Kids School Lunch Heart-wrenching

a reply to: JAGStorm

Looking forward to when there are more unwanted children with not enough to eat.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: JAGStorm

Looking forward to when there are more unwanted children with not enough to eat.

FYI...The windowless, white, van is gassed-up and ready when you are.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I think you missed the point. Thes are kids we wanted. Their parents are victims of the current economy who would otherwise be able to pay their way.

Too rich for the free or reduced lunch; too poor to make ends meet without giving up going all in on assistance.

No one helps self respect.

originally posted by: ketsuko
I think you missed the point. Thes are kids we wanted. Their parents are victims of the current economy who would otherwise be able to pay their way.

Sure. If they were wanted their parents would get out and get a better job or another job. Losers send their kids to school hungry. Or people who don't care. I'd wager it's the latter.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Zey Wilt eates bugzz.

originally posted by: stevieray

originally posted by: JAGStorm
My daughter asked me last night how much I’ve paid in her school lunch account so far this year.
I told her it was close to $500. She thanked me and said she really appreciated it. It was kinda weird so I asked her about it.

She said that so many of her classmates have to pay for their own school lunches. She said one of her friend put money into his own account and he had told her he has spent over $400 this year. He works three part time jobs. Two of the jobs he works under the table because he is actually too young to be legally doing it. My heart sank. I knew about his jobs but didn’t know this was one of the reasons why. She started naming off some students that also pay their own.

I know some of them and their parents all fall into a very unique demographic… People that are working, blue collar, lower middle class but not low enough to be considered for any government benefits. These are truly the people suffering.
They get absolutely no help but their pay is probably consumed by housing/fuel/food/utilities.

I’m usually very fiscally conservative but in this one case……I wish school “free” lunches would have remained…
There is a very cold part of me that thinks parents need to provide the two most basic things for their children, food and shelter. And tough caca if they can’t….but..
The other side of me knows sometimes life punches you in the throat. I know some of these people and have seen how hard they work.
They aren’t the slackers we often hear about. These are people that work nonstop and somehow are still coming up short…unfortunately their kids have to make up the slack… Lots of tragedy too, one or both parents dead, divorces, illnesses lots of sad stories.

I also know there are a lot of families that believe teens are old enough to take on responsibility, how much… well that is up for debate isn’t it?

What happened between the 1970’s and today ?
My dad worked his ass off cutting down trees and my mom worked sometimes as a library aid. We were as far from “well off” as you could get.
Yet, school lunches / snacks were about the simplest thing in life, not exactly a heart-rending gut-wrenching horror. Costs are the same as always, adjusted to todays economy and wages.
If you can’t figure how to get your kid a damned lunch, whether make a sandwich or give em a couple bucks, there’s no hope. How do people even exist if this the tragedy du jour ?

And yes, I knew kids whose parents were worthless clowns, kids were basically raising themselves and in lots of trouble. So maybe these are same kids 50 years later. But no, I just can’t fathom the “lunch pandemic” scenario. Though any number of kids with this problem is sad.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: JAGStorm

You know it is. It's all or nothing. You either try to keep doing it right or you leach. There is no in between.

That's why I hate welfare programs. They say means tested, but I do not think it means what they seem to think it means.

Oh my goodness you hit the nail on the head. Isn't that it...
Someone mentioned earlier that the lunches used to be a lot more affordable.
I guess affordable to one person isn't to the next though.

We could pick this apart in so many ways. Do the parent have money for beer and cigarettes, but not for school lunches?
What if the parents are doing everything "right" yet still can't afford it?

Where is the middle ground? I know one thing that has changed. I used to be able to work in my school's cafeteria in exchange for free lunches. My parents let me keep my lunch money if I did that. It was a win win. I guess they don't let that happen anymore because too many kids would burn themselves and sue the school or some nonsense like that.

a reply to: ketsuko

Too rich for the free or reduced lunch; too poor to make ends meet without giving up going all in on assistance.

The people I was referencing fit exactly in the above.
I will say one thing, a lot of people have too many kids for their projected income. That's another discussion right!!

One of the kids that I know pays her own way has a sad story. Her mom is in prison, her dad is very involved. Working, helping with sports and he actually looks pretty sickly himself. I think he's hanging on by a thread.
Lot's of single parent issues here.

originally posted by: BeNotAfraid
a reply to: putnam6

wow that exactly what we had in HS in the 90's...
and yes, ive been out of touch, but.... $600 "so far this year" for school lunch!??

