Craig rocked back in his chair and took in the others at the table. “When was the last time the three of us were together?”
“Before I moved to Cincinnati, so… 11 years?” James mused.
“Wow!” Craig and Danny said in unison.  
They clinked their beers together and drank.
Craig squinted."It's been so long since I've been back. How are things around here? I drove down Grand Ave and a lot of the windows are boarded up."
"Don't buy the hype. It's not so bad. I go fishing almost every day,” said Danny.
"Really?” asked Craig. “How do you pull that off."
"Easy. I throw my pole and tackle in the back of the truck after the kids head off to school and then drive to the lake."
"Seriously? Do you work nights?"
"No. There are no jobs here. I don't work."
James looked puzzled. "So how do you pay for things?"  
"I'm on few programs to help me get by."
"What programs?"
Danny’s face seemed to light up. "They've got a lot of them. Medicaid, the Ohio food Assistance Program, Head Start - which pays for health insurance, CHIP, and of course HEAP along with the Ohio Weatherization Assistance Program - which pay for heating, air conditioning and other electricity. Let's see, there's WIC, the Ohio summer food service - because the school isn't open all year to feed your kids, and OWF - which can be a little spotty in the coverage, but is nice because it gives you extra cash.”
“You're on all of these Until you get a job?" James asked and compressed his lips.
"No! I just said there are no jobs here."
"Why don't you move somewhere that has jobs?" James seemed to be forcibly keeping his voice steady, but it was Danny who became outwardly angry.
"Said like a guy with job security. When the Delco factory closed, we couldn't all just pick up and drive away. First, who's gonna buy our houses, and second, where the hell do you suggest we go?"
"People used to travel all over the country to work. Now everyone sits on their collective asses crying and wanting mommy government to wipe their noses, cut their free steak into bite size pieces and put money in their pockets."
Craig silently watched his friends’ conversation escalate.
Danny set his mug loudly on the table. "What a typical rich fucker you turned out to be. And I can almost never afford steak!"
"Rich!? I'm not rich. I drive a nice car and live in a big house because I worked really hard for a long time. All that so I could afford to live the way I want. But I have no idea why I should pay through my taxes for lazy people to sit around and fish while their girlfriends squirt out more kids."
"Isn't that just like a privileged white male.” The condescension was thick in Danny’s voice.
“You're as white and as male as I am, dumbass."
"Craig,” Danny said, turning to his friend and drawing him into the conversation. “You've got to agree that only someone with white privilege could be so ignorant of the plight of others."
 
Craig, mildly annoyed that his black skin had become an issue, sighed. "I was wondering when this was going to get racial."
“Oh come on, Craig!” James pleaded. “You know I'm not a racist."
"Yeah, I've known you both forever and know neither of you are racist." Craig leaned forward and gathered his thoughts. “You both know my dad.”
They nodded.
"He's been cutting grass over in Kettering since he was a teenager. He worked really hard and we struggled when I was little. As you remember, my brothers and I wore hand-me down clothes, didn't have cells phones, and sometimes went to bed a little hungry, but we got by and my dad was proud to be able to provide for his family.
    "I had an uncle who went on welfare early in life and never got off. That used to make me furious. On more than one occasion I really let my cousins have it. I called their dad lazy and said they were all worthless. Their excuse was that welfare was 'reparations for slavery' along with some other bullshit and my dad was an uncle Tom for playing the man's game.
    "God that made me angry. Eventually I joined the Marines and saw a lot more of the world. It took years for me to understand my anger towards them stemmed from jealousy of all the time my uncle and my cousins were able to spend together, while my dad usually worked long days that sometimes spilled into the weekend. Eventually I learned to be a lot more accepting of just about every way of life.
    "I still think my dad did the right thing, but if I could go back to when I was little, I'm sure I would want him to work less even if it meant someone else helped pay for it."
He sighed again. "So I guess you could say I see both sides. As for me, I always want to be able to pay for myself. Every situation is different, so I'm not judging. It's just my way."
All were silent until Danny spoke again.
"You said your dad was 'proud' to be able to provide for his family. His pride cost him irreplaceable time with his kids. I'm not going to make that mistake with mine."
Danny remained looking at Craig, hoping James would consider the conversation over. But James wasn’t quite done.
"Why would anyone ever get off of welfare if it didn't hurt their pride?"
"People shouldn't be ashamed to ask for help."
"Laziness pays,” said James flatly, which again brought out Danny’s ire.
"Don't look down your nose at me. No one made you do all those 60 and 80 hour work weeks. We have a compassionate country where people help each other out through taxes. If you don't like it, move away. Oh, that's right," Danny said sarcastically, "you'll pay even higher
taxes anywhere else in the world. So quit crying about the shitty life decisions you made and don't try to twist your issues my problems.”
“Goodbye freeloader." James calmly stood and walked away.
Craig shrugged his shoulders.