I know that working the 211 hotline is a shit job. I am sorry you had such a negative experience. I hope, though, that your faith in government benefits can be restored if I told you about the mom of four escaping from an abusive home that I qualified for TANF, Medicaid, and SNAP. That mom is now in job training…

Was it 211? That's the contractor here in Texas and they are constantly giving clients incorrect information. They seriously need better training, you are right. It is incredibly frustrating.

That was probably TANF (Formerly known as Welfare) which is cash assistance. Different program from Food Stamps. Most people who receive TANF are either a) indigent with children and trying to get on their feet; or b) grandparents or other relatives raising children who are not theirs. Most people use their TANF…

Wait, so when I join WW I invite everyone to talk about my weight?? HUH? How does that work, exactly?

I really don't see a lot of body shaming here. Most it's just reposting gossip posted somewhere else, which is something the site has always aggregated.

Hey Jez, can we get some kind of disclaimer that the $5500 was NOT given to her as cash? I am an eligibility worker and it really pisses me off when I see stuff like this because it gives people (Republicans especially) fodder for angrily railing against entitlements. She got that money in the form of health insurance…

Yeah, I really wish articles about this stuff were clearer. Very few people qualify for cash benefits. Most recipients are getting SNAP and Medicaid. Yes, those things have monetary value, but it's not like you can go out and buy lottery tickets (or drugs or McDonald's or whatever) with them.

As an eligibility worker, I can say that about three quarters of my clients are just like you - educated, working, just not quite making ends meet. We have our fair share of people who have never worked, don't want to work, and will never work, but I would say they are definitely in the minority. I always like to…

Not even. If you have the cash, you can get it done. It's only a battle when you're trying to get insurance to cover it. Then, yes, you have to have co-morbidities, be severely overweight to the point it is effecting your quality of life, and genuinely need the surgery. But if you're rich and you want an easy way to…

Yeah, I know of someone like that as well. If you have the money, it's terribly easy to get the procedure. The person I know took a weekend trip to Mexico, paid cash, and was back home by Monday.

That number sounds insanely high. Source?

Actually, there are plenty of docs with whom if you have the cash, they will do the procedure. I know of someone in real life who wasn't obese at all, just had trouble with the last twenty or so pounds she was trying to lose. But she's rich, and decided she wanted a lap band, and went to Mexico and got one. Over,…

Wait, her higher weight had a lot to do with her drug use? How does that work? I thought druggies were typically skinny because uppers make you not want to eat?

I would just give up on trying to find someone in your exact neighborhood. I currently drive a hundred miles to visit my stylist because everyone I've been to in the shit kicker town I had to move to butchers my head. And I have basic, straight, fine, white person hair.

I pay $65 in Austin, TX, so $95 in New York sounds about right. I've found that you can get away with cheaper cuts if you just have very basic long hair and just need the split ends trimmed, or if you are an older woman with a standard wash-and-set older woman do. However, if you want anything close to resembling a…

Re: Jessica's lap band rumor - I've often wondered if celebrities did weight loss surgeries even when they didn't really need it. Look at Nicole Richie. There are a few others. They start out a little chubby, not even technically overweight, and suddenly they are shockingly thin. It's always made me wonder.

Right? That kind of money could pay off my culinary school student loans, my husband's law school loans, AND be enough left for a down payment on a house. It's shit like this that makes me totally understand why French peasants started chopping off heads a couple hundred years ago. FUCK.

It's because they think they can change you or that it's just a "phase." -eyeroll-

It's also sort of telling, especially in a bastion of liberalism like Austin. If they got super defensive or wouldn't give me a straight answer, it was because they were Rand-loving Bush-voting social conservative asswipes and didn't want to own up to it.

When I was dating a got a ton of flack from guys when I would ask pretty specific political questions during the email exchange stage of online dating. I refused to apologize or stop doing, though. Those issues are really important to me, and it was important that any potential mate shared my values. I couldn't…