The Family on the Train (A Quick Observation)

It was the family's first trip out of town. The three of them sat eagerly on the train, anxiously wondering if their fortunes would change in Melbourne.

To show his independence the son sat on a different set of four seats to his parents. But as soon as he heard the conductor announce that the train would be stopping at more stations and picking up more passengers he quickly rejoined his parents and sat next to his father. Despite their rough appearance, or maybe because of this, the family had interacted with few people outside of their little unit. The thought of sitting next to a stranger was just too much for the son.

As the train departed the station, the whole family played around with their own iPhone, the father and son showing each other the games they were playing and trying to beat the other's high score. The mother stared sullenly out the window listening to music through bright green earphones that matched the Monster can she was drinking from. Of the three of them, she was the least excited about their move to Melbourne. Probably because they were moving with only the clothes on their backs, their iPhones and whatever money they had in the pockets.

Not the best new beginning.

Especially when moving to a big city like Melbourne.

But she knew that it was their only choice. That they had to hope for the best once they arrived. Hope that at least one of the three could find find work go support the rest.

They all knew that their chances of finding working were bleak. But no one voiced this fear. Choosing to ignore that they could be stuck in a big, strange city with the friends or family and without any food and shelter. Without a way back home.

This was their last chance to survive.

None of them were willing to acknowledge that this venture could , and most probably would, fail. The consequences were too dire for them if it did.

How About Incentive to Actually Get Work?

Yeah, so. I don't know if you're aware of this little fact or not, but I'm currently enrolled in a pre-employment program that lands me a guaranteed interview at the end of it.

So yay me for that little achievement.

But it's not in Ballarat.

I have to travel to Melbourne every day to get to class.

It's not too bad, even if it is a little costly for someone struggling to live off Centre Link.

But no worries, right? As part of my Centre Link conditions I now have a job employment agency to help me out. And as it turns out, job employment agencies supposedly help people with them with these costs.

So I took myself down to CVGT to see if they'll help me out with my train fares, because that extra $90 is everything when you're only form of income is the pittance Centre Link pays.

Turns out that my employment status isn't urgent enough for CVGT to be able to help me out. As a Stream one person, the government is more than happy to punish me for being unemployed, but won't help me with costs for finding work.

It's as though they secretly want people to remain unemployed for as long as possible. At the moment it feels as though I should just drop out of the course I'm currently in and wait until I'm in a higher stream and am guaranteed the financial assistance that I so desperately need.

The way things are currently, I really can't see any benefit to doing this course if I can't afford to buy food. I feel as though I should just wait until I'm in a more urgent stream before continuing with this course.

I thought the government wanted to lower unemployment, not encourage it.

If they were really serious about lowering it, they would have the lower streams getting the financial aid, instead of waiting for the doll bludgers to reach a really urgent stage of unemployment before handing out financial assistance.

They should be rewarding people who actually go out and actively do things that will help get them a job.

But this would, of course, mean that the government would actually be thinking about something and doing it effectively. And we all know that that's impossible.