Two REAL food stamp stories..

[SoCalDem]

Story One:

A modestly dressed lady pays for a "store bought" decorated birthday cake for her kid and gets sneers and dirty looks from people behind her in line.. This was back in the day of the old food stamps...not the debit cards used these days.. I checked her out in my line, and the customer behind her could not wait to comment to me about how she hated to se HER tax dollars being WASTED on bakery dept cakes, since SHE couldn't afford to BUY cakes...SHE baked them herself.. The additional HORROR... the food-stamp lady bought SODA POP too...

I waited for her to finish and then told her that the food stamp lady was a regular customer and the cake was for her son who was in the hospital with leukemia..He was 8 yrs old, and the reason they were on food stamps was because her husband had been laid off and she had had to quit her job a few months earlier, to take care of the sick boy..

The "complainer" turned quite red in the face, and said nothing more..


............................................................................................

Story Two:

Mom & kids paid for groceries with food stamps.. They are very embarrassed when it comes time to pay, and Mom goes out of her way to "explain" why they are using food stamps.. (I could tell they were new at it).. She practically apologized for buying "cook-out stuff"..and yes they bought STEAKS....AND soda pop....and Mom paid cash for an inexpensive bottle of wine..The HORRORS!!!

Why??

Dad's company got sold, and he was let go, along with 30 others.. No warning..just See ya!.. Mom was a stay-at-home Mom to 4 kids...oldest 8 yrs old.. The day they shopped was the LAST day in their foreclosed-on house, and they wanted the kids to have a Good memory of their move, so they planned a cook-out.. They were moving to a trailer that was 1/4 the size of their house, and they knew the kids would be uncomfortable there, and wanted one last family-fun time before they moved on..

.............................................................................................


People with food stamps or a food stamp card do not OWE an explanation.. (some offer one, because they feel humiliated and do not want people looking down on them).. They qualified for the benefit by having to unravel their personal lives in front of a stranger at a bureaucratic agency..No doubt their children were questioned as well..

Most people who get food stamps, get them because some calamity has befallen their family, and grovelling to feed the kids is just another layer of "poo", that gets dumped on them.. No one EVER waved food stamps proudly.. They were always pulled out furtively, and gingerly handed over as payment for food....food they needed to stay ALIVE..

Shame on us for making them feel worse than they already do..

Should food stamps be used for sodas, junk food, chips?? Probably NOT, but the snackfood lobby worked very hard to make sure those foods ARE included, because they KNOW that poor people consume these foods too, and they don't want to lose their "business".. SO..unless we are ready to lobby congress to CHANGE the rules, just can it with the critiquing the food that people use food stamps for..

If they are bad shoppers, they will run out of food before they run out of stamps..but unless they show up at your house asking to be fed, it's NOT your business..

Food stamps are not FREE.. They pay for them..

Most people who use them are quite frugal, but no one ever starts a tirade with:

"I saw this lady with food stamps at the the store today.. She was buying dried beans, rice, hamburger, day-old bread, store brand soups, marked-down vegetables... and you know WHAT?? When she left the store, I watched her get into a big ole......




BUS"

[silverweb]

1. Thank you.

No further comment needed.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. I got one for you, SoCal

A few years ago I was waiting in the waiting room for my daughter who was taking dance. A woman who I had chatted with briefly on prior occasions said to me: "I almost lost my Christianity", and then proceeded to tell me about a woman in Food Lion paying with food stamps who had acrylic nails.

I was speechless, and I said to her "Sounds to me like you never had any Christianity in the first place. How do you know she didn't get a gift cerfificate for her birthday? How dare you be so judgmental?"

She never spoke to me again. Small loss. She was an asshat.

[TahitiNut]

65. Where do you get a gift certificate for food stamps?

Are food stamps what we use to mail food to people in Bangladesh and Sudan?

:dunce: :silly: :dunce:

[SoCalDem]

67. Nail salons give gift certificates..you silly goose

[TahitiNut]

77. My nail salon never tol' me I could get food stamp gift certificates!

I's not gonna go there anymore fer sure! :dunce:




:hide:

[countingbluecars]

3. Excellent post.

Thank you.

[wryter2000]

4. That's one that grinds my teeth

I used to shop in an inner city supermarket where lots of people used food stamps. Just out of curiosity and so I could debunk the myths, I used to sneak a peek into their carts. I used to see onions, whole chickens, turkey neck bones, beans...just the sort of thing to get the maximum bang in calories and protein for the buck.

What the F is worng with people? They're perfectly happy to give Halliburton millions upon millions to do a shitty job at whatever they touch, but God forbid someone get a steak with assistance from the goverment.

And you could remind people (if you're as old as I am) that LBJ instituted food stamps to help agriculture, not to help poor people.

[SoCalDem]

6. And lots of people are so humiliated that they don't even apply

for food stamps, even if they qualify.. Lots of old people fit the bill, but would rather cut back on food instead of asking for help.. People with children have no choice..because it;s a rare mother who would cut back on food for her kids.

[roguevalley]

16. my dad and mom could but didn't. my dad shoveled shit down at

the stock yard and my mom 'went on a diet' to make sure we were okay. they are the two greatest people in the known universe, I love them so. They should have taken them, they earned them, but they didn't. My mom and dad. American Heroes, just like those food stamp people. They are my brothers and sisters in misery and hope.

