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Except there is no way for anyone, standing in the grocery store checkout line, to tell who is abusing the system and who is not, but the judgement call is made anyway. It's demeaning and unnecessary.
Actually there is! I used to work as a grocery checker in a small town. At least 5 or 6 times a day I'd sell cigarettes and/or alcohol to someone who paid cash, then they'd have me separately ring up their expensive grocery choices (name brand cereals, steaks, name brand soda, etc) and they'd use their food stamps or EBT for those. I'd definitely call that abusing the system! Oh and not to mention, most of them drove a much nicer car than I did, and managed to own mud trucks and go camping every other weekend. Hmmmmm........
Or maybe it's a disgrace that people have kids they can't afford.
Just wondering, do you support abortion? Or free birth control? What about sex ed in public schools?
I'm genuinely hoping your answer is yes because while I don't agree with your opinion and find it rather crass, it'd be easier to swallow if you agree with doing everything possible to prevent unwanted pregnancy/children.
Or just maybe, they had the kids before the parents got laid off or fired. Ya think? This kind of thinking is similar to what people say when someone else has lost their home to foreclosure. "Well, they shouldn't have bought a house they couldn't afford." I have news for you. Unless you have paid for your home in cash, then you can't afford your home either. You bought your house on a loan, just like everyone else and if you weren't working for a year or more, who would pay your house payment? People always think they're so special if something bad happens to someone else and not to them.
Apparently, you don't shop for food. Where I live right now, hamburger has gone down a little, but it's still $3.49 to $4.99 per pound. If they have a sale on London Broil (steak) for $2.99/pound, then I'm going to buy that instead of hamburger and I don't care what you think. Food stamps is sometimes getting the most bang for your buck.
Do you know what other foods are on the list to be banned by these useless politicians? Spaghetti sauce and bagged beans. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to make your own spaghetti sauce? No, I didn't think so. So much for that pasta. And I make my own refried beans for much cheaper from the bagged pinto beans than I can buy the refried beans in a can for. And get more of them.
And I'll tell you something else. Sometimes I crave shrimp. In order to buy that, I must cut corners somewhere else. It's called budgeting. So I will have peanut butter sandwiches or bean burritos for a week so I can afford the shrimp. I get absolutely fed to the teeth with people saying that I can buy shrimp on food stamps but they can't afford it on a regular job. Horse puckey. If you wanted to eat shrimp and you were willing to eat peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week in order to buy it, you could afford shrimp, too. You just aren't willing to do that. So why should I be penalized because I can do something you could do too, but won't?
I agree with you 100%, I just can't rep you anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WaldoKitty
There is nothing to understand. Able bodied working age adults who live on EBT for more than a few weeks are deadbeats. Period.
Must be nice to like in paradise where EVERY able bodied working age adult is employeed full time at a living wage.
You do realize that mathematically there are literally not enough jobs in America for "Able bodied working age adults" to all have a job, any kind of job.
What we need is more jobs, more businesses, more industry, more opportunity.
Actually there is! I used to work as a grocery checker in a small town. At least 5 or 6 times a day I'd sell cigarettes and/or alcohol to someone who paid cash, then they'd have me separately ring up their expensive grocery choices (name brand cereals, steaks, name brand soda, etc) and they'd use their food stamps or EBT for those. I'd definitely call that abusing the system! Oh and not to mention, most of them drove a much nicer car than I did, and managed to own mud trucks and go camping every other weekend. Hmmmmm........
With coupons and sales I always get name brand cereals cheaper than generic. How is it abusing the system to save money?
As with all cases people have their own stories, some abuse it but plenty of people who use need it. I would never judge people who are poor or anything, never understood the hatred for people who hate and judge the unfortunate. Good for her if she is proud of herself, she is no less of a human being than if she were a millionaire.
Screw judgemental people. Good thing that food stamp use is declining. I think I read while ago that many are on it for only a limited amount of time.
I work in physical rehab in nursing homes, and I want to say I find it awful that people getting assistance have to eat such cheap, horrible food. What people don't realize it when they buy cheap white flour cereals and canned spaghetti and white bread and Ramen noodles for their meals, we all pay MUCH more down the road when people come into nursing homes in poor areas in their 50's and 60's due to Diabetes and stroke.
I think they should be given more to be able to get fresh foods, fruits and vegetables. I don't care if they restrict what can be bought, but IMO eating healthy does cost more and cheap food is generally cheap and that is what they can afford.
I also think more should be done about relaxing the rules regarding making stores throw away food the second it reaches the "sell by" date. Everyone agrees it is completely arbitrary and does not mean the food is bad, but the law and fear of lawsuits makes them toss it. I wish it could be given to people who need it.
Because of the work I do, I also find very little knowledge about nutrition among poorer populations. Yes, they know cookies are bad and carrots are good, but they do not know that just because a bag of bread says "whole grain" doesn't mean it has any fiber in it (Thanks, food lobbyist and FDA) or that a glass of juice is just as bad for a diabetic as a cookie.
I think signing up for food stamps and other programs should include education.
The people who swear they know someone who drives a brand new caddy SUV and buys lobster every night on food stamps...that is BS. Maybe those people sell drugs or something else criminal, but no one is getting that kind of money in benefits legitimately.
Read some of the accounts online of famous people (like Newark mayor Corey Booker) who tried to live on food stamps for 2 weeks. It is barely enough food to survive.
Except there is no way for anyone, standing in the grocery store checkout line, to tell who is abusing the system and who is not, but the judgement call is made anyway. It's demeaning and unnecessary.
I agree; people should just mind their own business.
Except there is no way for anyone, standing in the grocery store checkout line, to tell who is abusing the system and who is not, but the judgement call is made anyway. It's demeaning and unnecessary.
You may not be able to tell about everyone, but you can certainly tell about some people. If you've grown up or lived around some of the people, then you probably do know. Specific individuals may not be anyone's business. But collectively as a group, welfare is everyone's business.
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) or that a glass of juice is just as bad for a diabetic as a cookie. 
