It’s difficult to imagine anybody being “broadsided” by the loss of personal fortunes or jobs as the economy continues to slump and sag. But that’s part of the reason we’re in the mess we are in: for far too long in this culture, folks have just been merrilly chugging along, heads stuck in the sand, embracing the status quo, and never, ever asking vital questions like Can we really afford this house? or Can I get by on that three million Uncle Walt left me when he died or should I play Mr. High Roller and invest the whole bundle in the stock market?

From the LA Times:

Most middle-class applicants are not interested in Medi-Cal, Social Services staff said — they need food stamps and cash to pay the mortgage.

“They come in because they’re at their wits’ end. They’re already beginning to lose things, and they want to make sure they can feed their children. This is really a last stop for them,” said Carlos Perez-Carrillo, an eligibility supervisor in the Panaroma City office. “These are career people. You can tell by the way they dress. They have been working all their lives, and they’re coming in here broadsided, just really confused.”

Really confused? Why? How? Were they not paying attention? With the exception of the assistance I’ve been receiving from Social Security Disability since 2003, I have, as I have written about here in the past, been living off the grid for a good 20 years now. Living off the grid generally means no 401K plan, no health and dental benefits, no annual vacations to Disney World. It means living close to the ground, developing a finely tuned ear to tell you whether that rumbling you hear on the tracks is the sound of an oncoming train. In short, I, and many, many more people like me, heard this derailment coming a long time ago and we are neither dazed nor confused.

The aforementioned Times article concerns the vast number of middle-class families in L.A. who are being denied state and federal assistance because of income requirement caps. People are petulant and upset because their $1,200 a month in unemployment benefits is too much income to qualify for food stamp assistance; in short, the attitudes of entitlement that have had a stranglehold on our culture for far too long continues to endure even in this crisis:

Most of the middle-class families Perez-Carrillo has seen turned away are receiving more than $500 a week in unemployment benefits. When they get denied, they get upset.

” ‘I’ve paid my dues.’ That’s what they say, ‘and you don’t want to help me,’ ” Perez-Carillo said

It’s not about you, people, this is the way the system works. That’s the way it worked for me in 2007 when I had to apply for food stamp benefits and was offered $10.00 a month because my Social Security income of $800 a month at that time was “too much income.” But now that the head-in-the-sand lemmings of middle-class America are being affected, everyone is clamoring for social service reform. I guess this is what it takes for true change in this nation. Consider the following:

Sabey, who had a sheltered childhood and never before experienced financial distress, was surprised that the referral list she got from Social Services included a homeless shelter for single mothers. She had no idea such places existed.

“Why are we allowing single mothers to get to that point?” she said. “Why aren’t we doing something?”

This woman never knew that homeless shelters for single mothers exist? I think that about says it all and now I truly am dazed and confused.