I am stewing. Guess I do that a lot, Oh well. Today I went to see my friend (with the 5 kids and a malfunctioning minivan) It is one of her son's birthday, the one who doesn't live with her. Actually his birthday was the other day but he was out of town with his foster family. Because I know she does not have much I took 3 pizzas (chain) and 2 liters of root beer. she had some little gifts for him, all wrapped. I hadn't thought of a gift because I was really going over there to help her with a 10 page paper she has due by next Tuesday for her English class. She fears English. So far she's doing ok with the class.  I have been so worried for her. As if it's not enough to be a single mother (for all intents and purposes, her husband is in jail and she very much wants a divorce) She has responsibilities for all those kids and is always just on the edge. She is going to school full time hoping to qualify herself for something that could support her family and she takes little seasonal jobs which let her go as soon as the season is over. All of the kids have big needs. And this woman TRIES so hard to do everything. She hates being subsidized so she keeps trying to work. I think it's too much and the jobs she gets are usually seasonal and they let her go when the season is over. Right now she is working for a company that cleans commercial businesses. They "hired" her and her 16 year old daughter. But then, they told her they would pay HER her daughter's wages and not officially hire her daughter. Well this looks like she is making more than she is and she has lost her foodstamps. The company also refuses to pay them for actual hours worked. they say a job should take a certain amount of time and they pay "piecework" but it invariably takes longer. AND in one case of the piecework she described her employer charges the business $90 of which she and her daughter are to get $40!!! All this sounds illegal to me (but this is a "right to work" state, so maybe it isn't. It IS unethical though. I can't see it any other way. And my friend isn't even up to this work. I hate our culture that we use people like this.