SYSTEM LEAVES BIG CRACKS

I just spent six years of my life in the Army. I served all over the United States and over a year in Turkey during the Gulf War. I served proudly. I gained respect for America's fighting men and was proud to be counted among them.

I sustained a permanent injury. I blew out my right knee. Despite reconstructive surgery, it didn't heal properly, leaving me with intense periodic pain. I received an honorable discharge and a 20 percent disability rating.

Immediately I pursued employment in the civilian sector. I was hired by a regional radiology service company even before I was officially released from duty. The pay is good, and I can say for sure that I am doing somewhat better than most of my peers.

Most people I have known, when released from service, will kick back and ride the unemployment wave for six months. They learn how easy it is to collect money without labor. When the unemployment benefits run out, they jump on the welfare bandwagon. As we all know, this contributes to an already growing social problem: too many homeless, too many single teen-aged mothers, too many people who don't mind taking advantage of the system. I refuse to be one of them.

Then comes a special case: a couple. The husband goes to work each day trying to make a living. The wife is pregnant with their first child. He makes good enough money for just them, but then there are the doctor and hospital bills that add up. Things become tight, and they reach out for help. Denied.

As you guessed, my wife and I are that couple. Being recently released from he military, we had 60 days of medical coverage. It has run out. My health insurance from my company started 30 days after employment. Because my wife was already pregnant it was a pre-existing condition and not covered. We were informed that we could possibly get help from a social welfare agency. We tried. Rejected.

I read that word on the top of our application. The reason: Besides my regular salary, I also receive a check once a month for my on-the-job expenses. You see, my company services X-ray equipment all over the Heartland, and being a service technician I have to do a lot of traveling. In lieu of providing its employees with vehicles and credit cards, my employer provides us with an expense check. The money isn't taxed and shouldn't be figured into our annual income. That is exactly what happened.

"Your income exceeds determined need." That was the reason for rejection cited on the application. When we asked a counselor at the agency, we were told that the expense amount I receive must be added into my income. Although I tried to explain that the money just barely covers my expenses, "No further action taken."

There comes with this a powerful message: Do nothing to help yourself and we will trip over ourselves helping you. Just go ahead and try to make it on your own, be independent, and when you run into trouble we will turn you down.

I know this probably isn't always the case, and I know that deserving people are being helped as well as those taking advantage of the system. It just bothers me, though, that after serving my country, after standing up for the right of others to take advantage of the system, I cannot receive just the small amount of help I have reluctantly asked for. Where is the fairness in that?

Philip Osborne is a Cape Girardeau resident.