Child Support

Not for nothing... when it comes to my kids... I would do anything for them. To the point that I am ready to just give up my whole self to make sure they have... And I have...

The other day, when I got a check for a job I did on 42nd a few weeks back... I noticed that out of the blue, Support Collection Unit taxed that. $150, gone... before I could even count it. Some might think... 'well, that's what they are supposed to do....' AND 'they are supposed to take funds from your check to send to the children that you helped create,' AND 'especially for those "dead beat dads" who don't know how to contribute financially, physically, or emotionally to their children.' I get that... I do understand... but, guess what? I'm no "dead beat."

I started a child support case in Philadelphia with my first one (granted, I started it for the wrong reasons, but I was responsible enough to know that what me and my son's mother was about to get into wasn't going to benifit the kid at all). I came back to NY, and got hit with a Support Order I couldn't afford, but it got paid. $7,000 in retroactive support (because their mother states I never did shit) paid. I didn't contest it, because I knew the kids would benifit from it somehow. After I got that $7,ooo paid up, a year later... she takes me back to court for an increase... They give it to her, and I'm back in the hole for another $10,000 retroactive. But it doesn't matter... that was in 2007. Look at me know... I wittled that down to $1000 by paying 6 and change every two weeks (400 and change for the bi-weekly Order of Support, and the rest to going towards the retroactive support the courts said I owed... again... the mother never steps up and says that I am doing my damn thing for the kids... I'm not mad at her though, and I would never again be).

But its when the Mother-Bleeping Support Collection Unit takes it upon themselves to say, 'oh, this guy could pay more,' is when I have issues. So, that $150 came out of a $250 check, that was to go towards my car insurance... now what? Lets put it in perspective... $250 would have covered my insurance, less $7... So now, I have to wait until regular payday to pay my insurance, with the remainder... I have other bills (I'm regular like everybody else), so those have to be paid... I have to contribute to my wife and my other son's household... so now... instead of having maybe $100 left to do what I do with my kids out in Pennsylvania (did I mention that the kids were not like right around the corner, and I have to actually go out of state to spend time with them... hmmm)... So, as I was saying, instead of having maybe $100 left to kick it with them... I'm stuck in a hole of -$50 because some BITCH at the SCU office (male or female) decided that since I worked one day... made $250 in one day... busted my ass for $250 in one day, that I need to take that extra money and give it to my kids, who were gonna benifit from me working that damn near 10 hour day regardless... but now... they won't benifit by seeing me (since I can't afford to put damn near $10 gas in my car), they won't benifit by spending time with dad (which should be one of the main goals of a child support system)... No they are benifited by their moms, instead of a $650 check this week, she's gonna get a $800 check, and me... I'm struggling for solutions.... I'm still going out there... stuggling with the idea of having no dough... What to do... beg, borrow, steal (in that order) to spend a few hours with my boys.... But what do I get when I get out there from their moms... "You need to get your money together, because the boys have extra-curricular activites that need funding" Blah Blah Blah.... (again... I'm not mad at her... I know who she is already, and I have learned to deal).

This is why 'men' who do for their children get so frustrated. This is why having a child wrapped up in a government system never works... This is why people need to be married before they have children.... This is why young mothers and fathers make no sense to me... This is why I wish I had more a voice in my government... This is why I want to change the world.... This is why I feel I can't save the world... This is why I can't... I just can't....

And with that, I am not giving up... I am not the one to blow a fuse anymore. I just keep moving and hope that the next job I happen upon, does not end up on a Support Collection Unit computer screen with someone itchy trigger finger pressed up against the execute... excuse me, the Enter button... ready to sign my life away into a binary code.