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I have never seen it, but I might have said (in a friendly tone) "Hey buddy, you need some new eyeglasses. I think you called out the wrong number. You said 5 and I see 6..."
Is junk food allowed on the EBT (what does acronym mean?) card? I don't mind subsidizing healthy food, but chips, really?
Yes. It's called FOOD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KittenSparkles
This person bought three bags of chips. Its possible they were pork rinds... but I couldn't see the exact type. The rest of the items were four different flavors/colors of a Gatorade/Powerade type drink.
I didn't have a cart, and he walked in front of his, so all I had to do was look down and I could see everything in his cart.
Don't be deliberately obtuse. You know darn good and well there's a world of difference between telling people who are using an EBT Food card that they can't use it to go to McDonald's or buy beer with it versus telling people you're not allowed to buy a bag of potato chips.
The only people Ive ever heard defend EBT users "right" to buy junk food with the card are those that use EBT cards. Anyone with a brain thinks these cards should be used to only buy healthy and wholesome food. A family that is in true need doesnt need to be feeding their children potato chips and Dr Pepper, they need rotisserie chicken with green beans and cornbread. Id feed this to needy children day and night if I knew thats what they were getting. However as you can tell from the THOUSANDS of posts on this forum and others this isnt what people are observing AT ALL.
Congress itself has attempted over and over again to remove junk food from eligible items but the cost of doing so proves to be too burdensome.
The cashier can't always see over her own counter to the bottom of the shopping cart, and not all register lanes have mirrors and sensors to let her know there's something there.
Which - it sounds like many people here don't even know about, or they would've mentioned it in at least one of these posts in this thread
As for the EBT card - it has nothing to do with anything. People who don't use food stamps cheat too. And, [sarcasm] astoundingly [/sarcasm], there are people who do use food stamps who don't cheat.
I DO work in retail, and I have been a supermarket cashier in addition to my current job. Our lanes did have mirrors and sensors, so if someone came through with a cart that had something on the bottom, we'd get a little light pop up on our side of the counter that the customer couldn't see. Sometimes it was totally innocent: an empty sample cup they got in the deli lane, that they tossed in the basket and it dropped to the bottom basket shelf. Sometimes it was a rack of lamb. But when the light popped up, we had to point out that there was *something* in the bottom of that basket, and for the customer to please let us know what it was. If it was a heavy item we'd come around and scan it manually, or ask them to read off the UPC for us so they didn't have to lift it out til they got to their car.
If it was an empty sample cup, we'd ask if they'd give it to us and we'd throw it away for them.
When it was especially busy, or if there was a kid in the shopping basket, it was usually better to let them go and risk losing the value of a rack of lamb, than it was to lose the 10 people in line behind them, with an average of $80 worth of groceries each, just because we had to put the entire line on hold while we walked around the counter (remember the register itself is right in front of us, we can't see much of the basket until AFTER it's already left the lane) to manually check, and DARE to tell the parent to move their child.
AnonChick, regarding the bolded, exactly! That's one reason I reacted so strongly to the OP's words - what if she'd said "I happened to look over and the person was Hispanic - not that that MEANS anything, it was just an observation", or African American, or (insert your own ethnic group here) the way she did that the person was paying with an EBT card. People are people - some are good, some are bad - some are honest, some are not - but looking down your nose at someone and making assumptions about them based on something like economic status, need for help, or skin color or ethnicity is WRONG. That whole sentence or "observation" as she called it was completely unnecessary to the entire post/conversation and added nothing but an insult to those who use food stamps.
The only people Ive ever heard defend EBT users "right" to buy junk food with the card are those that use EBT cards. Anyone with a brain thinks these cards should be used to only buy healthy and wholesome food. A family that is in true need doesnt need to be feeding their children potato chips and Dr Pepper, they need rotisserie chicken with green beans and cornbread. Id feed this to needy children day and night if I knew thats what they were getting. However as you can tell from the THOUSANDS of posts on this forum and others this isnt what people are observing AT ALL.
Congress itself has attempted over and over again to remove junk food from eligible items but the cost of doing so proves to be too burdensome.
Yes, I will absolutely stand by a person's right to use EBT benefits for junk food at the grocery store if they so desire! And THOUAMDS of people are observing people using EBT Cards to buy tons of junk food all the time, huh? The hyperbole is certainly strong in you!
