Watching Judge Judy right now ?
 

She is laying someone out in lavender for collecting disability for asthma who has a newborn baby and is independent in caring for the baby.

I don't know why anyone would go on a show like that.

Maybe they get a paid motel room, flight, meals plus any judgement $$??
Just a guess, they must get something extra, and some travel to those court show locations..

like a sort of mini vacation, even if they get publicly embarrassed..:confused:

She has no idea what it's like living with a disability or not having a decent
Job.

I don't disagree with her on some cases like this.

Like many here, I have an invisible disability, so I know that a brief glimpse does not show the whole picture. Judge Judy also seems intolerant of anyone under 65 who claims to be unable to work. I've certainly seen her make snide comments about the "disability"of a few people on that show, just because they are dressed appropriately for tv or are standing on their own, when we have no idea what their own life is like.

There are some situations, though, that really do make one question how total the disability is, like when a single parent living alone who says they have no problems raising the kids alone, can continue to make new babies and care for them. When my kids were small, doing the fairly physical job of being a home care/hospice nurse was far less physically challenging than being home with an infant and a toddler.

I haven't noticed that she frequently asks how much they are collecting, but I also don't watch every day or pay close attention to everything that was said.

I'm wondering/guessing that a question about the amount of their check might be to help her zero in on if it's SSI or SSDI and possibly a commentary on if they've ever worked.

Some of the "guests" on that show seem to be the dregs of society and DO seem to be trying to game the system. I enjoy watching JJ "call out" the perpetrators in those situations.

I can see becoming jaded after seeing that day in and day out for years. Still, I wish that she wouldn't imply that all of us on SSI or SSDI are trying to get something that we aren't entitled to.

It seems like the ones that don't want to or never worked are able to get right on disabilty while the ones that worked all their lives have a much harder time getting approved.

I do not believe that is true because both require sufficient medical evidence.

However, if you were hiring a person for a job, would you tend to choose someone with proven work skills and a proven work ethic or someone who has never worked? And it is also true that working is the best way to move from poverty to middle income life. The people who have relied on government assistance their whole lives will never move beyond a subsistence life, unless they are committing crimes or other fraud, where those who go to work ALWAYS have more money, in the long run.

I don't envy people who have never worked or never wanted to work. I pity them.