If you have been unemployed for over a year, and the situation gets really desperate--an offer to work for 12 dollars an hour--- sounds like prayers answered. Such was the situation for one of my friends, a single mother with two children. She called very excited ...telling me that a lady she knew, told her that this politician was looking for people to gather signatures for a petition-- but that she had to go to this guy's office now! So my friend takes the last ten dollars she has and pays a taxi to get her to the hiring place.
Later that afternoon my friend calls me totally disgusted, telling me that ...all politicians are crooks! liars! I told her to calm down and tell me what happened. Well---she says--here I go thinking great! this is the answer to my problems, now I'll be making decent money. But when she gets to the place, the lady doing the hiring tells her--that she must be mistaken about the 12 dollars an hour pay---the pay is actually 50 cents per signature...my friend says that she told the woman---what?! no, no.... your people went around the neighborhood telling everyone that it was 12 dollars an hour---listen lady, I spent my last ten dollars (that I was going to buy groceries with) to pay a taxi to bring me here. And now you're telling me that it's only 50 CENTS a signature! Well guess what---you better damn well reimburse me my ten dollars----you crook!
So--I ask--did they give you back your money? Hell no! she says...instead of giving me my money this lady starts telling me about the importance of voting, democracy and blah blah, and that she-- then told the lady--that right now she was more concerned with getting paid enough money to survive and not empty words. And again demanded that the lady give her back the money she spent on the taxi.
Needles to say, my friend --totally really angry by now--told me that of course not! she did not get a dime back from this politician's people. The worst part, she says is that guy has the nerve to portray himself as a man of the people, helping the community--when all he is doing is exploiting them.
So....I ask...what are you going to do now? She gives a deep sigh--then tells me with a resigned voice--take the job and just try to gather as many signatures as I can, to see if at least I can make 100 dollars in one day--crooked politician or not--I got two children and they got to eat. She took the job-- then took a bus to go back home.
