When I was growing up, I remember being so embarrassed that I had to use a free lunch pass at school. I did not want others to know that my family could not afford to pay for my lunch like other families. Nowadays, it just the opposite. Students feel embarrassed that they can pay for lunch and extras because they are now in the minority. The government has found a solution, however. In their all-knowing wisdom, they have decided to pay for everyone’s lunch and breakfast in school’s where a certain percentage of economically disadvantaged students attend. So, even though a family of four makes over $100,000 a year, has multiple cars and properties, and travels, their children still get free meals at school. A single mom who can buy $8 Starbucks or loaded teas daily, cigarettes, alcohol, tattoos, iphones, and $100 jeans, does not have to pay for a $3 lunch at school. When schools closed for COVID, the government actually reimbursed parents thousands of dollars because students did not get their free meals. Yes, even those families who earn over $100,000 received this reimbursement. Wow. . .
Do not get me wrong. I appreciate those free meals I received as a kid because that often as my only decent meal. I also believe we should continue to provide free meals now to children who have no control over their home life. However, as a society, we have turned the handup to a handout that everyone believes they have a right to have.
You might think it is no big deal; however, we have created a generation who prefers to rely on the government to survive. They purposely stay unemployed to receive unemployment benefits. They expect schools to provide everything for free so that they can continue to buy Starbucks, loaded teas, etc. They look to the government to forgive their student loans instead of paying their own debts. They are a generation who lives for handouts.
One of the reasons our country excelled in the past was because anyone could work hard and improve the quality of their life. Our poor received handups to reach their goals. Now that everyone can receive handouts with no sacrifice or goals, what will become of our country, and who will really pays for it all?