Emergency!!! Water Shut off mother of 8 for overcharge!!!

[CollegeStudentinAtl]

People like to judge!

Personal empathy and sympathy is non existent now days. lol

[Houston321]

Looks like OP is legit. Story is on Chron today and getting pub in the news.

[Texas Built]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

'Better to understand before judging. The OP was telling the truth the whole time. She probably decided not to reply after all the 'holier than thou' posts that followed hers. I don't blame her.

Water back on, for now, for mother of eight - Houston Chronicle

I am glad to hear that the issue is being addressed properly. 'Sorry she has to go through this, and I hope things turn out in her favor.

I still don't buy her story. This lady is crazy and there's more to it. 8 kids, the youngest being a little over a year old, no dads around and no money. So sad too bad. You need to make better life decisions.

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by Texas Built

I still don't buy her story. This lady is crazy and there's more to it. 8 kids, the youngest being a little over a year old, no dads around and no money. So sad too bad. You need to make better life decisions.

Hope your insurance is good and/or you have a lot of savings because if you ever fall off that high horse you might need some long term costly medical care

Overly obvious you didn't read the story as highly judgemental people often do because the first line was

A 36-year-old widow and mother of eight children

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by Texas Built

I still don't buy her story. This lady is crazy and there's more to it. 8 kids, the youngest being a little over a year old, no dads around and no money. So sad too bad. You need to make better life decisions.

Like Lowexpectations noted, she is a widow. You don't make the bad decision for your husband to die - that was out of her hands.

As to the bill, the overage was in August. This meant she got the bill in September. I don't even open my water bill until time to pay - because it is the same every month. Once she opened on time to pay, probably late September, she most likely started protesting the bill. Rather than acknowledge that there was something wrong, they just told her to pay and then cut her off when she would not pay that bill. Critical thinking is not really that common anymore. If you or I were on the other end of her calls, we would think "something's wrong, let us check to see what is going on". Believe it or not, some people don't have that ability to think. I remember being in line at Walmart, before I stopped going to Walmart (not to protest anything, just because going to Walmart is a hellish experience) when the computer rang up a guy's avocado for about $200. He, of course, protested. The cashier just kept saying that the computer said that they were $200 apiece. No thinking skills at all. He made her send someone to check, while we laughed about $200 avocados. Well, the cashier didn't laugh.

Also noted in the story is that she is the one that paid someone to come out to check the meter.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by Texas Built

I still don't buy her story. This lady is crazy and there's more to it. 8 kids, the youngest being a little over a year old, no dads around and no money. So sad too bad. You need to make better life decisions.

There is a co-worker of mine who has seven children. His wife does not work, their kids are home schooled... if something were to happen to my friend, his wife could easily find herself in the same position, minus one kid. It could happen to many people, and they don't really need to have many children.

The savings of Americans is abysmal, some are just one paycheck away from losing everything. Even a catastrophic injury/car accident, etc. could cause this.

[whogo]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

There is a co-worker of mine who has seven children. His wife does not work, their kids are home schooled... if something were to happen to my friend, his wife could easily find herself in the same position, minus one kid. It could happen to many people, and they don't really need to have many children.

The savings of Americans is abysmal, some are just one paycheck away from losing everything. Even a catastrophic injury/car accident, etc. could cause this.

I suggest your friend buy life insurance.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

There is a co-worker of mine who has seven children. His wife does not work, their kids are home schooled... if something were to happen to my friend, his wife could easily find herself in the same position, minus one kid. It could happen to many people, and they don't really need to have many children.

The savings of Americans is abysmal, some are just one paycheck away from losing everything. Even a catastrophic injury/car accident, etc. could cause this.

So is it normal now for people to have 7 or 8 children? Why put yourself in a position for absolute disaster if something medical/accident happens. Unless you are wealthy I have no idea why anyone would have that many kids and not fear every day that something like could happen.