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2005-07-02 - 12:18 a.m. The Bread Run Another Bad Citigrrrl entry. I have to keep doing these for a bit. They're cleansing, fun, inspire greatly creative writing, and thankfully go back to over 25 years ago, to a time in which I now have no moral responsibility or control. Back when I lived in Queens NY, finally moved out of my family home, I was struggling to make it as a free-lance artist and designer. Before I'd moved out I had bought - with all my last savings - $700 - a used VW Beetle. It by then was 12 yrs. old and I was making tune-ups and repairs on my own. My neighbors across the courtyard and I were all on welfare and foodstamps and I was desperately trying to find a job while surviving on one 33c Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (3 for a dollar) that I'd divide into 3 meals to last 9 days - one reason I weighed only 98 lbs. at the time! At that time the NYC foodstamp and rent program for the poor was not helping - I can't even recall who was the Mayor at the time - I only know the monthly max was $150 for rent - and $25 every two weeks for foodstamps - and you had to basically sell your soul to come up with the rest to survive. Or, sell whatever...The two gay women across the courtyard had little children in school, and one of the women was prostituting herself three days a week down in Chinatown to make ends meet. Several times I'd drive her to work. I remember going up there with her once, and seeing the women all lined up on couches. At one point one of us realized there was a bread delivery at a local supermarket in the early morning hours every day...a guy in a truck would pull up to the loading dock and roll open his rear panel, and disappear inside to talk to the night crew. One morning we planned our Bread Run. We pulled up in the VW and opened all the windows and all of us, including the kids, quickly grabbed, from the truck racks, the tied ends of each loaf we could reach, and piled the little VW with bread to the roof. We were so happy we had food. We lived on bread for weeks - just bread.