There can few things so degrading to the human spirit as to remain continuously on the dole (welfare) when the option of work is available. We should ever be kind to the poor. Where work is not available, and there is no other remedy, a family needs to be fed. And we need to take care of our own. If I need sell everything I have to keep my grandchildren from going hungry, I will do so. The public dole on the other hand, is something else. A man (or woman) is at his or her best to do whatever is necessary to escape the pitfalls of the public dole as soon as possible. Generations of welfare recipients in any family vindicate my position. Regarding the public dole, I remember, as a boy in California when someone from the Welfare Department approached our humble shack to ask my dad to sign up for welfare. My dad stood at his tallest and replied, “Welfare? Welfare? Welfare did you say? While I have two good hands to work? Welfare? Oh no! No! Now get out of here and don’t come back!” For me, a lesson learned that day. And back in Texas, when my dad left at 3:00 in the morning to drive 70 miles to work outside in the bitter cold for 50 cents an hour, and didn’t return till 10:00 PM, I knew he was good on his word. “Welfare? Welfare did you say Welfare? While I have two good hands to work?” If I ever become the man I am trying to be, I must suppose I owe it to parents who understood the value of scratching and digging and toughing it out during hard times. They taught me that there is sanctity in hard work, and for that, I shall ever be grateful.