I moved at the beginning of the month to a new apartment. I love it there! One of my coworkers has various rental properties, and I chose the one closest to the rail line. My commute is wonderful and inexpensive.
I live in a converted cottage that is now a duplex. I mention cottage so that you'll understand that each apartment is small. I have one bedroom, a good sized kitchen and a living room. My washer dryer barely fits in the laundry room. My new home is the perfect size for me.
My next door neighbor, Miss Earline has suffered a series of strokes. She's 59 and unable to work and receives some type of government benefit. She's a very nice lady and we've had good conversations on our front porch.
On my second day there, she asked to borrow my phone. I thought that perhaps her phone needed a charge, and I didn't think much of the request. I later learned that she has no telephone at all. A former stroke patient with no way to call 911.
There's a government program that gives phones to those who can't afford them for use in emergencies. They offer 68 free minutes per month. I went online and ordered Miss Earline a phone.
Later that day I learned that Miss Earline has allowed her 40 year old son and his girlfriend and their toddler to move in with her. (Remember "cottage"?) Her son and girlfriend don't work. They live in the bedroom and she moved her bed to the living room.
A few days later the phone arrived. I showed Miss Earline how to charge the phone and how to make calls.
I got home from work the next evening to see her 40 year old son using the phone.
I came back outside about 15 minutes later to smoke a cigarette and he was still on the phone.
A day or so later, he asked to borrow my phone. I asked him what happened to his mother's phone and he explained that all the minutes were gone.
Both he and his mother have borrowed my phone off and on since then.
Last night she knocked to tell me that the son in law (who pays most of her rent) has been hospitalized, and that she wanted me to leave my phone at home with them today so that she could keep up with the situation.
I told her I couldn't do it and I'm pissed at myself for feeling guilty about it. I'm considering getting her a phone card today so that she can use her phone, but I'm still annoyed that she let her non working, non contributing son use all the minutes she had on her free phone and I'm worried that the moochers will use up any new minutes I buy.
I'm angry at the situation and I feel as though no matter how I try to help, the moochers will just suck up the benefit and the Miss Earline will have to do without.