[northzax]

19. very, very true

I myself spent six months caging food from free buffets and my friends because I didn't want to take government aid. Should have, but thought that would make me into a failure. The line between here and there is never very thick for almost everyone.

[Hamlette]

78. many eligible people in my state do not apply

food stamps has an outreach program, ads on radio etc. Because my state had one of the lowest participation rates, they (the feds) did the outreach here. Our state legislature went ballistic, even though states pay nothing.

This year, even though we are still one of the lowest states in terms of participation, the feds didn't run the outreach ads here because of our legislature making such a stink.

I work in the food stamp office. Trust me, if you want to defraud a public assistance program? You wouldn't mess with food stamps. We run you through all kinds of check and have a very active program to detect fraud. Also, the money can only be spent for food items at a food store, and if you're in college? You can only get them if you work 20 hours a week and have kids. You might be surprised at how low the fraud rate is.

The highest fraud is in child care. It is estimated to be about 6%. We pay the money directly to the parent now. When we paid the money to the child care provider, it was estimated that the providers defrauded us out of 8%.

When you consider that pubic assistance is under 2% of the federal budget (yes, less than 2% of your tax dollars go to those programs) and you hear about $9 BILLION missing in Iraq, you really ought to get a life if "welfare fraud" bugs you so much. (It's one of the reason I hate Reagan so much. I associate him with popularizing the welfare queen stereotype.)

We did a study in our state on "long term" public assistance recipients. The average time spend on assistance is 16 months so long term was anything longer than that. A long term "user" has an average of 3 major barriers to self sufficiency. The "major barrier" list includes things like: a parent or child with major mental or physical health problems expected to last longer than 1 year.

Yeah, there are a few people who might not fit your defintion of "deserving" but I wouldn't trade places with anyone who is in public assistance. Oh. And if you knew the population I serve? Neither would you.

[brer cat]

93. And thanks to the workers in public assistance who offer dignity!

My daughter receives food and child care assistance. She is a college senior (with a 4.0 gpa) and two pre-school children, with no support from their dad. She works 2 16-hour + 1 8-hour shifts at a hospital every weekend when grandparents are available to keep the children. Then she is "off" for the week to attend classes, study, cook, clean house and spend time with her children.

She was totally humiliated when she had to apply for assistance, but the case worker treated her with much respect and dignity. She was treated not as someone trying to "get" something for nothing, but as someone who DESERVED temporary assistance because she was doing all she could to improve her situation.

Thank you Hamlette!

[etherealtruth]

15. Don't you know the poor ...

...are lazy and bad ... they most certainly do not deserve any small joys or "treats" in life :sarcasm:

At least that's the way it seems to "hear" some people "talk"

[wryter2000]

40. Heck I figure

If they can get by on food stamps and save enough for some treats, more power to them. I couldn't do it.

[scarletlib]

5. Thanks

[rucky]

7. When I was a checker...

A customer sneered because the mom in front of her was buying organic food with her EBT. Did she expect her to buy junk instead?

They can't win with some people.

[SoCalDem]

11. I worked in an upscale community and you would have been amazed

to see all the bounced checks for $20 and less.. These richie-riches were a paycheck away from food stamps themselves, and were just whistling into the wind.. One lady had FOUR bounced checks and yet she drove.........a LEXUS..:)

edit.. the bounced checks totalled LESS than $100, and the services charges were $100 by themselves.. That's how "close" these "well-off" people cut it..

[LostinVA]

47. Oh yes -- I managed a bookstore in a $$$ area

Bounced checks? Lots. From who? Mostly doctors, lawyers, contractors, etc.... and they hardly EVER made good on them.

[serryjw]

8. When I was on chemo I was shopping for food

I felt nauseous and took a banana to eat. When I went to the check out I gave the gal the left over skin and she said " Oh, you where the ONE that stole our banana" ( she was kidding, SOME ONE REPORTED ME!)

[havocmom]

9. You've done it again! Posted a great piece AND played

the part of of conscious here at DU.

Thanks, for ALL you do to keep us aware of the need for humanity in all our mundane daily encounters. ALL people deserve respect and dignity. The poor have usually earned it the hard way.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

10. Now those are stories I can believe

Thank you for posting.

Over the course of the last 30 years I have lived in an array of big-city neighborhoods - some nice and some not-so-nice, but most of them a mix of the two. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a shopper use food stamps. I attribute this to two reasons:
- As you point out, people don't wave stamps around. They are not proud of being on assistance.
- I don't watch to see how other shoppers pay because IT'S NONE OF MY FUCKING BUSINESS.

[roguevalley]

12. god. my heart aches for them. did they say it within her hearing?

probably, the fuckers. don't they know that ALL of us are one paycheck away from a card board box?

[SoCalDem]

18. The cake lady was a regular customer, and had worked at

the dry cleaners place in our center, so we all "knew" her.. Her son DID recover, but it was a tough year or two for them.. They moved back to Orange County to be nearer to Grandma & Grandpa, so their financial dilemma resolved itself..

The other family moved to a different town, and that was the last time they shopped at our store.. I hope they made out ok..

[murray hill farm]

27. When i was on food stamps...in the 70s

and i was a single mom and a student, i was only able to buy unprepared food..prepared food, like a cake, was not something that was allowed..only food..and sometimes seeds to grow food, but certainly no wine..no allowed..and it also did not cover none food items like soap. Has that changed?

[SoCalDem]

34. We had an in-store bakery and it was an eligible item

This was in 1991..

