Mikey Pre-empts Pumpkin The Turkey

Today, the Weird Wagon was going to pay tribute to Pumpkin, the White House Turkey, who was pardoned and set free by Dubya! Pumpkin was about to slip away but was caught on camera by AP reporters (who secretly hate ham.) [photo left] But luckily, Pumpkin was pardoned to spend eternity with Mickey Mouse as headliner in the Disneyland Parade. You decide which was the better fate ...

The Weird Wagon espied this story, buried in some obscure outlet.

Hence, our Pumpkin The Turkey story is pre-empted by Mikey and his Dad:

Widowed man, disabled son face eviction, uncertainty

BY LAURI HARVEY KEAGLElkeagle@nwitimes.com219.852.4311 Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mike Malacina and his disabled son were living in a top-floor apartment this spring when the water started coming in.
"It all started with a hole in my ceiling," said Malacina, 52. "I lived on the top floor, so for four months, when the snow melted, it dripped all over the floor."
In May, a 5-foot section of the ceiling in the Rue Street apartment in Hammond caved in. The landlord moved them to another building on Hyslop Place in June.
He stopped paying rent, hoping it would prompt the landlord to make needed improvements.
It didn't.
Instead, the landlord took him to court.

Malacina won, but in August, the cold water stopped working.
"Me and my son haven't been able to take a shower for months," he said. "We fill the tub, let it get cool enough and take a bath."

Shortly thereafter, the landlord chose to invoke the "NIPSCO clause" in the lease, which requires new tenants to get their utilities turned on within 30 days of moving in or face eviction. Malacina, who is widowed, and his son were told they'd have to be out by Nov. 14.

They had no idea where they were going to go. His 16-year-old son, Mikey, is mentally disabled and has epilepsy. Mikey's caseworker warned that if they had to go to a shelter, the state would have to take custody of him because the shelters are separated into two populations: single men and women with children.

"A couple of people said they would help me out if it came to this, but now that I need them, they say they can't do it," he said.
Malacina and his son survive on $371 a month - $139 in the teen's disability benefits and $232 in food stamps. Their rent was $425 a month.
"I haven't worked for a few years," Malacina said. "From 2001 to 2004, me and my wife, before she passed away, moved in with a friend of ours whose health was failing and she needed some help."
Malacina doesn't elaborate on other jobs, only saying he has been "unable to work" since then while trying to care for Mikey on his own.
"I'm putting applications in, but I'm limited in the hours I can work because I have to be home for him," he said.

Malacina was worried about how his son would handle being homeless.
"He doesn't understand what's going on, and I don't know how he's going to react when he gets home from school and sees our bags of clothes on the sidewalk," Malacina said the day before the eviction.


[Mikey listens to landlord Fatso explaining his position. Jackass Fatso. Notice his real name isn't mentioned. Why protect this turd? Anyway, JF, hope your karma is swift and severe.]

[TANGENT WARNING:]
I highlighted the section above that reflected what the caseworker stated. Is that sick? While the whole story makes me feel sick and scared, that statement was most revealing. *WHY* would a shelter refuse entry to this widowed father and his disabled son?? *WHY* are shelters setup this way? Men separate and women with children separate? The father would have to give custody to the state in order to "save" his child. Okay, in essence ... I understand the theory behind it .... protection .. right? It's a crock. You know who/what I blame? Man-hating feminists. The shelter culture reeks of militant stupid females, who wouldn't understand real love, family values, compassion if those things jumped up and licked 'em in the face. They'd probably sue it for molestation or something. Believe me, I speak from experience as I was in need of such assistance at one time. I thank and honor those who provide such services out of genuine compassion, love, and care of others. There are times when my family completely and utterly needed extreme protection. There just has to be a better way. I further know that feminism is not entirely to blame for Mikey's situation, but it indirectly /directly led us to it. Do not get me wrong here ... I value the good things that some arms of feminist thinking brought to me, as a woman, such as the privilege to vote. With privilege comes responsibility. (Yes .. voting is a privilege. We earn the right to have this privilege by meeting certain requirements, but it can be taken away if we no longer meet those requirements. Hence, in my mind, it is a privilege. Same thing as driver's licenses. Right or wrong.) But, what of the darker aspects of feminist culture? And there are plenty. Maybe another post would tell it better and explain my position better. And that will come along in future posts with links. If you want to know more of which I speak right now, look up Camille Paglia. She writes brilliantly about how certain "arms" of feminism wrapped the U.S. (the world now for that matter) in Octopussy arms and slowly strangled it. [Well, she didn't write that horrible metaphor .. I did .. sorry! lol] She was/is a feminist lesbian, if labels suit ya, so ya can't say she doesn't know from which she speaks!

For now, we'll focus on Mikey's story, as above. It tells the story of what happens to thousands of "us" folk who care for children/adults with special needs. We are forever bound in a massive Catch-22 situation. It's profoundly sad and a serious situation for so many who find themselves in "single parent" status. We need to be available before and after school as most kids are not in completely full day programs. Some children cannot handle in-school settings and have home care. Those who are in school settings still require a parent or "custodian" to be available for loading and unloading from the buses (before and after school) as well as being available at all other times.

Once home, even our less profoundly affected kids could not possibly manage alone. Look at Orion ... he's a capable, brilliant boy in many ways, but due to issues associated with Asperger Syndrome, has difficulty inserting and turning a key properly. He gets panicked at the mere thought of having to figure out step-by-step solutions in an emergency. He cannot operative the microwave safely nor can he successfully yet open a juice or milk bottle on his own, due to specific physical limitations. He gets so completely lost in his electronics, that he sometimes may not hear a doorbell or telephone ring. He requires very close supervision. Sometimes, the rush for school preparation in the morning makes him completely scattered in thinking. I have to help him put on socks, shoes, packing backpack, etc.! On the other hand, he can discourse easily and completely on the split-second frame timing for animation features of stick versus rolled figures versus Pokemon or Jurassic Park clipping jpg versus gif format versus on and on and one. He can explain a hypotenuse. I can't even spell it. lol :o) Ben is completely dependent for nearly everything.

"After school" care does not exist for special needs children after preschool age. It's hard to find for kids who are not special needs, let alone those with profound disabilities! For some, the only solution comes when custody is given over to the "State" and from there, other services and solutions come forth. I think this is sick, sick, sick and reflects the utter sickness that still exists in our current tier of government and culture. I have to give over custody of my children to get help? God help us! Barack Obama, you better pay attention and get with it ... you better not be just another smooth-talking, slick-looking, fast-walking puppet.

Something is horribly, dreadfully wrong with Mikey's and others' situations. This cannot be swept under Mom's carpet in the parlor! More on this another time, for today I want to choose to be thankful for what we have.

We have so many blessings due to the love of God, the love of family, and the love of special other people. Together, we're making a way and a home for now and for the future for the children. And, in essence, that's what it's about. Loving, living, caring, thanking in the right here and now, by jingle!