left and right.
We are entering an era of genocide.
My
concern Mr. President, what do a single woman with struggles that are as
justifiable as everyone else do for food?
How do I receive medical attention if I am not old enough or poor enough
to qualify for Medicare? At this point in my life, I feel that living
right and doing the right things was not the right method. I personally know people that are living off
our government because they are too lazy to want better and quite frankly, living
off our government is fairly easy. The unrighteous
that are living on welfare and food stamps has more money than an independent
individual, they have more food and receive medical attention at little to no
cost to them; while the righteous cannot qualify for anything, including decent
financial aid to further their education, even though tuition is up in Florida
by fifteen percent. Mr. President, if
you tell me right now three items off the dollar menu or a bowl of ramen noodle
soup is a decent meal then I will honor and respect that. I know you are doing your best and I will
vote for you again and a third time if possible because I believe in you. I would just like to know if my vote really
counts for anything. I would like to see
you persuade congress to pass some laws that will show that the government
truly cares for the American people. We
are not living in the perfect country so things will not happen overnight but
we need change. WE NEED CHANGE. I believe you can help rebuild this country and
become a great role model for all but it is not fair to leave out a certain
group of people in plans for re-growth, just because it seems like they can
make it in this tough economy.
Thank you for time. Good luck on your upcoming election on
November 2, 2012.
Warmest Regards,
Starving in Florida
