Food Stamps

[jagerofdarkness]

Do food stamps piss anyone else off?

Why is it that you, mother of five, weighing in at oh, I'd say around 280lbs, standing 5 feet tall, cursing as you yell at one of your *EDIT* children that is destroying a display, must spend $350 on one shopping trip and pay with food stamps? Then why must you get angry at me when your dinner (we have some pre-made foods available and rotisserie chickens available that aren't covered by food stamps) isn't covered, or the libido pills, or the expensive lotions or the luxury teas aren't covered? Why then must you make me take it off, mess up my system (because of tax, the machines don't like it when messing with food stamp cards), and act like I wronged you?

I swear, the majority of the people I check out with food stamps act so damned entitled. You know, I accept that some people really do need some help. However, our store is basically a luxury store. We sell very expensive things - I cannot afford lamb or $2.95/box of mac and cheese - I buy cheap food because that's what I can afford on what I'm paid to put up with people like that.

JOD

[Ree]

Do food stamps piss anyone else off?

Actually, food stamps is a common complaint on this site.
Most threads do not end well, as a lot of judgmental comments get tossed around.

Some of our members use or have used the social programs to make ends meet.

I am allowing this thread, but I again ask the members to confine comments to those who are actually abusing the system, rather than calling into question the characters of all people on social assistance, and tarring everyone with the same brush as lazy opportunists.

What you see at the cash register is not always as you perceive it to be as you do not walk in their shoes.

If the comments get too heated, the thread will be closed, and members will be advised to take it to http://www.fratching.com/showthread.php?t=48

[MrSunshineState]

jagerofdarkness, I am SO with you on this one. Unfortunately I live in a part of Florida where alot of people abuse the welfare system.

In fact, back when I worked at the movie theatre, I actually had people go off on me and get absolutely IRATE because the concession stand would not take their food stamps. They acted as if we were discriminating against them. (Funny how they can afford $7.00 movie tickets, yes?)

But my worst experience was when I worked at a grocery store. A job I only kept for two days.

Woman comes up with a cart full of groceries and 3 kids. She is dressed like she has a million in the bank. We are talking designer sunglasses, expensive watch, expensive bracelet her hair and nails are done, designer jeans, expensive strappy sandals, you get the drift.

Her kids are dressed like they are a notch above Oliver Twist. Ratty clothes, holes in them, dirty, etc.

The groceries come to like $285 and she happily presents her food stamp card to pay. Judging by how she was dressed it irritated me, but I let it go. HOWEVER, I escorted her and her children to their car and she had a BRAND SPAKING NEW LINCOLN NAVIGATOR in the parking lot, complete with the dealer tags still in the window.

That made me

She is on welfare, yet can afford the best clothes, hair and nail treatments, a brand new $40,000 + SUV, MY TAX DOLLARS FEED HER, and yet she has the nerve to buy the cheapest most ratty clothes for her kids??? Talk about welfare abuse.

[KamenRiderOsaka]

MrSunshineState, that is the SAME thing that I see here in Texas and it irritates the piss outta me. Back when my husband and I were struggling, we were told we made too much for food stamps. He worked at Walmart for 9 bucks and hour, and I worked part time for 7 bucks an hour, plus was in school. I was told that if I dropped out of school and went full time, we wouldnt need food stamps.

[jagerofdarkness]

MrSunshineState, that is the SAME thing that I see here in Texas

Please edit posts

Yup, I'm in Texas, and our system pisses me off. One of my sups is a wonderful woman, single mother working hard to try and make ends meet, seems like a sweet mom, etc. She's a great boss, too. I think she's told me before that she makes too much for food stamps, yet there are so many people that come in all the time dressed exquisitley, driving nice cars, and buying veal.

I always feel sorry for those kids - having to put up with those kinds of people all the time is sure to mess anyone up.

JOD

[Reyneth]

As my sister (formerly a CPS Social Worker) often says - it's amazing how much money people who have no actual job can have. IOW, lots and lots of under-the-table and/or illegal. It's not fair to people struggling legitimately.

[TWOLF]

I don't know if this has changed but one thing I hated as a cashier with foodstamps was the people who would send their kids into to the store with a fist full of one dollar food stamps. Waht would end up happening is they would have the kids buy 25 cent candy or whatever and when they had enought the parents would come in to buy beer and ciggs. We ended up having to call each other when the kids came in to stop them from doing this.

[0oAmericanGirl]

Things bought with foodstamps

I was talking about this the other day and thought I would share it with you:

I was working the customer service desk when a cashier came up to me with a store order and told me she couldn't do it. I didn't realise that it wasn't a technical error on her register, it was the fact that the order was a wedding cake and the customer was paying with food stamps. You have to realise that I worked in a high end grocery store and this particular wedding cake was almost $400 witout tax. Our system was set up to filter out what was ok to buy and what wasn't. The purchase went through fine and the ladies left with their "free" cake.