[Warpy]

43. Some prepared food is OK, I think

and certainly a frozen foods cake would still be allowed. Drawing a line at bakery items would also affect bread, and I don't thing they want to do that.

It's kind of silly not to allow soap, though.

[murray hill farm]

86. they did not allow soap because it wasnt food..

and at that time the food stamp program was a dept of agriculture program..i dont know what it is now...but u could buy packaged bread, just not bakery bread..although u could buy the flour and eggs, etc to make your own. Then, anyway...it was restricted to just food items.

[brer cat]

105. It's still limited to food only. Certainly no alcohol or nicotine.

Unfortunately no children's meds, no soaps, no tooth paste, etc. I guess the line has to be drawn somewhere, but there are some really essential items that are non food.

[SoCalDem]

45. Where we lived in the 70's they gave the actual FOOD

at a place downtown.. Families lined up for bags of flour, eggs, cheese, rice beans, baby formula, ceral etc...

Liquor has never been allowed, but people pay for part of their groceries with cash..
Our store had a deli/bakery and a chinese kitchen (yum)..They could use stamps for deli/bakery but NOT the chinese food, because it was considered take-out..

[roguevalley]

28. me too. there but for the grace of god...

[niyad]

13. thank you for those glimpses into people's private lives. I wonder what

the people who criticize those who are using food stamps would feel like if their own purchases were being scrutinized and criticized.

reagan's fictitious "cadillac welfare mom" is something that needs to be removed from the national memory banks.

when we are spending nearly 10 BILLION a week supporting the pentagon, halliburton and its ilk, and an illegal, immoral and unjust war, when the rich are getting tax breaks for which our grandchildren will be paying-- to hear ANYONE griping about food stamps makes me ill.

I know a number of very poor people who have been cut off their food stamps, with absolutely NO explanation given--their calls and requests for answers go completely without response.

[LibDemAlways]

14. Along the same lines....I used

to work in a travel agency. One of the regular customers called one day and went ballistic over the fact that on a flight the night before he hadn't received the special vegetarian meal he had requested. I calmed him down, apologized, and asked who the agent was who had handled his reservation. He told me and added, "I called her last Friday at closing time and she promised me she'd take care of it." He then continued ranting about the poor service. Finally, I couldn't take it. I interrupted him with, "The agent who set up your reservation was probably distracted by the fact that she just found out her cancer has returned and she had a chemo appointment that afternoon." Boy did that shut him up quick.

I learned long ago never to make judgments about any situation without knowing all the facts. All too easy to open mouth and insert foot.

[nini]

17. My story

When my son was 8 years old I was in head-on collision that left me in a wheelchair for almost a year. I had to go on welfare and food stamps after my sick leave ran out and before I could return to work.

My sisters would drive me to the grocery stores and there I was in a wheelchair having to pay for our groceries with food stamps. I hated it but had to feed my son so you do what you have to do. The bitch checker who knew me as a repeat customer for years had the nerve to say to me that she couldn't believe I'm using food stamps. Well, I told her this is what they were meant to be used for and if there was a problem with that she needed to keep her opinions to herself. I really should have been more evil to her but I wasn't quite as assertive then as I am now.. Anyway, on may way out another cashier Sally, whom I adored, came up to me and asked me how I was doing.. I told her what the other one had said. Sally, ratted the bitch out and she got in trouble for it. I'm lucky I live in a fairly liberal area because I know this cashier would have gotten away with this in many places.

It is not anyone's business what a person's circumstances are that require them to need assistance. I had an obvious reason why I needed them as I was unable to work and in a wheelchair. But just because someone is mobile and has decent clothes on doesn't mean they haven't fallen on hard times either. You don't have to be living in the street to be struggling to survive.

I hope I hear someone complaining about someone using food stamps one day.. I will let them have it with both barrels. I hope one day they get to experience first hand what it's like to be put in the situation where that's how you feed your family.

[spuddonna]

97. How DARE she?!

Some people have no heart... I'm so sorry someone was that cold to you... :( I don't understand people like that at all... No compassion...

[Neil Lisst]

20. I salute you and your stories.

Color me dubious of the source of the other story told elsewhere on the board today.

Don't they ever get a NEW story to tell about welfare mothers?

[SoCalDem]

21. I didn't read it all.. Was she wearing a fur coat and dripping with gems?

I could tell it was my friend Ann Ecdotal again

[Neil Lisst]

36. You got it!! That was HER!!

I haven't checked the amount that we spend on food stamps in a long time, but it's not a big number compared to what we're spending to occupy Iraq.

[ulysses]

22. thank you.

K&R.

[earth mom]

23. 70% of the people in this country are living paycheck to paycheck....

many of us are just a breath away from having our own house of cards blowing down upon us.

So how can anyone complain or judge someone trying to keep food on the table for their family any way they can? :banghead:

BTW-Thanks for posting those heartbreaking stories. :cry:

[SoCalDem]

25. The little boy ended up OK, and I have a feeling that the family

who was moving did ok too..:)

[earth mom]

73. Great! I love happy endings!

:grouphug:

[qanda]

24. Thank you, thank you, thank you

Your post brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of the days when I was young and we had to use food stamps. My father had left my mother with five children to raise. He made good money, but only gave my mother $75 a month in support. It *was* embarrassing and humiliating and every emotion in between. Any person who has enough nerve to judge someone's situation without knowing ANYTHING about them, shouldn't be afraid of being called a freeper, they should be afraid of being a self-righteous jerk.

