Food Stamp question

[Feistygirl916]

And this is why I love self-checkout lines! No waiting behind gossiping cashiers discussing things which are none of their business and holding up the line.

MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY.

I would hate for the cashier to be discussing my personal business with another customer.. Shouldn't this be confidential?

 

[mks18412]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

Amen! You took the words right out of my mouth. If someone doesnt want it to be the tax payers business then dont get on government aid/entitlement programs which is funded with our money. Get off the aid and it would be no concern of the people.

 

[Feistygirl916]

How is the food stamp rates determined? It seems like that for most part the ones that don't work or have never worked get more a month than the people that have lost their jobs and are only using them till they can get a new job and go back to work.

Why I ask is because the checker at the grocery store and I were talking and she mentioned that she has never seen the likes of peoples food stamp totals as she has now. She has worked at our local owned grocery store here in town for years and she said it has gotten out of hand. She said one lady that comes in spend close to $400 yesterday in the store and her food stamp total was still at $2000 for the month. And an other lady that has been laid off from her job came in with the same about of children and they were talking and this lady only is able to get like $400 for the whole month. The cashier said that the only difference from looking from the outside is that the first lady has been on the system for serveral years and has never worked a job and the second lady is asking for a job everytime she comes in the store.

Just curious how the system works.

And here was the cashiers statement "I don't see how the country is going to survive much more of these hand outs. I work, and I do not spend near the amount of money on groceries a month as the goverment is handing out for free to these folks that havent even took the time to even look for a job"

If you are curious about how the system works, try calling your local Department of Human Services office. They can tell you, because they are the ones allocating the funds.

 

[torinsmom]

Maybe it shouldn't bother me, but it does bother me to see people with carts full of name brand items using their EBT(food stamp) card to get $200-$300 worth of groceries when I have to comparison shop, buy store brand and all that. Even then, I often don't get what we really could use to the week. I wish that food stamps were more like WIC and gave a certain amount for vegetables, meat, dairy, etc. I think when the gov't is paying, there should be more regulations on what is bought.

 

[MrsPete]

It is a rolling total. Maybe for some reason the first person didn't use their card for many months which would explain the high balance.

How could a person in need NOT spend the benefits for months? That would be an indication that he or she didn't actually need the assistance in the first place.

 

[StuckInKS]

Maybe it shouldn't bother me, but it does bother me to see people with carts full of name brand items using their EBT(food stamp) card to get $200-$300 worth of groceries when I have to comparison shop, buy store brand and all that. Even then, I often don't get what we really could use to the week. I wish that food stamps were more like WIC and gave a certain amount for vegetables, meat, dairy, etc. I think when the gov't is paying, there should be more regulations on what is bought.

I've been there, seeing people who seem like they wouldn't be able to afford it with overflowing grocery carts on the first few days of the month, and thought "man, I wish I could just walk in and buy all of that and not have to worry about it!" but now that we DO have the money to buy all of that and have a larger family (this was back when we only had a couple of kids and made less than we do now) and load up a cart full of groceries when we go, I wonder how people might judge us. Do they think our debit card is an EBT card? Do they think that if I pay partial with a gift card and partial with my debit card or cash that one is an EBT since we are using two form of payment? After all, we do go shopping with ALL of these kids LOL! I can just imagine what they think, especially since my kids are dressed in name brand. But I try not to care if they assume that we are using EBT since it is none of their business either way. You don't know unless YOU personally SEE the card and you shouldn't judge even if it is EBT. After all, that lady paying with EBT whose kids are all wearing new-looking Gap and Gymboree may have paid $2-$5 for those clothing items like we do at consignment sales. She's buying fresh fruits and veggies with that government money? Better that than her kids stuffing down $1 frozen pizzas and $.50 pot pies, becoming obese and collecting SSI for the rest of their lives.

I agree with the above pp that said if you (not torinsmom, but the collective you) have a problem with the way money is being spent or don't agree with the rules regarding who gets the money, you are wasting your time complaining to your friends and local cashier. Take it up with your local congress person or vote a different way. If things still don't change, then obviously your view is in the minority. The way each person spends the benefits that they get is not your business, it is the govs business. And if they cared they would track the way benefits are spent and limit what can be bought.

Whew! That was long. Sorry. Climbing off my soapbox now

 

[Colleen27]

Also take into consideration that the ones who haven't/don't work usually are on some form of cash assistance which isnt counted as as the same amount of income as someone who has lost their job and getting unemployment benefits.

Actually, income is income. However, cash assistance is so low an amount that it generally doesn't result in any countable income because it is less than the standard deductions for housing & utilities.

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

If she's paying taxes. About half of Americans don't, and at a cashier's wage it is pretty likely that she's among them.

