I am a Moocher. I intend to Mooch again.
I began working at age 16 part time in a local fast food establishment while going to high school. I am from a hard working middle class family, and in my family of origin there is no crime greater than "not working" that one can commit. (Seriously - when young-and-foolish, there was one female who brought home a suspected drug dealer, and the consensus was "at least he is not collecting welfare!"
Truth be told, I *MOOCHED* off of my parents for all of the necessities of life prior to high school graduation, but I didn't realize it until I had to start paying my own bills. (The "magic electricity fairy" comes with an electric bill once a month, and if you don't pay her, the lights go off - who knew?)
I worked non-stop supporting myself and sometimes others until I was nearly 30, when my then fiance/now husband and I agreed I would quit my full-time job and return to school to get my Bachelor's Degree. I *MOOCHED* off of him for the eight months it took to complete 75 credit hours of college (I am an over-achiever - 28 credit hours the semester we were married - woo hoo!), then for another few months while I found a new job in my field. That was sixteen years ago.
During our sixteens years of marriage, there have been other times when I *MOOCHED* off of him. I am a computer consultant by trade, and sometimes I worked crazy hours for long periods of time, and then sometimes there were dry spells. The longest stretch of MOOCHING was when I spent five months on bedrest while pregnant with my twins, and then I was a Stay-At-Home Mom (aka MOOCHER!) with my premature babies for the first year of their lives. After they were a year old, I worked part-time for a while in 2008, before returning to the world of full-time consulting work in December, 2008.
For a very brief time in 2009 my husband was laid off (along with 80% of his company) when the auto industry had the whole "bankruptcy" fiasco. He *MOOCHED* off of my earnings, and also collected unemployment for the first time in his life.
Consulting work has had its ups and downs over the last several years, and I confess I have collected unemployment during some of the "in-between" periods - never had to before 2010, so in addition to MOOCHING off of my husband, I also sucked at the public trough, too. We counted ourselves fortunate that we didn't need any other assistance.
I refuse to be ashamed of the fact my Five Year Old Twins have been MOOCHING off of both my husband and I for their entire lives. I frankly expect it to continue for at least another thirteen years. It is just the way my family rolls.
I am currently employed in my field, and also extremely involved in a public charity effort that consumes more hours than I care to recount. My husband, bless him, is also among the employed. We look forward to the day when we can MOOCH in a state of happy retirement off of the government largess via our social security (assuming we live long enough). We have this ENTITLEMENT vibe going on about it; we pay money into it, and expect it to be there for us if/when we need it.
I also confess that both my husband's and my parents are MOOCHERS, too - after working for their entire lives, they retired and currently live off of their "government handouts" (except for my father, who passed away in 2005). One of my sisters MOOCHED off the government after being diagnosed with relapsing/remitting MS until she died from it in late 2003. I refuse to apologize for her, despite the fact I know she worked "under the table" when she could - $9K a year was simply not enough for her and her children to live on, so she found ways to make it work as best she could. (If she had access to medical coverage without it being job dependent, she could have worked over the table when she was up to it, but the system is set up so stupid - ack! Off topic!)
In my family of four, 50% of us (my 5 year old twins) HAVE NEVER WORKED. On a daily basis, they act as if they are ENTITLED to food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Of the two adults in the household, I have spent more time as a "LEECH SUCKING THE FINANCIAL LIFE OUT OF MY HUSBAND" than he has me, but oddly enough, he still loves me, and we are still married.
I live in a Daily State of Entitlement. You might even call it a FOG of entitlement. Personally, I call it THE SOCIAL CONTRACT. The fact the Republicans have branded my entire family as "losers" -- my hard working husband a moron, my children as useless, expendable and worthless, and me a lazy idiot -- because someday I am going to GET after a lifetime of GIVE has me thinking they have absolutely lost their minds and need to stop embarrassing this country by insulting multiple generations of hardworking citizens.
At first, because my husband and I work / pay taxes, I didn't think Mr. Romney's remarks were about ME - then I realized they were. They were also about my parents, my siblings, and my children - despite the fact we have the whole Work Ethic / be embarrassed if you need help thing going on; that (delete unnecessary expletive) meant ME AND MY FAMILY!
And the more his Minions talk, the ANGRIER I get.
Remember that whole "we the People" thing in the Constitution? Apparently, it only meant "except for the MOOCHERS!" And the Republican definition includes every working family in America.
Eloquent words fail:
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