[cssmall]

26. It's really pathetic.

I have seen arguments raising from the use of a damn card for the benefits. Truth of the matter, it makes it easier to get help than before with the stamps. I remember, living in a poor state, watching African-American grandmothers buying food for their grandchildren. Let me tell you, it wasn't pop or candy (except for the once a month treat), it was everything that one could live off for a money.

Also, I've been on food stamps. I had just had a daughter, my wife and I both were undergraduates, we had nowhere else to turn. It's not like either of our folks could have afforded to buy groceries for us. Thing is: you pay for Welfare, you pay for Food Stamps, you pay for Unemployement so that when you need them, they're there!

I have never seen any abuses personally and I have seen so many cases of people that honestly deserved and needed food stamps, but because they didn't want some bureaucrat standing over them as if they were God or judging them for the fact that they had a baby at 16 because they didn't get education about contraceptives in high school.

It's fucking sick that people have to justify getting help. It's fucking sick that people seem to think that so many others fuck the system. I believe the actual amount is BELOW .5% if I remember correctly, the system updates on all sides and it's not like you can hide a job from the government very well. And, the other posters are right in this: it's fucked up that some goddamned rich company can whine about losing profits, etc and get corporate welfare, but the man that used to work for XYZ company that was outsourced is stigmatized because he's getting unemployment, food stamps, medicaid, and other benefit programs. Fixated on the Welfare King and Queen as the general Republician populous is, Reagan, Bush and Bush II know they could never win anything again if they took those programs away, so they just fucking spend, spend, spend.

Bleh. Sorry about that rant. :D

[SoCalDem]

33. The abuses are easy to fix.. We did it..

We were having a problem for a while with WIC ..a FEW ..emphasis on FEW... would use their vouchers for the case of formula $35.38 (back when I was checking 'em out)..they got TWO per month..and the scammers would get both cases of formula..on the first (or whenever they got their new vouchers) and then a few days later they would "return" them , saying the "doctor had changed the baby's formula...conveniently to one that was NOT listed on the voucher,AND one that we did not carry...so they asked for a REFUND....

They must have thought no one was smart enough to see what they were trying to do, so the manager did give the refund the first time, but posted a BIG sign on the door that said that WIC-eligible formula was NOT refundable without a doctor's letter... He knew it was BS, but it did the trick.. He WAS smarter than the scammers..:)

[cssmall]

37. WIC is easier to abuse because more people qualify.

That's the only thing about it, but for extreme majority of people on WIC in the US, they are not cheating.

[LostinVA]

58. My pediatric nurse mom thinks WIC is a wonderful program

She also thinks EVERY child should get a free breakfast before school every day.

[SoCalDem]

63. WIC is good when it's used properly..

Most moms use it well..I wish there was more attention spent to convincing them to breastfeed though..but that's just me :)

I did have an issue once with a young woman who tried to buy Honey-Nut Cheerios instead of the plain Cheerios.. She got irate when I sent the box boy to get the regular cheerios.. She said... "I don't WANT those..my boyfriend doesn't like them".. .. I politely reminded her that the WIC vouchers were for the children, not the boyfriend, and she could pay separately for HIS cereal.. She got a bit huffy, but did pay for them separately.. She never came back through my line though :)
I guess she though the others would let her slip it past them.. I didn't really mind, since the WIC vouchers really slowed down the line :)..

[zbdent]

62. You have that right

my RW brother collected on WIC when they had their little girl . . . this was well before he showed me that he decided that he didn't like the idea of a Vietnam Veteran in the White House after all . . .

[HockeyMom]

29. I can tell you my OWN situation

Husband's job was offshored. IT, what else? That was the first time back in the early 90s for over 6 months. He had been making just under 6 figures. We had two nice cars and a nice house. When our savings and then the unemployment ran out, we used credit cards to pay the mortgage and bills. We were just about at the point of losing the house. Could not sell the cars and either work or look for it. We did not apply for food stamps, but got our food from a local church food pantry. Our kids got subsidized breakfasts and lunches at school. Yet, to look at our cars, fortunately paid for, and our house, people would probably blast us too.

We were holding on by a thread when he did finally get a job (much less but still decent). In hindsight, little did we know that it was only the beginning of two more offshorings.

Assume nothing until you have worked in their shoes.

[rustydog]

30. Way to go! I applaud you.

There but for the grace of God go I.

Who would Jesus judge in line?

[Poppyseedman]

31. My wife works at a grocery store

I can tell you some REAL horror stories like the young people who come though her line with rolls of 20's enough to choke a horse, with diamonds as big as rocks, necklaces that cost thousands of dollars, yet pay with a Food Stamp card that has several hundred dollars of cash left on it for that month and send in their sister to use the rest with the same ID card.

People who spend literally hundreds of dollars on absolute crap they think is food.

People who line up their family member use their Food Stamp card that will use up all $1,800 in one shopping spree.

People who dress and drive better cars than we do as a family and outright tell my wife how they manipulate the system to get as much money as possible.

People who are married but declare themselves as single unwed mothers to increase benefits.

people who tell the agency they have grand kids as household members to increase their benefits to the max. Their mothers also declare them as household members.

My wife is a very compassionate person, but in the last year she has worked as a grocery store cashier has totally turned her around with the food stamp program. She tells me maybe 1/3 the people she see use the program actually need it, The rest are just sucking off the system like leeches. A vast majority are immigrants

It's broken and needs to be fixed.

