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Sunday, June 04, 2017

One family. Four generations of disability benefits. Will it continue?

PEMISCOT COUNTY, Mo. — The food was nearly gone and the bills were going unpaid, but they still had their pills, and that was what they thought of as the sky brightened and they awoke, one by one. First came Kathy Strait, 55, who withdrew six pills from a miniature backpack and swallowed them. Then emerged her daughter, Franny Tidwell, 32, who rummaged through 29 bottles of medication atop the refrigerator and brought down her own: oxcarbazepine for bipolar disorder, fluoxetine for depression, an opiate for pain. She next reached for two green bottles of Tenex, a medication for hyperactivity, filled two glasses with water and said, “Come here, boys.”

The boys were identical twins William and Dale, 10. They were the fourth generation in this family to receive federal disability checks, and the first to be declared no longer disabled and have them taken away. In days that had grown increasingly tense, as debts mounted and desperation grew to prove that the twins should be on disability, this was always the worst time, before the medication kicked in, when the mobile home was filled with the sounds of children fighting, dogs barking, adults yelling, television volume turned up.

And so went another morning, loud and chaotic, right up until the moment someone dropped the puppy.

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25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dunno, being poor doesn't mean you have to live like a pig. And you have no money for food but have how many pets?

Anonymous said...

Leeches. Work for welfare NOW

Anonymous said...

Very similar to bornheres.

Anonymous said...

They can't seem to take care of themselves properly - no business keeping a pet!

The reforms should keep this from happening - they can get the 'correct' diagnosis - if they go to the 'right' doctor. They should be re-evaluated - and dropped as appropriate - then charged with fraud!

Anonymous said...

3:12 PM ha ha ha, sad but true.

Anonymous said...

3:12 judge much?

Anonymous said...

Wait. People on welfare have pets at all? Why? It takes a lot of money to care for pets the appropriate way. Owners have a responsibility to make sure their pets have everything they need. This is disgusting. Why isn't the SPCA or Humane society going in and rescuing those animals?

Anonymous said...

3:21 no more so than the commenters stating that all democrats are mentally ill or dumb.

Anonymous said...

In my neighborhood it went from welfare to disability (the checks are more) now they walk down the street walking 2-4 pitbulls and talking their disability checks and how great life is multiple baby mamas and each with children, plenty $ for drugs too. This is another major swamp Trump needs to clean up, don't we all that worked all our lives just want to puke over how our $ is spent. I would love the job of investigating disability in my neighborhood how about you?

Anonymous said...

If you can have kids you can work a job, As long as you reward personal failure you will have more of it. This is not the way a human-being was meant to live.

Anonymous said...

ONE CHILD ON WELFARE!
After that----no More
Assistance from the Gov.!

Anonymous said...

The people having pets didn't bother me at all but I noticed that they paid $300.00 per month for cell phones. Turn those off. Or only have one. Why would one family need with small kids have a 300.00 cell phone bill? I don't know because I refuse to get sucked into that little technological scam but it seemed like a lot to pay for phones when you can't pay your bills.

Anonymous said...

Hey anon 3:12 where did you come from. I happen to be a "born here" and I have worked all of my life since I was thirteen. I am now sixty-five and have never been on welfare of any kind. I always worked for everything I got and put that same work ethic in my kids. All of my kids are grown now and have kids of their own. They all work and are very responsible adults. And by today's standards they are very successful. So take your snotty attitude back to where ever you came from and stop putting people all in your generalizations. You probably can't even spell that word.

AComeHere said...

I'm surprised no one mentioned the $98 for cable $35 for internet and $315 for furniture bought on credit (a total rip off). Also why would they need life insurance? If they spent what they got responsibly, they would have enough.

Anonymous said...

White trash hillbillies

Anonymous said...

poor excuse for being a bad parent

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
In my neighborhood it went from welfare to disability (the checks are more) now they walk down the street walking 2-4 pitbulls and talking their disability checks and how great life is multiple baby mamas and each with children, plenty $ for drugs too. This is another major swamp Trump needs to clean up, don't we all that worked all our lives just want to puke over how our $ is spent. I would love the job of investigating disability in my neighborhood how about you?

June 3, 2017 at 3:51 PM

What neighborhood of Salisbury do you live in. You don't have to leave your name, I just want Jake Day to read this so we can see him get TRIGGERED!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Hey anon 3:12 where did you come from. I happen to be a "born here" and I have worked all of my life since I was thirteen. I am now sixty-five and have never been on welfare of any kind. I always worked for everything I got and put that same work ethic in my kids. All of my kids are grown now and have kids of their own. They all work and are very responsible adults. And by today's standards they are very successful. So take your snotty attitude back to where ever you came from and stop putting people all in your generalizations. You probably can't even spell that word.

June 3, 2017 at 6:10 PM

Thank you for putting it in a way that the censors would publish it, unlike mine. Those people just make me sick. SOB's always put us down but every freaking weekend they show up, get drunk, do their drugs, race the cars up and down the highway while tailgating and running people off the road and think they are 'special'. Well they are special, just not in the way they think.

Anonymous said...

There is a welfare card for pets.

Anonymous said...

6:10 Just read the WCSD blotter and SPD blotter. Nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Four generations of disability or four generations of knowing how to milk the system and live for free? Sounds like its the milking system skill set being taught in this family. Don't buy they are all disabled and they should be indicted for disability fraud. Then, you could rename the article Four Generations of Criminals.

Anonymous said...

Hey 7:17 the disability neighborhood is the Presidents Neighborhood, boundaries Pepsi Plant, Eastern Shore Drive Prince Street School, and Bennett High School. It is where you find discarded furniture and trash on porches, front yards, side yards, backyards. Up to 15 people or more in houses, as many as 7-10 vehicles per house, Multiple cable dishes on roofs or yards, in general where inspectors don't see or write, except home owners, rentals are as above. They don't write up slum lords, drug houses, or people on the city or county councils, or the ELITE WELL KNOWN OF THE BURY.

Michelisima said...

Agree. I'm shocked. But the way in which they misspend their money is a clear indication of a kind of 'disability' that goes way beyond any kind of diagnosis. I don't want to judge because thank God I wasn't raised the way they're raising their kids, or the way they were probably raised themselves. In all likelihood there is nothing wrong with those kids but they are so, so doomed.

LastMohican said...

Blogger Unknown said...
Agree. I'm shocked. But the way in which they misspend their money is a clear indication of a kind of 'disability' that goes way beyond any kind of diagnosis. I don't want to judge because thank God I wasn't raised the way they're raising their kids, or the way they were probably raised themselves. In all likelihood there is nothing wrong with those kids but they are so, so doomed.

June 4, 2017 at 12:40 PM

You don't want to judge but do it anyway. Lol. And you're very original also. /s

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