[trekwars2000]

So after a visit to Vons the other night on the way home from work to pick up one item for dinner (an onion or something) I had an encounter with a lady in line in front of me.

She had, V8 Juice, Eggs, Milk and a few other things that came out to $13. She had a newborn baby with her in the cart and tried to redeem some sort of coupon for formula. The clerk said they were out and the lady threw a bit of a fit. Upon trying to pay for the items she tried to use a "WIC" card. I haven't seen this before but can only assume it is some sort of gov't program becuase when the card didn't work for some reason the lady said not to worry she would leave.

I'm curious what the qualifications to get this WIC assistance are esp considering when I got to the parking lot I saw the lady get into a new Volvo with her baby. Perhaps when my wife and I have kids she will be well over qualifyed considering that her luxury sports car is 3 years old.

[JDinNV]

WIC = Women, Infants, Children

This is a public assistance type program that helps mothers and children with certain food necessities (milk, cheese, cereal, juice, etc.). After law school, when I was unemployed, we utilized this program for a time. It was very helpful in stretching what little money we had. There are income qualifications and required visits to evaluate the health of the mother/children.

As with other public assistance programs, it can be abused.

[lvkewlkid]

I believe in the state of NV, you can exempt a car when applying for assistance, thus, this is how public assistance is abused in this state...

[KonaKat]

Your income and size of family, and your risk factors play into the qualifications for WIC. I don't remember that they even ask about cars for that matter.

The program is to help put education and good nutrition into young families. It is a great program and not a hand out; no cash but only vouchers for certain foods are obtained by the recipient.

The car could have been her mom's or borrowed for the day, for all we know. The woman could easily have been a foster mother getting those items for her foster baby whom pretty much all qualify for WIC. (no one EVER thinks of that!)

Don't be so quick to judge without knowing all the facts.

[jfkIII]

Way too much cheese!

[skisickie]

The car could be the reason she has to use WIC, all her money goes into the car. I for one wouldn't even want to pay taxes on a brand new Volvo

[trekwars2000]

Originally Posted by skisickie

The car could be the reason she has to use WIC, all her money goes into the car. I for one wouldn't even want to pay taxes on a brand new Volvo

LOL. That is what I was thinking. The Sales Tax on purchase would be obnoxcious and the regestration each year might be able to buy 6 months of grocheries for 1 person ...

[heelo1]

Well, she could be a single mother (which is very common nowadays) who is struggling to take care of her children (not by choice). There may be many reasons why this lady was driving a Volvo we may never know. There really shouldn't have been any assumptions made, Im sure you have been judged countless times that you weren't even aware of and would be quick to defend yourself right away without hesitation if you knew about them. Do I smell a bit of Jealousy? Like the car huh? You may qualify for the program one day and be in the same situation she was in with someone behind you sharing their thoughts on why they thought you a. were either to rich for wic or b. too poor with wic to have a nice car.

[JohnG72]

Another posibility is that she bought the WIC card at a steep discount from someone who is validly on the program, but sold it for nefarious reasons. Perhaps the reason it did not work.

[Rebecca40]

I agree with other posters about not judging people based on appearances, but I have personally witnessed abuse of such public assitance programs when I worked as a grocery cashier in high school. We would get people who would come in with 3 or 4 neglected-looking kids and pay for 2 grocery carts full of junk food - pop, chips, cheez whiz, processed foods, etc. with food stamps (nothing healthy whatsoever except maybe a gallon of milk) and then pull out a giant wad of cash and pay for multiple boxes of cigarettes - pathetic! This was many years ago so food stamp usage rules may have changed. At least WIC specifies what types of food can be bought to ensure it is healthy. I think they don't like to put too many rules on most types of assistance to protect the "dignity" of the recipients - but I don't think it is too much to ask that if taxpayers are footing the bill, that the foods they are able to purchase should at least be nutritious so they are doing what they are intended to do rather than creating additional health problems that then have to be dealt with through further public assistance programs.