[JanMichael]

32. Wow. An Omniscient wife---you should play the lottery

If your wife is such an expert at recognizing the worth of jewelry from three feet away, she might also want to consider a career change.

[SoCalDem]

39. They timed us with our customers.. It would take too much time

to learn all that about our customers.. I would have been fired for taking too much time with customers to find out all that stuff:)

[Poppyseedman]

50. See post # 46

Yes, my wife gets timed by the item scanned by the minute. She is good at what she does. How hard is it to listen for a "beep" and maintain a conversation?

[LostinVA]

61. That's what I was thinking -- I've worked retail

[Poppyseedman]

46. Ok,

You aren't the one who has to deal with my wifes frustration as she watches people flaunt their jewelry and tell her how they use the system. She does actually talk to them as she checks them out. She sees people who line up their extended families six and eight carts deep and pay with a food stamp card.

My family was on food stamps for many years as a child (abandoned mother w/ five kids) and understand the shame associated with it. My wife was on food stamps before I married her so she also knows the shame of needing a handout, so take your smart ass answer and stick it.

She sees every day people who abuse the system and who think it a freaking game.

Of course, there are people in real need and should get as much help as possible for legitimate reasons. Far too many know how to use the system and defraud the government.

[SoCalDem]

48. She needs to look in the break room for a USDA poster

We had one posted..It lists the phone number to call to report fraud.. The people who are cheating, need to be reported.. There's a toll free number..If the poster isn;t there (it should be by law)..she should ask for the nunmber from the manager

[Poppyseedman]

52. Thank you, that is an excellent idea, one I didn't think of.

[Thtwudbeme]

54. I have worked with the general public my entire life

I wasn't being a smart ass, I was being truthful about how I feel about your post, and I wrote it in a bitchy way.

Sorry.

Now---again, if your wife is able to tell the value of jewelry at that distance, in that ammount of time, while maintaining conversation, AND noticing what they are wearing, how many family members are there....

AND she is omniscient....

Again, I tell ya....wrong job.

Play the lottery.

[Poppyseedman]

72. Upon reflection and after calming down a bit

I realize it's really about perception. My wife and I both experienced poverty in our lives. I mean real tough times. We both also have experienced abundance. Right now, it's about half way in between.

The big difference is simple. What we saw as poverty in our own lives years ago and actually what passes as being poor today is not the same.

What passes as poor today is a far cry from what we have experienced. We would have given our eye teeth to be considered "poor" as some of the people today who qualify as poor.

When my wife sees well dressed people with nice jewelry and many real 20's and 50's being pulled out of purses and wallets to pay for non food items after they just spend $300.00 for food and still have 1,000 left in their Food Stamp card, it rubs her the wrong way in a big way.

It's really about perception.

[MissB]

74. Wow. Not only were you rude in your reply

but you actually bolded the rude part. :rofl:

[LostinVA]

60. I guarantee at least 98% of the people on the program need it

I know someone who works at the office, and they turn down people who need food stamps ALL the time -- it kills them to do it, but the guidelines are horrifically narrow now.

It does need to be fixed -- more people need to be on the program, and benefits increased.

Geez, did I stumble onto a different message board?

[China_cat]

70. $1800 a month on EBT??????

What world do you live on?

In order to get $1140 EBT in Illinois you have to have 10 people living in the houshold and a COMBINED income of no more than $4217. Illinois has one of the highest benefit amounts in the country.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/applicant_recipients/fs_Res_Ben_Elig.htm

This is the url for Ag dept rules for food stamps.

Looks like poppyseedman should actually be poopyseedman.

[Poppyseedman]

75. $1,800 was actually the total bill

They paid with cash for what was not covered by the card.

Didn't mean to mislead you

[China_cat]

85. Yes, it was real easy to misunderstand

"People who line up their family member use their Food Stamp card that will use up all $1,800 in one shopping spree."

[dmr]

96. $1,800 was actually the total bill??

In a combination of DBT and cash? There definitely has to be more to this scenario.

I don't think your wife should play the lottery as suggested.

Things are not always what they seem, which is why I try not to be judgmental of my fellow man.

If your wife's story is true about the amount spent, and the jewelry worn, it sounds to me that there were more than one household shopping here, along with a benefactor (most likely the jeweled one) helping this family out.

I was briefly on food stamps after an accident left me disabled. To look at me, I looked like my former middle class self, but sadly I was in dire straits. Thankfully, I no longer have to rely on this important benefit.

Now, about a possible benefactor. I have in my multiple years on this earth, when I was working and making good money, have shopped for families, sometimes taking them with me. The purpose was to fill their larder so mom wouldn't have to worry about stretching her food stamps a full month. That worry is a hell of a burden on top of other daily worries.

I tell you what, I am less concerned with low income benefit abuse than I am concerned with the high income abuse of the likes of Haliburton and their corporate welfare; or the Medicaid fraud perpetuated by clinics/physicians/lawyers. It seems to be the little guy people get all up in arms about, while we shrug our shoulders to the corporate's sense of entitlements.

[proud2BlibKansan]

71. How the hell does she KNOW whether they actually need it?

Have you not read this thread? And who does your wife think she is judging these people?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

83. NO ONE gets $1800 in food stamps. you're full of crap

A woman on welfare with 5 kids gets about $600 a month for food (if I remember right) every additional person bumps you up less than $100.

I've lived in poverty or on the edge of it for my whole life, surrounded by people in the same situation...

