Animals!

A comment on an article about an African American woman living with her children in a Section 8 home with a terrible rat infestation:

pygmalian8 February 21, 2011 at 10:18AM

If you live like animals, animals are attracted to you.

The article, by the Times Picayune's Katy Reckdahl, possesses the human and relate-able details about the women and her family, that characterize Reckdahl's writing and make the comments seem all the more egregious. It begins:

Samara Egana knew the infestation was out of control when her 5-year-old son Moses told her: "Mama, I just saw a bunny." It was brown, with a long tail, he said. Another rat, she thought.

So, get it, the little boy that mistook the rat for a bunny, he deserves to live in squalor because he is poor.

A number of other comments suggest, like the one pasted below, that the rats provide a needed prod to get this family off the dole:

Dynomoose February 21, 2011 at 9:37AM

I'm not saying that rats are acceptable, but subsidized housing should be uncomfortable enough to encourage those using it to improve their situation so that they can move on.