I just had a conversation here at work with a witness who essentially insinuated that he wanted me to lie so that I could save his elderly mother thirty dollars. Don't get me wrong- I feel quite badly that his mother has to pay for certain necessities. Having worked with low income individuals for some time, I've seen some truly sad situations. I do feel bad that sometimes, even though I want to be able to do more for someone, I can't "work the system" any further without jeopardizing program availability for a much larger population.
That said, here's the story: I was delivering the bad news to this woman's son that her situation did not fully qualify her for our state-funded program without her having to make some payments. The son asked me if I couldn't just go into the computer and remove some information so that she would not be held responsible for her payments. I explained that we(my work) are legally obligated to follow state guidelines and that his mother promises certain forthright disclosure when she signs documents relating to this program. In other words, sorry, no comitting fraud today (but I say it nicely, of course).You know, I don't take kindly to implying that I must be somewhat heartless because I can't bend the rules on some things. Especially when it endangers the programs ability to reach a larger population.
Then he quotes Proverbs to me. I guess this is supposed to make me feel, what...worse? (This is where I flip the page and confirm my suspicion that he's a witness. So I sweetly say to him, "I appreciate your citing scripture and all but I believe there is also something in the bible about lying?"
Well, other than one additional mention of trusting a different kind of government, he didn't go any further. Too bad, as I'm having one hell of a day and would gladly spar- I just can't pick fights- but I can respond to comments made to me!
His mother allegedly has a loving community ready to help her! The congregation can't find thirty bucks? No, he'd rather we all lie and endanger the program for everybody else.
I'm just so sick of this stuff.