Lol, there’s still various levels even in a school cafeteria. The sad old lunch tray full of stuff from 55 gallon drums is probably 200 bucks per year. A steady flow of a la carte and other treats may very well add up to 600. Be careful to not feel too sad for the kid who’s eating 10 bucks worth of pizza and twinkies every day. He just needs to learn what’s going on around him.

originally posted by: putnam6
Pretty much this slop in the 70s at my schools, Id eat occasionally but Mom made me a sandwich and chips most days. Which consisted of white bread a single slice of Land o Frost meat a slice of Kraft American cheese and a smear of mustard or mayo. She did sometimes put Nestle Quick powder in one of those plastic film canisters sometimes, for the crappy lukewarm milk

Maybe i'm a weirdo but I always liked that cafeteria corn!

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

....their parents would get out and get a better job or another job. Losers send their kids to school hungry. Or people who don't care. ...

Is that really a thing anymore?... 'going out and getting a better job or another job?" ...

I know it once had been... but I don't think that's a 'real' option...

You know occasionally what you refer to as losers, see no other way. Or are we assuming their "OK" with that?

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: JAGStorm

You know it is. It's all or nothing. You either try to keep doing it right or you leach. There is no in between.

That's why I hate welfare programs. They say means tested, but I do not think it means what they seem to think it means.

“Means” means parents making 50 K will find a way to give their kids a nice sandwich and apple and juice box …… while parents making 150 K will say “hahaha free is for me !”
And I’ll bet the application has no way to distinguish. Because if you say no to somebody for any reason, you’ll end up known as a -phobe or an -ist

originally posted by: Maxmars

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

....their parents would get out and get a better job or another job. Losers send their kids to school hungry. Or people who don't care. ...

Is that really a thing anymore?... 'going out and getting a better job or another job?" ...

I know it once had been... but I don't think that's a 'real' option...

You know occasionally what you refer to as losers, see no other way. Or are we assuming their "OK" with that?

It’s probably more like 50-50, half scammers.
But I know it’s not popular to have any rules or any questions of anyone.
The mass influx of illegals is actually a difference maker. And again, not supposed to say it.

originally posted by: Maxmars
Is that really a thing anymore?... 'going out and getting a better job or another job?"

Yeah, it's still a thing. I get recruited regularly, there are plenty of jobs for the non-complacent.

This wah-wah BS is ridiculous. I guarantee you that nearly all, if not all, of these kids parents have flat screen TV's, iPhones and other items that would be considered luxuries in other parts of the world, let they allow their kids to not have enough nutrition?

a reply to: JAGStorm

It's not possible to make a sensible lunch and bring it with you?

More economical and nutritious.

This is where Klaus schwab comes in with bug lunches.

originally posted by: MykeNukem
It's not possible to make a sensible lunch and bring it with you?

More economical and nutritious.

Probably too complex unless it comes premade in a box or bag.

I pack lunch every morning, sometimes, depends on the meal, the evening before and put it into the fridge. Vegetables and fruit cut fresh in the morning. I work and still get that done. I don't see the use in complaining about school food, when it's cheaper and healthier to prepare at home with love. And when there's something good on the menu and tells me the day before, she can still have it, so prepared lunch isn't thrown away or unused. Balance.

The only upside I see is that the kids have something warm for lunch but when the food is bad quality, why even bother about lunch from cafeteria.. My viewpoint might be a bit different, because we do not have lunch in all schools or kindergarten, it's not a common thing here.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: MykeNukem
It's not possible to make a sensible lunch and bring it with you?

More economical and nutritious.

Probably too complex unless it comes premade in a box or bag.

Probably cut that bill into 1/4 just by doing that, but that's not cool I guess.

I'd definitely do that before I let my kid become mal-nutritioned.

The whole school being in charge of your kids nutrition thing is foreign to me, we don't have that here that I know of (maybe in T.O or Van or Mont., but I don't think so).

originally posted by: MykeNukem
Probably cut that bill into 1/4 just by doing that, but that's not cool I guess.

Then they might actually be able to afford the vape pens they're most likely buying already.