Most states now require you to use your food stamps by the end of the month, and if you don't, they take them back. So for instance, if you have a good month and get some temp work so you can save the stamps for the next month when your benefits will be cut because you made money the month before... you are screwed.

about 1 out of 5 will at some time accept a benefit they probably shouldn't.
1 out of 75 will regularly try to scam the system.
1 out of 2 businessmen will regularly scam the system.

SS#'s are required to get benefits for kids, two households cannot claim the same kids.

That's just off the top of my head.

[Extend a Hand]

99. boy, that was NOT my experience checking groceries...

it's been over 20 years ago, but I checked groceries in the southside of birmingham AL right next to the food stamp office. The majority of recipients were old people, some really old. Most had to ride the bus to the foodstamp office once a month. Then, in order to have help bagging and carrying the bags in when they got home, they would hire the 'jitney men' that were really old retired men that would sit on the benches outside the grocery and help bag and give people rides for a tip.

People were not supposed to by toilet paper or dish soap or diapers with food stamps. If they needed those things (hardly luxery items) they would either have to hope the cashier would let them slide or cash in food stamps for 50cents on the dollar with the scumbags that hung around outside on foodstamp day hoping to take advantage.

Foodstamp day was always crazy. These people would not have suffered the lines like they did if they hadn't run out of food from the previous month. I always thought it was really sad how old people had to scrimp like that just to get by. I sure do hope they have improved the process and eliminated the really stupid rules.

[madrchsod]

35. i`ve been on short term disabitly from work

and my wife was working several different jobs yet we qualified and are using food stamps till the end of march. i have no problem with any one using food stamps unless it`s for junk food.

[SoCalDem]

42. Define "junk"

In OUR house, Kraft mac n cheese is JUNK.. Boxed instant potatoes is JUNK.. Bologna is JUNK...Hot dogs..JUNK..

My husband loves his diet soda, so of course we don;t consider THAT ...JUNK :evilgrin:

It's not up to OTHER PEOPLE to decide what someone else's JUNK IS..:)

The Ag Dept could stop it in a heartbeat IF THEY WANTED TO..

Personally.. I would like to see food stamps morphed into something that would allow:

soap
toothpaste
laundry soap
toilet paper

and NOT allow

chips
sodas
candy
frozen dinners
prepared frozen foods
packaged specialty salads
sweetened cereals
and meat would have an upper limit per lb

but that's just me :)

[Warpy]

44. I don't care WHAT they use them for

because that "junk food" may represent either ignorance or just desperation to splurge on something they used to take for granted in better times.

Judge not lest ye be judged.

[Mabus]

56. Or they may not know how to cook

or are too tired to when they get home from work. It is surprising how many people there are that have trouble cooking even simple things. There are a lot of people who work at jobs where the last thing they want to do when they get home is to cook. I had a friend who spent all day preparing food at the university. She was on her feet all day and dealing with steam tables and cleaning up after people when she got home the last thing she wanted to do was spend it at the stove preparing a meal. She used to buy things that could be prepared quickly and with minimum effort. For her it was easier to buy packaged "junk" food than to prepare it.

LOL, right now I have a friend who would rather buy "Hamburger Helper" than buy the pasta and make her own gravy. She just doesn't see it as the same thing. I know, she's eaten at my house when I've made cooked hamburger, made gravy and then added my own pasta. She loves my "Hamburger Helper" but her son tells me she still buys the pre-packaged shit because that's what her mom uses. :shrug: I don't get it but she's happy.

But I totally agree with you.

[spuddonna]

100. You know, we were on food stamps for just a few months, but I remember...

... the looks and comments that my mom got because my mom bought some 'junk food'. There was a bag of potato chips, pretzels and some dip in with the other items for our Thanksgiving dinner. My mom caught nasty looks and snide comments from the people in back of her in line. I know because I was about 10 and got to 'enjoy the show'.

There were the four of us kids, and it was a treat for us - the kids. We were poor. The 'junk food' was something my parents could do for us - something special.

I can remember my mom opening that bag of chips for us and serving them to us as we watched some holiday show on TV. My two brothers and sister (who were lucky and didn't have to help my mom do the shopping) happily munched away but I couldn't bring myself to eat any of them...

I'm crying as I write this which is kind of a shock to me. I hadn't really thought about how angry I was at how my mother had been treated. And my mom is a real live saint. My sister spent the first year of her life in the hospital (she had her pancreas removed) and when she came home my mom kept her alive - and I mean that. She saved my sisters life many times. She did not deserve this shitty treatment...

We were only on food stamps for a short time because my father was laid off. My mother bought a bag of potato chips and it was as if she'd bought crack cocaine for us...

NO ONE has ther right to judge people. No one...

[The Flaming Red Head]

38. I was in nursing school using food stamps

Working 3 days a week at a hospital for free (training) and 2 days in school with a son under 10. Some people would be so mean and make such snide comments that I would try to explain that I was working just not getting paid, yet. I’d never begrudge or turn anyone down for food. I’m surprised the lady could afford gas to put in her Lexus. We got food stamps and then I went to the plasma bank twice a week to buy gas to get to school.

[BlueJazz]

41. I have NO problem with People using some of their Food Stamp..

..coupons (or whatever) for soda or Ice Cream or cookies.
Fuck..I've heard that crap all my life from Repugs.

