Among other job titles I have had the benefit of being a nutritionist for WIC.  I worked in a Michigan office for several years before our first son was born.     WIC stands for Women, Infants and Children Special Supplemental Feeding Program.   I had the benefit of working in two different offices.  One office dealt primarily with migrant workers from Mexico who would come to pick blueberries, etc each summer and the other Mexicans that had settled down.  The other office had primarily poorer caucasians. 

In both groups of people I noticed an attitude that permeated the US citizens, that of laziness, lack of concern for their own welfare, and a deserving attitude.   They DESERVED to get baby formula, and ALL they wanted.  (At that time each state's WIC office would contract with a formula company to get a great price for the WIC buyers.)    When their baby was unhappy it was the fault of the formula and they HAD to have the most expensive kind.   So, there go the tax dollars flying out the window.   Now, there were a handful of moms who really cared for their children and tried to implement healthy choices in their eating/feeding.  They were a very small percentage of the whole.  

Working as a  Republican WIC nutritionist was was difficult in other ways.  Our office tried to get as many people on the program as possible.  This meant that they were working the numbers on paychecks, etc. to make it so everyone qualified, regardless of if they did or not.   One day, our receptionist, who usually did the calculations for qualification, was gone and it was my turn to man the front desk.  I had a woman with a few children come in with their proof of income.   Their family did not qualify and I was sending her home with some kind words when the others in my office intervened and made it so they qualified.  I was scolded.   This must be a common occurrence in WIC offices.  The more families on their program, the more money they get.  At least, this was the attitude at the offices I worked at. 

The only group, generally speaking, that I felt appreciated the WIC program and tried to implement the healthy ways we were promoting were the migrants.   Now, don't get me wrong, I do not believe in illegal immigration in any way.  If we need migrant workers, they should be legal.  Anyway, this group really worked hard in all areas of life unlike the typical white family who liked to sit around eating potato chips on the government.   Ask me what kinds of cars these poor white folk drove to our office and that's another story all together! 

The bottom line is that WIC needs some tighter regulating or else needs to be done away with all together.   We are just feeding laziness in our citizens.   WIC is a waste of our taxpayer money.  

This morning I received a call from a friend who used to be our housekeeper when we lived in Bangkok, Thailand.  (My husband was a Foreign Service Officer.)  Everytime I think I have a hard life here, I think of her and her family situation, which is similar to the lives of most Thai people.  Her father is a rice farmer.  Well, not just her father, it takes a whole family and more to work the rice fields.  She told me when we lived there that they can only get one growth of rice per year.  They make the equivalent of $200 per year on this crop.  Her father used to come to Bangkok to drive a taxi when he wasn't needed on the rice field.  Now, he is too old and relies on his daughter Sawang to bring in money to support the family.  She has two younger brothers, but they are lazy and always lose the jobs they obtain, leaving the burden on Sawang's shoulders.   This is a great weight on her, I know.  She has been in BKK since she was 17, so about 13 years earning money for her family.  She is a housekeeper and earns about $50 per week, working way more than 40 hard hours a week.  She lives far away from the American family that she works for, often taking an hour or two to get to and from their apartment each day.  Working for a US citizen is a coveted position among Thais because we are so easy to work with-sympathetic to their hard work compared with other foreigners who demand much more from their Thai servants.  But, there is a major downside to working for a US citizen. That is, we like our privacy, so, we like our house help to live somewhere else, not in our apartments.   In BKK, every expat suitable home or apartment has a separate room and bathroom for househelp, generally off of the kitchen area and well away from living quarters for the family.  I can't imagine what it would be like to travel that much each day.   The cheapest way to travel is by public bus which is often unairconditioned, very hot, and the air quality on the streets of BKK is extremely poor.   I would be interested to find out what the rate of lung cancer is for long time BKK residents.  Anyway, I'm so thankful to be here in the United States, where we can earn enough money to live in good situations, even though our taxes are WAY too high. 

Welcome to my new blog!  I have many interests and can't wait to blog about all of them.  I am a 30 something wife and mother living in the Twin Cities.  Why name this Knits and Picks?  Well, I LOVE to knit (have only been knitting for one year and 2 months) and I have many opinions, thus, the Picks.  Soon to come-comments on my knitting projects and comments on the war/upcoming presidential election.