Saturday, June 4, 2011

Dad goes cyber-begging for house

Sun News : Dad goes cyber-begging for house

The Maloneys and their daughters, ages two and four, have lived in a three-bedroom townhouse in London for nearly five years. It doesn't have a fully fenced backyard, their yard backs onto a busy roadway, and rent is $900 a month -- a payment that gets harder to reach every week, Maloney said.
A laid-off manufacturing plant worker, Maloney went back to school to become a registered nurse. But the bills started to pile up, so the 29-year-old took a job as a personal support worker.
The family tried getting a mortgage, but were rejected because of what he called "stupid mistakes with credit cards" when he was younger.
And so, in desperation, he turned to the Internet, setting up a blog asking for someone to buy his family a modest house.
"I'm willing to risk extreme embarrassment for even the smallest chance that someone would see it," he said.
First off, he's renting a 3 bedroom townhouse for $900, and he's complaining about it?

Seriously?

And the only issue is that it isn't fully fenced? Really?

I can't imagine the mindset that a person has to have to beg for someone to buy them a home rather than to do the heavy lifting involved in acquiring one for themselves, if that's what they need. I can't imagine what goes through a person's mind to expect someone else to pay for your mistakes rather than finding a second job and supplementing your income to afford the house you're in. I can't imagine what goes through your mind that makes it all right to beg for someone else to fix your problem when the solution may be to find a 2 bedroom house with a fenced backyard and force your children to share a bedroom.

The fact is that a couple with suitably flexible full time jobs could work minimum wage and earn enough to pay $900/month for rent, as long as the rest of their lifestyle is limited. They could own and operate 1 vehicle, and they can buy their food in bulk like any other family. Steak becomes "tube steak", and eating out becomes a treat rather than a regular occurrence. They can do the heavy lifting of repairing their credit so that when things turn around for them, they can purchase a home of their own. If they're REALLY having trouble, this is the type of situation that social housing (at least in Saskatchewan) is designed for, however in Saskatchewan they wouldn't pay much less on monthly rent. All of these are suggestions which could have been done before turning to cyber-begging.

I weep for a society where it's acceptable to beg for someone else to solve your problem, but I am glad that his wife is mortified - it gives me hope for the future. I would like to say one more thing to Mr. Maloney though:

There are plenty of high-paying jobs in Saskatchewan. All he needs to do is look.

2 comments:

  1. Did you notice that he's not asking for someone to help him get a mortgage? He actually wants someone to GIVE him a house.

    That's chutzpah.

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  2. Yup. Like I said... he doesn't want to do the heavy lifting of fixing what got him rejected in the first place... he's just looking for a handout. I weep for a society that thinks this is okay.

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