I mean, heaven forbid that some poor person, down on their luck, should enjoy
a soda or dish of ice cream or a cookie.
Yeah..I want these pieces of Human Garbage to Suffer!
How dare they have 10 minutes of feeling like a regular person by eating a Treat.
God-Damn-it..There's some cold-hearted bastards in this world.

But of course, Military Contractors can Fuck the Populace out of Billions and that's cool.

[wildeyed]

49. I can't imagine caring enough to pay attention to how someone

is paying for their groceries, although I do love peering into people's carts to see what they are buying.

But seriously, but for the grace of god....... I don't begrudge anyone a few simple pleasures.

[SoCalDem]

53. That reminds me of a funny cartoon I saw once

A woman is unloading grocery bags on the kitchen counter..hubby standing by with another bag.. She has a quizzical look on her face, as she holds up an item.. Hubby says.. Oh That? This guy I met at the store and I were talking about how boring shopping is..so we traded carts at the check out line"..

[wildeyed]

69. We can do a reality show:

Changing Carts. You get someone else's groceries at the store and have to make meals with it for the week :)

I actually took someone else's groceries once by accident. My husband did have a quizzical look when he took out the light Budweiser beer and the really cheap gross brand of ice cream that he knows I won't eat. I made him take it back, I was too embarrassed to admit what I had done.

[xchrom]

51. the rising water we suffer with now all started in the 70's with giving

permission to hate the poor.

it still goes on they haven't tired of their hate -- mind you rush limbaugh and hannity and o'reilly provide ever renewing wells.

[zbdent]

55. Send that out to all your "friends" who decide to let you in on all the

"horrors" via e-mail . . . you know, the debunked BS about "Ollie North afraid of bin Laden and Al Gore blocking investigating" and the like . . .

[SoCalDem]

57. I never open those emails

I use my delete button so much, I may have to order a new one :)

[tjwash]

59. I don't ever recommend threads you know.

But this one I just did.

Good on 'ya SCD

[hippywife]

64. And they're not really that easy

to get. I have a friend who was unemployed for some time and she had to jump through all kinds of hoops to prove she qualified.

People should just mind their own business because no one is perfect.

Thanx for posting these stories. :hi:

[SoCalDem]

66. The eligibility chart here

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/applicant_recipients/fs_Res_Ben_Elig.htm


Resources:
Households may have $2,000 in countable resources, such as a bank account. Households may have $3,000 if at least one person is age 60 or older, or is disabled. Certain resources are not counted, such as a home and lot and the resources of people who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.


Licensed vehicles are handled as follows:
For the following vehicles, the amount of the fair market value over $4,650 is counted:

One licensed vehicle per adult household member, and

Any other vehicle a teen-aged member drives to work, school, or job training, or to look for work.
.....
snip....

Income:
Households have to meet income tests unless all members are receiving TANF, SSI, or in some places general assistance. Most households must meet both the gross and net income tests, but a household with an elderly person or a person who is receiving certain types of disability payments only has to meet the net income test. Households, except those noted, that have income over the amounts listed below cannot get food stamps.

People in Household
Gross Monthly Income Limits
Net Monthly Income Limits

1
$ 1,037
$ 798

2
1,390
1,070

3
1,744
1,341

4
2,097
1,613

5
2,450
1,885

6
2,803
2,156

7
3,156
2,428

8
3,509
2,700

Each additional person
+354
+272

snip...for the rest

[proud2BlibKansan]

68. POST OF THE DAY!!!!!!

Thank you thank you thank you.

:yourock:

[SiobhanClancy]

76. My food stamp story...

I'm currently a food stamp recipient,for the first time in a half century of life. I developed thyroid cancer about a year ago,had surgery etc. I'm doing much better,and the form I had has a high rate of survival. However,it is taking some time to bounce back from it.
I'll never forget the day I had to go to apply....I had a friend go with me for support,and even so I could hardly speak to the person who took my application or look her in the eye. She wasn't unkind,just businesslike and no doubt overworked. Just walking into the place was so difficult. I wore a scarf and dark glasses(which I know seems rather silly). I've always hated discussing personal matters with strangers,but I had no choice this time.
Going to the store isn't too bad now...I've learned to be discreet(or sneaky!) about swiping my card so no one will see it. Since my income is nonexistant(hopefully not for long,though)the $149 dollars a month I get is my food budget. I do buy Diet Pepsi with it...and every now and then some little treat. I'm thankful that my child is grown and I don't have to try to provide meals for her on this amount. I do get taken out to a nice restaurant about once a week....so I consider myself luckier than most that way:)
There are surely some people who abuse the system,but I rather think there are more like myself.

[FooFootheSnoo]

79. I used to run a register in a grocery store

I really never saw anyone "abusing" food stamps. I had a customer that would come in and buy his elderly mother's groceries for her and pay with the card. So, not everyone that uses food stamps is a recipient. As for the junk food, I once had a single mother with 2 kids come through my line. We had the generic pop tarts on sale buy one get one free that week. Normally, they were $1.50/box. So, she got four boxes for 3 dollars. That's 16 breakfasts for $3. So, sometimes the junk food is a better value. I wouldn't want to feed that to my daughter every morning for breakfast, but it's better than her going hungry.
Most people on food stamps probably have kids, so that's who I usually assumed the treats were for. If they're on food stamps, it's not like they can afford to take their kids to a movie or an amusement park. I have two former sister in laws who "abused" the system, but the crazy thing is, they needed the assistance they cheated for.