All of the above, plus another possibility is that not every card that she is using is her own. In areas where not a lot of people have transportation, it isn't uncommon for folks who do drive to do grocery shopping for neighbors and family members who do not. Elderly folks, especially, are likely to ask someone younger to do the shopping for them.

True. And for group living situations (like foster care or group homes), there is generally one designated payee who shops for all recipients.

 

[zurgswife]

How could a person in need NOT spend the benefits for months? That would be an indication that he or she didn't actually need the assistance in the first place.

Actually I think it is more likely my second scenario...they were credited back payments due for what ever reason. Much more likely.

 

[descovy]

Yes, and when/if she loses her job, SHE'LL be the one on assistance and being judged as she goes through the line.

That cashier gossip was ugly and uncalled for.

I work at a Target in TX, and we have cashiers and other store employees on foodstamps. These are folks will full availability, willing to work whenever, but are only scheduled unpredictable hours on the whims of cost-saving management. We have an elderly cart attendant who buys 1 banana for 35c for lunch with his food stamp card.

I was on foodstamps in 1995 in MT. The deal then was that I had to work "X" amount of hours/month (sorry, I no longer remember the exact amount) If you didn't work the required hours at your job, you could make up for it with volunteer work or job-coaching classes. You were dropped from the foodstamps if you didn't comply with the required hours.

These days I live in the pretty picket fence upper-middle class master planned community. I wasn't trash when I was living in a single wide on foodstamps, any more than I am trash driving my kids to dance class in my minivan today. My co-workers who work their butts off at Target aren't trash either.

There are jerks who are poor. who take take take, and foolish with what has been given to them. But trust me, drive through my master-planned community and you will find lots of entitled monied jerks here too.

Money does not equal class.

 

[descovy]

I just want to add, that the way I shop today (non food stamps) is cheaper then the way I could shop (with food stamps)

I lived in a crappy cheap trailer. Most the time the stove didn't work. I had a dorm sized fridge, which meant a freezer was non existent.

How I shop today in my middle class life with a pantry, working appliances and even a spare freezer is much, much different. I can stock up when things are on sale. I can "really" cook (in a way that can't be achieved with a hotplate) I can store food in my freezer. Great price on pork chops? let me stock up!

I couldn't stock up back then. Not only did I not have fridge/freezer/pantry space, but I couldn't risk stocking up on sale items (spending money today to use tomorrow) I might need that money tomorrow more than the cheap cereal on sale today.

All this I was fortunate to have a car, which meant I could drive to the grocery store. If I had to walk, I could only carry 2 bags or so. And many poor areas don't have the nice big supermarkets we have in the suburbs. They have only the minimart to rely on for groceries.

Again, there are people who abuse the system, but sometimes it isn't what it seems. And again, those who abuse the system are not segregated to the poor. Many wealthy people scam and cheat and try to get away with as much as possible. It's a character trait, not a social class trait.

That cashier gossip was ugly and uncalled for.

I work at a Target in TX, and we have cashiers and other store employees on foodstamps. These are folks will full availability, willing to work whenever, but are only scheduled unpredictable hours on the whims of cost-saving management. We have an elderly cart attendant who buys 1 banana for 35c for lunch with his food stamp card.

I was on foodstamps in 1995 in MT. The deal then was that I had to work "X" amount of hours/month (sorry, I no longer remember the exact amount) If you didn't work the required hours at your job, you could make up for it with volunteer work or job-coaching classes. You were dropped from the foodstamps if you didn't comply with the required hours.

These days I live in the pretty picket fence upper-middle class master planned community. I wasn't trash when I was living in a single wide on foodstamps, any more than I am trash driving my kids to dance class in my minivan today. My co-workers who work their butts off at Target aren't trash either.

There are jerks who are poor. who take take take, and foolish with what has been given to them. But trust me, drive through my master-planned community and you will find lots of entitled monied jerks here too.

Money does not equal class.

 

[bumbershoot]

Even if she does, it still is really none of her business and I hope someone reports her behavior and she loses her job. May sound harsh, but she has NO RIGHT to discuss the private matters of a customer with other customers, co-workers or even her family and needs to be removed from that position immediately.....

Listen, just because I have to pay 15% of my income towards SS and Medicare (plus regular income taxes) does not mean that it is any of my business what older folks do with their money or how many times they see a doctor.

I agree.

My mom got foodstamps for awhile, when we were tiny and my dad was gone and a deadbeat (and it was the early 70s so the systems weren't as friendly to the recipients of child support as they are now), and supplemented with the garden and eggs from the hens. We lived in the same area until I was 17, and my mom never once shopped at the local Safeway again, after a cashier was NASTY to her about using food stamps (when they were paper and so incredibly obvious).

