Fun with WIC/EBT

[MadMike]

We finally had to call the cops to come and get her, and the guy that took her away said, "So you spent all your money on lotto and smokes, and it's this girl's fault you can't buy bread? Get in the car and shut up." He got free donuts from then on.

Isn't it great when someone else says what you can't?

The supermarket where I worked was in what looked like an upper-middle class neighborhood, so we didn't really have to deal with food stamps that often, and I don't know if WIC even existed back then.

Of the few food stamp customers I did get, I don't recall anyone going overboard with junk. They might buy a thing of soda, a small amount of snacks, etc., but I seemed to remember most of them buying a fairly large quantity of meat.

The only annoying thing I ever really had to deal with was when people didn't separate their eligible and non-eligible items, and didn't tell me they were paying with food stamps until after I was done ringing everything up. We were part of a large chain, but the store was on the small side, and probably somewhat old, and we didn't have scanners. We had to manually key in everything by price, so there was no way for the system to automatically separate everything, since it had no way to tell if the price I had keyed in was for food or not. When this happened, I had to call the manager up, have him void off all the non-eligible stuff, and then have the customer pay for that order, and then re-ring all the other stuff as a separate order.

[Ree]

Maybe people like her should have thought about all this before they spawned. If you can't feed 'em, don't breed 'em.

So, unless a person can guarantee that they will never lose their job, they shouldn't consider having children?

Not that abuse of the foodstamps, WIC, EBT does not happen, but making general statements like that seems a little unfair, in my opinion.

I guess that just comes from growing up in a country that has had such strong social programs.
Because I never pay for a hospital or doctor visit, and I know that, in the event that we would lose our jobs, there are some programs in place, I don't get so upset by it.

Abuse of the system, yes, but not the fact that the systems are there to begin with.

I know when I was a cashier at a grocery store, a hundred years ago , I used to get a little ticked at some of the stuff that went through my cash courtesy of the welfare program. The way it worked was, we rang the groceries through and put it in as a charge to the agency that looked after it, and the store got paid once a month.

I think there was a limit on the amount, but there were no rules about what they could buy. They were supposed to tell us before we started, that it was a charge, but because it's a small town, we usually knew anayway, since we got to know our customers.

To me, a flashlight that the kid picked up at random while standing at the cash doesn't quite qualify, but it wasn't my place to say anything.

[Kogarashi]

I had a good handful of the people who'd wait to tell me it was a WIC purchase (and fail to separate their purchase properly) until I'd rung up most of it. ::facepalm:: That usually necessitated a void and then a brief (silent) demonstration in sorting WIC purchases.

The most memorable WIC/EBT transaction I can remember really wasn't a SC, just unusual. A middle-aged lady came through with four elderly, mentally disabled gentlemen and a large purchase (at least one full cart). I rang through the whole transaction, and then the lady began handing me EBT cards one at a time. Turns out she was a helper for these four gentlemen, and the EBT cards were for them. I got to spend the next bit swiping EBT cards. The register won't take any past four, though, so I think I had to remove some of the items from the purchase so she could finish paying.

[coop52]

One time I was getting a cart at a food 4 less, and some guy came up to me and said "I'll pay for your food" so I was a bit confused as to why he wanted to do that. So I asked "how and why are you going to pay for my food?". He whipped out his EBT card and says you go into the store shop for your groceries and I'll pay for them and then when we get outside you pay me with cash. My expression was something like .

That's why they switched from stamps to cards in the first place, because people would stand outside of stores and sell the stamps for drug money. I guess people've found a way to go around that.

[Seanette]

One thing that really irritated me in my 7-11 days about food stamp users (this was pre-EBT) was the oft-repeated "Mom sends each kid in with a $1 food stamp. Each kid individually buys a 5-cent piece of candy. Mom then collects all the change and buys beer/cigarettes/lottery with same".

[Crazyredhead]

I get both WIC and EBT. Although my food stamps will probably end this month. I have 5 kids and it is a big help. Although WIC doens't have a very low limit on income. For a family of 7 you can't bring in any more than $50,000.00 a month.

I don't buy junk food. I usually try to stock up on meat. It is expensive and goes quickly in my house. My hubby needs to have meat with every meal or it isn't a meal.

I try to get healthy food. Stuff that I can put together. Yes, I do get some junk food, cookies and candy. I bake my own cakes and cookies. But because of the ease of which my kids can get cavities, they don't get alot of sweets. I get that big bag of Jolly Ranchers and it will last me for 2 months. I like them to. Actually my kids go through milk faster than any sweets.

[RavenStarr]

I do understand that there are people out there who do need Wic/EBT. I was on WIC when my kids were smaller.

I just hate those ones that keep on having kids just so they can get more benefits like more money on a foodstamp card.

I have enough WIC/EBT stories to write a book. I'll share my most recent encounter.