I had a customer trying to purchase the frozen bil-jack dog food with food stamp (probably thougth it woud go through) and when it didn't work and after arging with her for a conciderable amount of time, she went to the meat department and purchased beef tips and smiled when she purchased $30 worth of beef tips and ground chuck for her dog.

I was wondering if anyone else had similar stories to share?

MOD EDIT- No need for 2 threads on the same subject. I've merged the two. Next time, do a search before starting a thread like this. ~Ree

[Ljt09863]

im with Badgegirl. i jsut got approved for food stamps. im the only one in the house working(fiancee has to pass a test tomorrow,and if he does, he gets the job!) and i have a newborn, so it wasn't hard to get them, and i really needed them. yeah, my baby isn't eating food yet, but i am, and i have no money for food right now. i have ZERO in my pocket, and $500 in the bank that HAS to go to the bills.

when i get the card, im afraid to buy certain stuff thati would normally buy, just because i don't want people thinking im abusing the system. they gave us a lot of money for the food stamps. i do't knoiw why, since my babby is only 3 weeks and3 days... not exactly eating ham sandwhiches.

[bigjimaz]

Similar situation, different angle.

Back around Christmas time, 1991, when I was a medic we were dispatched to a local Doctor's office for a woman with chest pains. When we arrived the woman, who is obviously in the middle of something very real, is stressing about her new car, asking someone to follow her to the hospital with it. None of the employees there could get away from work so we convinced her to leave her new 1992 Lincoln Town Car at the office. We finally got he packaged up and enroute to the hospital we start asking the standard questions, ie: Name, age weight, past medical history, meds. We get to the part where we ask if she is a subscriber to our service or has she any insurance. Yep, you guessed it. Her reply? Naw I don't have any of that stuff. I'm on medicaid.

[Jewels]

When I was a cashier at a grocery store, I really had mixed feelings about food stamps (aka EBT). While it was a great program for the people who used it correctly, I just kept seeing it get abused day after days. One woman came in and bought $50 worth of candy on it once. Other people would try to buy the premaid foods with it, or the crappy toys that are found in the aisles, and scream at me when they couldn't.

EBT customers always had the most complicated orders. Half would be on the EBT, then 1/4 on this and the remainder on some other card.

What really frustrated me was that at 10pm, these men would come into work after working a 60 hour week. Dirt and grease would be caked on their hands, their work clothes worn and dirty, their bodied exhausted. These were the people just scrapping by, and who could use some state aid, but didn't qualify. Then you would see some chickie gabbing on her cell phone, with her hair and nails did, and she would whip out the EBT card.

I did love the WIC program...no room for abuse there.

[workerbee222]

I/m totally surprized a wedding cake got through. Well, maybe not totally.

In our state additional credit is added to the account for necessities "for the children." It frustrated one of the CSRs to see the adults use that credit to buy things for themselves, since she used to be on the system, and used it honestly.

In the case of food stamps, I suspect keeping the mother healthy is of great concern. (You don't say if you're nursing, but that requires extra calories. Lots.)

I had a Mom come through my line and pay for some food for a birthday party with food stamps. Her 5 year old son was disabled. You know what I thought? "thank G*d that kid has a Mom like that. If it was me, I'd have run away from home, myself."

She was a class act, all the way. She was genuinely thankful for the recent development of her child, with no self pity and no entitlement attitude. Her children were well-behaved, too. Whenever I get frustrated that things aren't going well, I still think of that Mom, and how graceful and dignified she was.

[BookstoreEscapee]

when i get the card, im afraid to buy certain stuff that i would normally buy, just because i don't want people thinking im abusing the system. they gave us a lot of money for the food stamps. i don't knoiw why, since my baby is only 3 weeks and 3 days... not exactly eating ham sandwhiches.

I'm assuming what you normally buy isn't filet mignon and dom perignon... Does it cover formula as well, or is that only covered under WIC? Plus, as someone else pointed out, if you're nursing, you'll need some extra nutrition for yourself.

BTW: Congrats on your new little one!

[SuperB]

I really hate seeing the ones who need the help getting screwed by those abusing the system. I have a convenience store and we do not take food stamps. I had someone tell me that we "had" to if we sold items like bread and meat. (bread, yes but the only "meat" we sell is lunchmeat and bacon and no, I don't "have" to do anything)
But I've had people ask if we took them when their only purchase rang in were beer, cigarettes and chips.

[OfficeSlug]

I did love the WIC program...no room for abuse there.

I do like that the kids are getting milk and formula.... but then with the $20 the parents "save", they buy beer and cigs on a separate order! I just don't get it....