[SoCalDem]

80. Welcome to DU...

[catmandu57]

81. Advertising works

or we wouldn't spend so damn much on it. People using food stamps are bombarded with the same messages as everyone else, and we bitch when they succumb to the bait.
I've used food stamps and ebt for a long time and believe me one learns how to stretch that dollar, or one goes hungry, hunger is a powerful teacher.
We blow 200,000 per second on the monkeyboys* war in Iraq, we give money to the corporations, and bitch when someone buys their child a treat.

[countingbluecars]

87. Your words are so true.

"We blow 200,000 per second on the monkeyboys* war in Iraq, we give money to the corporations, and bitch when someone buys their child a treat."

So true and so sad.

[Redstone]

82. Add my thanks to the list.

Redstone

[SmokingJacket]

84. It's so easy to judge...

much harder to understand...

[Cleita]

88. I don't renege anyone spending on the occasional luxury item.

Poor people need chocolate or whatever makes them feel better every now and then too. When I lived in Idaho, most of the working class were on food stamps because the jobs were seasonal, either in the resort business or in the logging industry or road repair crews.

Although they made good hourly wages, the winters where they couldn't work reduced their incomes sufficiently for food stamps. Most of the families lived in marginal housing, often without plumbing and other things we take for granted.

The road crews had big trucks to haul their trailers, because that's how they lived going from job to job, living in their trailers while they worked long hours during the summer months because they couldn't work in winter. I guess if you saw them in the market parking you would consider that truck a Lexus or a Cadillac. I don't know.

[SoCalDem]

89. And yet.. a TRUE republican "could" have criticized

these people for not "budgeting" better since they "KNEW" their incomes were seasonal :evilgrin:

the rotten truth is this..

WE all pretty much spend what we have.. Some have plenty and can manage to save because they get what they want and still have money left over.. some barely make it paycheck to paycheck..

Some people chose their parents better than others..

Life's a crapshoot..no one gets out alive.. be nice to each other while you're here..It's all we can count on ..there may be something better afterwards, but why waste an opportunity to be nice while you're here.. It may be the key that opens the door to the next place.. or so I've heard :)

[NEOhiodemocrat]

90. I could cry

reading the food stamp stories makes me think back to the early '70's when I was going through a divorce and applied for food stamps. I had a 1 and a 2 year old, and while I was applying the 1 year old reached onto the desk and grabbed a little clothepin animal decoration. The social worker told me that in the future when I had to come in I should get a babysitter to watch the children. I told her if I could afford a babysitter I would not be there. I could not believe someone in that position could be so insensitive. It still makes me upset just to think of it. We should all remember "that could be me", you never know what will happen.

[meganmonkey]

92. Welcome to DU, NEOhiodemocrat

We are glad to have you here!

:toast:

[spuddonna]

102. Oh man, some people have no compassion...

I vaguely remember going with my mom to apply for food stamps. I remember the lady as being 'mean' because she talked so rudely to my mom. I was about 10... I think. I worked had to repress this crap! lol Ah God, this thread has left me in tears so many times already... I'm laughing through the tears! :)

And welcome to DU! It's good to have you here! :hi:

[Gelliebeans]

91. Thank you for posting this.

I get really sick and tired of the food police. Your line summarizing says it best, "If they don't show up at your door asking for food then MYOB."

This is a big problem with many Americans, some things are just none of your business and that includes my body, my religion or lack of and my space. Never in my life has the term live and let live apply so perfectly for our current situation.

[Mnemosyne]

94. It never ceases to amaze me when people find it so easy

to hate the evil *welfare queens" that prick Raygun got started. I hear it from otherwise intelligent people.

I direct their attention to the town slumlords that are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars a years from HUD. It shuts them up nicely.

I am using FS now due to disability and it is terribly humiliating. I avoid going to the store when it might be crowded. I wait until it looks as if no one is near the checkout to go up myself.

Thanks for these stories SoCalDem! People need to hear the humanity behind the tales they hear. :hug:

[Skittles]

95. I am disgusted

I remember being behind a young gal with children at the supermarket who was paying for her groceries with food stamps. When she was gathering her stuff the checker told her to hurry so "the people with REAL money" can pay for theirs. I said to her IS THIS HOW YOU GET YOUR KICKS? HUMILIATING PEOPLE IN FRONT OF THEIR CHILDREN? Then I reported her sorry ass to the manager, who ran out to the parking lot to talk to the woman. SHEESH.

[Canuckistanian]

98. As a recent visitor to a food bank

I know what it's like to have to use these services. No-one WANTS or PREFERS to be in this situation.

I and most people there just avoided eye contact and made our choices and rushed out. It's embarrasing and humbling.

As soon as my wife and I were back on our feet, we made a big donation to the food bank.

Paying it forward.

[Ksec]

101. Food Stamps are corporate welfare, not people welfare

They subsidize companies who dont pay enough , and people cant afford to eat on these slave wage salaries.

The government subsidizes companies like WalMart who teach their employees how to get the corporate welfare in the form of food stamps and Medicaid.

Your corporate world outsources and enriches the Chinese while Americans are forced to swallow pride and sign up for welfare, because that company screwed them out of their job.

Yep its clearly subsidies for the lowlife corporations who refuse to do the right thing.

[Blue_Tires]

103. spot on n/t

[orleans]

104. great post. n/t

[LeftCoast]

106. Locking

We'd appreciate it if people did kept thread conversations in the thread were they started.