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In 2005 as Hurricane Rita approached the Texas coast, my four sons and I evacuated with a close family member, her husband, and their five year old daughter. I’ll call this younger family member Blanche.Whenever the coast was threatened by a tropical system, I’d pile the boys in the truck and we’d take off across Texas and visit the folks. Blanche called offering to let me use her truck since I’d recently downsized to a smaller car. We could travel caravan style. Her husband’s truck was decked out with Sirius radio, two DVD players for the back seat, and both of them had laptops with internet access and cell phones. Each of my boys rotated riding with Blanche so we’d all be comfortable, four in each truck.By 2am we finally got to Junction. Blanche had gone online and reserved the last two rooms at the Best Western. The boys and I needed a roll away bed, which wasn’t available. Our room was upstairs right above the pool. Blanche’s room was on the bottom floor in the back. She wanted me to leave the boys ALONE at 3am and share a bed with her five year old. My boys were ages ten, eleven, fourteen, and fifteen. No way was I trusting them to behave with me on the other side of the motel. Someone would have been tossed in the pool from the upstairs railing. So, my youngest went down and stayed in Blanche’s room.We left the motel the next morning and finally made it to the folk’s house. My oldest stayed with them, and everyone else stayed in town at a motel. Hurricane Rita did major damage to our area. Martial Law was declared and we weren’t able to go home for over two weeks.The second week we stayed at my Aunt’s house while she was away on business. She had a pool. The kids were happy. The day we planned to leave my Aunt’s house, Blanche and her husband went to the closest Red Cross seventy miles away while I stayed with the kids. I would go the next day. Blanche said the Red Cross had food donations, and would give us gas vouchers to get home. She told me about FEMA money vouchers also.We left my Aunt’s house, and got two motel rooms that evening. The Red Cross had given Blanche $1500 in vouchers for clothes, blankets, food, and gas to get home. She insisted on going to Walmart at midnight that same day to spend her vouchers. She demanded that the store manager get out of bed, go up to the store, and sign off on her vouchers. She wasn’t leaving until he did. We were so far West we were the only evacuees in the area.While she shopped at Walmart until 2am, I was keeping her five year old who refused to go to bed, was jumping on the beds, and screeching. I was afraid we’d get kicked out of the motel. I called Blanche to send her husband to come and get her daughter. When she balked, I told her to come get her child. NOW! And, why was she shopping so late? Can’t you wait until tomorrow???Nope, and here’s why…The next morning me and my two youngest boys drove the seventy miles to the Red Cross. I signed in and a woman asked me to fill out my information. The clerk asked if I was Blanche’s aunt? I told her yes, that Blanche was there yesterday. She excused herself for a minute and walked over to another clerk. The two women were looking at me and talking. The clerk came back to the desk and started grilling me about our trip out there.Was it true that we drove out there caravan style with Blanche, her husband, and their five year old? I said yes. She asked if we stayed anywhere along the way before we got to my folk’s house? I told her yes, that we stayed in a motel in Junction. With the most contemptible look she asked if I had a room for me and my four boys? Yes, I did. Then the clerk told me that Blanche said while my boys and I stayed in the nice ‘cool’ motel room, that she, her husband, and five year old had to sleep in their truck on the side of Interstate 10 without blankets or pillows, and without any extra clothes. They had to evacuate quickly and packed what little they could.I couldn’t believe Blanche told her all that. Blanche’s husband is a First Class Sargent in the Army. Blanche was asking for special treatment in every store, gas station and restaurant all the way across Texas. If proprietors didn’t want to give her a discount as a Hurricane Rita evacuee, she would ask for a discount for her husband’s military service. She usually got one or both. I never asked for a discount, I just paid for what we bought.Because Blanche lied to the Red Cross, she wanted to spend the $1500 before I got there and told the clerk the truth. She could have gotten her First Class Sargent husband in trouble for lying and getting special favors from a charity organization.I was speechless and in shock by the clerk’s accusation. I knew Blanche’s husband could get in trouble, and he’d been so good to me and my boys that I just sat there and didn’t defend myself. Steam must have been coming out of my ears, though. I was fuming. For that, we got $160 for gas, mileage to the penny, and $150 for food for a week. I wanted to strangle Blanche for lying about me and embarrassing me, but also for the clerk giving me and my four boys as little as possible. Needless to say, when I got back to the motel, Blanche had high tailed it to see the folks so I couldn’t corner her. I was livid.Sure, I’ll never see those Red Cross clerks again, but I’d been good to Blanche and her little girl. I cared for her third husband, the stepfather to her little girl. But, who does that kind of thing? Who lies like that?Treacherous may be too strong a word, but Blanche threw me under the bus for money, and could have put her husband’s military job on the line. She bragged that the clothes voucher bought the five year old her entire summer wardrobe for next year, three of the most expensive blankets and pillows, and more food than you could believe.Do I speak to Blanche these days? Funerals. That’s it. She can kick rocks. She’s working on husband number four. As long as she’s divorced and not married, her daughter, now in college, gets tuition fees paid through some type of fund. She’s always working the system.Where Blanche is concerned:Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.Never again.

Just after the 1994 earthquake in Northridge, CA, my then husband and I were standing in line to get information about a loan. We just lost our lease option townhouse so not too much of a loss for us but we considered getting help (ultimately, we decided against it) because our loss was still in the ten thousand dollars range. The line was long and we noticed a lot of people who couldn’t speak English. We thought this was unusual for the area we lived in.I speak a little Spanish and can understand even better. While in the line, I overheard a few conversations in Spanish and was saddened and disgusted! Some of what I heard was people had traveled three hours from mid California (no quake damage there), so they could get food stamps and money (but they have to say they lived in the area and lost in the earthquake).We were pretty discusted of people taking advantage. We even told the FEMA people what I had heard. Didn’t matter, they seriously couldn’t care less. We couldn’t prove anything after all. We later found out that all you had to do was give any address in the zone and poof you got ‘stuff!’ Cash, foodstamps hotel vouchers, I can’t remember everything. I We decided that we didn’t want the help and we managed to pull through.THAT, to me, was WELFARE QUEENS AND KINGS!Sad this happened when there were people who really DID lose a lot or even everything!I hope this helps. It’s not welfare per say but I think it fits close enough.

Hotels may NOT refuse legitimate service animals beforehand, but can of course ask them to leave if they are out of control or damaging. And of course, handlers are responsible for damages.Hotels may refuse ESA’s (even with Doctor letter) and other working dogs traveling with a handler.If it’s a pet friendly hotel, they may put their normal pet restrictions (breed, size, number) on ESA’s and other working dogs traveling with a handler.hotels and short term accommodations are not subject to fair housing laws, except in the case of emergency housing (like a FEMA voucher)