Oh, and under this decree of what grown people should be allowed to eat if we're getting assistance, someone's child can't have a birthday party where you'd serve hot dogs, chips, cake, soda - junk food - because their parents are having a rough time? Really?
Keep in mind, this is a system that I HELP PAY FOR with my taxes - but because I need a hand (or part of the money I PUT IN), you now get to tell me what I can and can't eat. Basically, because I've required assistance, I've now lost my basic right to decide what to put in m body. You, on the other hand, who haven't gotten hit with a major financial catastrophe, are far more able and educated to decide what YOU can eat, right? And you have a right to make decisions for yourself - I no longer get that right.
And since you're so smart about food choices, there shouldn't be an obesity problem in this country. If there is, it's obviously because all of us people who are getting food stamps are eating nothing but junk food - it's not you other people who are so far above us! YOU would never buy a bag of chips! Gotchya! Makes TOTAL sense.
Yes, I will absolutely stand by a person's right to use EBT benefits for junk food at the grocery store if they so desire! And THOUAMDS of people are observing people using EBT Cards to buy tons of junk food all the time, huh? The hyperbole is certainly strong in you!
Oh, and under this decree of what grown people should be allowed to eat if we're getting assistance, someone's child can't have a birthday party where you'd serve hot dogs, chips, cake, soda - junk food - because their parents are having a rough time? Really?
Keep in mind, this is a system that I HELP PAY FOR with my taxes - but because I need a hand (or part of the money I PUT IN), you now get to tell me what I can and can't eat. Basically, because I've required assistance, I've now lost my basic right to decide what to put in m body. You, on the other hand, who haven't gotten hit with a major financial catastrophe, are far more able and educated to decide what YOU can eat, right? And you have a right to make decisions for yourself - I no longer get that right.
And since you're so smart about food choices, there shouldn't be an obesity problem in this country. If there is, it's obviously because all of us people who are getting food stamps are eating nothing but junk food - it's not you other people who are so far above us! YOU would never buy a bag of chips! Gotchya! Makes TOTAL sense.
If the hyperbole is strong in me then the butthurt is strong in you. You confirmed exactly what I said, that the only people who defend the right to buy junk food with EBT cards are those who use them. You are the model welfare recipient that drives people insane. You say that you have the right to determine what to put in your body using OTHER peoples money. It used to be that people in need were humble and would take what they could get from others' charity. Now people like you DEMAND assistance and not only that, demand to buy whatever you want with that assistance, even if it is detrimental to your health. Then after decades of eating junk food you will demand that society pay for your triple bipass and diabetes. Amazing.
I don't understand why you were so interested in HIS transactions in the first place.
Who cares why. The OP is just standing in some line waiting, who are you to tell them they can't observe whatever they want. I probably would notice it if it happened in front of me. Not everyone is glued to a dumb phone.
it's very common for a cashier to have friends come in and they dont charge them for items and let them take stuff without paying, they usually pay for small items and dont scan other items or scan a lower priced item instead of the more expensive item just to look like the customer is paying.
Ive heard of numerous cashiers getting fired and arrested for doing this
A very long time ago when I was a kid, there was a cashier in a local grocery store who would do these favors not only for her friends, but anyone who she thought seemed needy. This was way back when the cashier had to actually enter the price manually...no scanners. So this cashier would pick up an item, say a $4.00 roast, and enter a much lower price, so the price of the roast went down to only pennies. She would also just push several items past her at once, then maybe pick up most but not all and enter the prices.
About the EBT cards...what I've seen is that the person puts their purchases on the conveyor and they are rung up. The register system is able to separate the EBT-eligible items. The cashier states the price, and the customer scans the EBT first, then pays again with cash or their own credit card for the other items.
About the EBT cards...what I've seen is that the person puts their purchases on the conveyor and they are rung up. The register system is able to separate the EBT-eligible items. The cashier states the price, and the customer scans the EBT first, then pays again with cash or their own credit card for the other items.
Correct. There is a code in the system for eligible vs ineligible items. Cigarettes are flagged as ineligible.
A very long time ago when I was a kid, there was a cashier in a local grocery store who would do these favors not only for her friends, but anyone who she thought seemed needy. This was way back when the cashier had to actually enter the price manually...no scanners. So this cashier would pick up an item, say a $4.00 roast, and enter a much lower price, so the price of the roast went down to only pennies. She would also just push several items past her at once, then maybe pick up most but not all and enter the prices.
She went to prison.
Charitable giving with someone elses money isnt charity, its still theft.
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