arrears

my summer continues to unfold nicely. i mean, it’s nice that i’m alive. the sun is shining. i’m not sick. i got new carpet. my apartment is pleasant. no one is shooting through the windows. i’m sitting on the couch, mid-day, enjoying some pizza and a breeze. so that’s nice. and, things continue to develop nicely in the outside world too. systems are becoming more efficient, technology continues to advance, and businesses are automating more and more of their processes. before long, i bet, robots will be able to arrest people. i can check myself out at the grocery store, i don’t have to go to a travel agency or airport to buy a ticket to aruba, and i don’t even need a telephone to make a long distance call. that’s awesome. i heard recently that you can scan bar codes on grocery items with your i-phone and find competitor’s prices at other local stores. there are so many apps that make me want an i-phone, but i fear i will begin to think i can’t live without one once i become a user. that, the price of the data plans, and my unemployment keep me away from them. but i’m so happy that apps abound.

it also makes me really happy that local and state government agencies are automating more and more of their processes. last week, i got the feeling that my daughter’s father might need to start “spitting on my hand,” as my brother used to call it. what i mean is, it’s past time for him to contribute to his daughter’s financial well-being and not just (figuratively) bounce her on his knee every now and again. she’s 11, and yeah, he’s a fun daddy, with his three other kids by two other women, a built-in family of mulatto siblings and white, modern-hippie step-mothers, trips up north to the cabins and farms of the families he married into, christmas around the(ir) tree(s), hot cocoa and gifts he didn’t buy… oh, but i digress.

my point is that, since i am technically laid off now, i tend to take my time toying with technology and last week, i just happened to re-visit my hometown’s child support enforcement website. i hadn’t been there in a while, but it’s so awesome now that you can now set up your own online account to monitor any changes in your payment history, and you know, just see where things stand. you can change your address, request documents, and set up assistance with enforcement, all from the comfort of your home! it was never like this back in the day. a former welfare mother, well-versed in the challenges of navigating “the system,” i was shocked, the other day, when i promptly received my “KIDS” password–in just 3-5 business days, as promised!–in the mail. i could now complete the online set up of my account. back when my daughter was very young, i wasted hours upon hours of my life, sitting in disgusting and loud welfare offices, waiting for quadruple-booked and overworked caseworkers to award me a monthly allotment of food stamps, to ensure that i would receive a (paper) medical card in the mail every month that would allow me to take my infant daughter to her medical appointments… we exchanged phone call after phone call, voice message after voice message, paper threats, dirty looks, and countless eye rolls just to confirm that no, my income had not changed in the last 6 months. yes, i was still looking for work. yes, everything i’ve told you is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge…

currently, i’m told, these semi-annual financial reviews and applications take place solely online in many states. how efficient!

as of today though, i am no longer a mere victim of the system. i am a KIDS-password carrying user of the system. i got everything set up quickly. in a matter of seconds, 6-pt, yellow, arial font on my laptop screen disclosed that my daughter’s father now owes $12,754.01 in back child support. i love technology. i didn’t even have to go to the courthouse and get searched to find that out. (i hate when i have to take my bra off and put it in a plastic bag just to pass its underwire through the metal detectors.)

he hasn’t paid in so long, i had no idea that his arrears were that high. i now believe, however, that he is well aware of the sum he owes. how, then, i wonder, will he go back and fix this? does he look back and wonder where the time went? does he care at all? does he think he’s the vic here? he has expressed something along those lines before–he “doesn’t want to go through the system” to take care of his daughter. he believes the “system” is designed to keep good men down (so he opts to do nothing), but i think the system has been more than generous with him. he walks around freely, smoking and laughing and playing, while owing. sipping vodka, driving two vans, dining out, and sleeping well. in another time and place, perhaps he w/could be caned for his actions. or at least, ashamed. not him though. he is a different kind of modern man. he doesn’t toy much with technology. i mean, he plays wii and watches digital tv on a huge flat screen. but i doubt he manages (m)any accounts online. he doesn’t seem to type very quickly or even email much. i think he put my daughter on youtube once (to promote his ideas), but if only he knew what could be accomplished online… (auto-ma-tic bill-pay. what. a. concept.) the freedom to do so is priceless.