About a month ago a woman comes through my line with a Wic voucher. I asked the woman if that was her signature on the first line. She said no it was her nieces name. I told her I couldn't take it. Well she starts running her mouth asking why not? I called for a manager. She got mad and asked me why I was calling a manager. I looked at her and said: " I have to see if it's ok for you to sign your nieces name on the WIC". Yes I did say that. Well the manager comes over and says no she can't do that. Well the woman starts yelling and cussing,saying there's a baby at home who's got no formula and he's hungry. You know trying to make us feel guilty.So we are just such horrible rotten people.

She did buy one thing though. A 2 litre mountain dew. You know what she handed me to pay for it? A 50 dollar bill. That's right instead of buying just one can of formula so the baby didn't go hungry, she makes an ass of herself because she can't sign her nieces name. Gotta love people like that.

[Crazyredhead]

I have no stories of woe about WIC but I do have an outdated complaint.

Recently our health department changed there format. Instead of signing all of the checks once before handing them to you, you now don't have to. What I mean is that there used to be two signature blocks and before you left the HD you had to sign one and the other one at the time of purchase.

Well, what I was really peeved about is that when I signed it at the store the cashier would tell me that since the signatures didn't match she couldn't authorize it. I tried telling them that when I signed them I was holding a baby and now I am not so the sigs will look different. I usually had to request a manager who would ask for my license and let me through. It must have happened so many times that I guess the WIC agency got tired of the complaints and changed the look of the checks. Now there is only one signature required. I don't even have the folder anymore. My baby tore it up. I'll be getting a new one on my next visit next week.

[Ree]

The fact that we do have members who use these programs is probably a very good reminder to people to be careful about making generalized, judgmental statements when offering opinions on the programs.
The point of the thread is to comment on how some people are being sucky customers when they redeem these vouchers, or whatever, rather than to pass judgment on why the programs exist, or whether they should.

[Crazyredhead]

Don't worry about it. I am not offended in the least. It takes more than some typed words to get me riled. I understand that there are some customers out there who are asses and that no one is adding me to the list.

[Rapscallion]

Like everything else, let's leave it to the people on benefit who suck, not just tarring everyone with the same brush Same as with customers, y'know? Some of them are actually human

Just doesn't feel like many, some days...

Rapscallion

[ladodger34]

Maybe people like her should have thought about all this before they spawned. If you can't feed 'em, don't breed 'em.

My sis literally had an accident with my nephew (the best accident that ever happened to our family BTW). She was on BC and also on anti-biotics and ended up getting pregnant. Long run, it was her fault of course. Short run, it was a dumb mistake that most folks don't have to pay for.

My sis and my bro in law work their butts off and live rent free in my parents old house (my parents inherited my grandmother's house that she paid cash for and still pay for mortgage on their house). They haven't finished school yet and have a hard time making ends meet. Luckily my parents can cover most of the stuff they can't. Even so, my sister still gets WIC because they are dirt poor. They might not live dirt poor, but without my parents, their behinds would nearly be on the streets.

Most people should think about that stuff but mistakes do happen. WIC is an excellent program to make sure that kids and their parents get the basics.

[Nick]

Where I work... we do not accept WIC checks, but we accept "Quest Debit" cards, I guess is the same thing as EBT.

When people ask if we accept Food Stamps, or WIC Checks, and I tell them no, boy, do they sure get mad. They then pull out a wad of $100 bills. I live in a very upper-class area, and most of these people are from the city.

[blas]

Here's two different instances of two different people on WIC and EBT.

One of my friends, who has my godbaby, she and her husband get WIC checks and EBT. Both of them work, but they just don't make enough (and of course, my friend gets no benefits and the same pay I made at the gas station), and during the winter her husband is laid off. They had a baby last winter. They couldn't live on only one (low) income. They never abuse anything and it helps them make it through and raise their child to be healthy.

Then there's the girl I always refer to who used to work at the gas station. Miss "I don't WANNNNNA work", Miss "I don't FEEEEL like it!" Miss "I wanna go HOME...blas won't you come in for me?" Miss "I have MONO!". Ok...she has a baby, WIC and EBT both. The WIC is for the formula for her baby, etc. The EBT is for cookies, french toast sticks, pizzas, etc.......junk food for her and her bf and their friends. She once let a friend borrow her EBT card and spend $20 on it if that friend would give her $20 in cash for a bag of weed. Yes, I'm serious.

There's gracious, good-hearted people like my friend, and then there's scamming types like my ex-coworker.

[Plaidman]

It gets better when people get EBT Cash benfits. Can you say MULTIPLE 18 packs of beer and cartons of cigs?? Happens to me all the time.

I've yet to get a single customer who didn't spend less then 10 bucks on junk food, and I've been there 2 1/2 years! I can tell someone is using ebt right of the bat cause they pile on the junk food, and/or drive in using nice cars and expensive clothes.