I do not like cashiers who talk about their customers like that. If the person hears, it might have ripples that go through lives like they would never expect. (when I visit my hometown I have never once considered going back to that particular safeway, that's how deeply my mom felt about it)


And I too agree that it's none of my business. I might only drive on a fraction of the roads here in my town, but that doesn't mean I wish they hadn't built the other roads. The point of taxes is that it spreads out the money to all sorts of things; many of which an individual will never take advantage of.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

In many states people with foster kids get EBT cards that are the same as food stamps. My DSIL's mom took in foster kids for years and years - you know how you hear about a horrific abuse case and the children are taken into foster care? Well, those kids generally go to special foster parents who are specially trained and educated, who are really, really good at caring for kids. DISL's mom and dad were one set of those foster parents.

DSIL's DM and DF probably spent twice over what they got from the state every month on their foster kids. Nothing was ever too good for their foster kids. But they pulled out food stamps to pay for part of their purchases.

And I bet there were people behind them in lines who said stupid things about entitlement and kids who were dressed in name brand clothes and parents using food stamps.

And they were saying it about two people who were taking care of and loving kids who'd come to them starved with cigarette burns all over their bodies or who had been raised in dog kennels, eating dog food.

 

[dsnycrzy]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

Just because she gets food stamps does NOT mean she does not work and hence puts in the tax pot to help pay for her own groceries also. It still shouldnt be up for discussion.

 

[SenecaWolf]

How could a person in need NOT spend the benefits for months? That would be an indication that he or she didn't actually need the assistance in the first place.

I was receiving benefits for a few months after my husband passed, within that time I got sick and was in the hospital for almost 3 weeks, my kids were with my sister and I didnt use my benefits that month and they rolled over. I told her she could use them to buy my kids food but she wouldnt take it. So there are circumstances where you cant use them at once and still need the assistance.

 

[Tink-aholic]

All of the above, plus another possibility is that not every card that she is using is her own. In areas where not a lot of people have transportation, it isn't uncommon for folks who do drive to do grocery shopping for neighbors and family members who do not. Elderly folks, especially, are likely to ask someone younger to do the shopping for them.

I was going to say this...but not for the reason you stated. I teach in a high school in a low-income area. The kids tell me that it is common for many people to apply for (and receive) multiple cards, which multiplies their benefits.

 

[angierae]

If there's one thing that's going to run me off the DIS, it's the upper-middle-class entitlement of people on this board who think that they know the entire life history of someone on government assistance.

I grew up on food stamps and disability. My dad was in kidney failure and on dialysis (and later had cancer, which ultimately killed him) and couldn't be left alone for 8 hours a day for my stepmom to work. So she had to quit her job too to keep an eye on him. So we got foodstamps, and government cheese, and everything else.

And someone seeing her in the grocery store might question why a healthy mid-30's woman was buying food with foodstamps, and why didn't she just get a job?

Because she had to quit her job to take care of her husband. So I really, really am getting sick and tired of people around here judging STRANGERS. You have NO IDEA what someone else's situation is, and I find it distasteful to go on the internet and start snarking about someone you've never met and never will.

 

[KayMouse]

That cashier gossip was ugly and uncalled for.

I work at a Target in TX, and we have cashiers and other store employees on foodstamps. These are folks will full availability, willing to work whenever, but are only scheduled unpredictable hours on the whims of cost-saving management. We have an elderly cart attendant who buys 1 banana for 35c for lunch with his food stamp card.

I was on foodstamps in 1995 in MT. The deal then was that I had to work "X" amount of hours/month (sorry, I no longer remember the exact amount) If you didn't work the required hours at your job, you could make up for it with volunteer work or job-coaching classes. You were dropped from the foodstamps if you didn't comply with the required hours.

These days I live in the pretty picket fence upper-middle class master planned community. I wasn't trash when I was living in a single wide on foodstamps, any more than I am trash driving my kids to dance class in my minivan today. My co-workers who work their butts off at Target aren't trash either.

There are jerks who are poor. who take take take, and foolish with what has been given to them. But trust me, drive through my master-planned community and you will find lots of entitled monied jerks here too.

Money does not equal class.

I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! I work at Target and this situation is becoming all too real for me and my team members

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

There are all kinds of reasons that someone can receive foodstamps. I live in a city that has a nice size Air Force Base. These men and women work everyday to defend our country. Many of the newly enlisted, with young families, are on foodstamps. The bases commissary takes EBT/Snap and WIC. In my state child support and foodstamps are all on the same card. I sure got some looks when I pulled out that card to pay for some of my groceries. My point is there are many reasons to receive different benefits but there is NO reason it is any of that cashier's or anyone else's business.

 

[cm8]

Just because she gets food stamps does NOT mean she does not work and hence puts in the tax pot to help pay for her own groceries also. It still shouldnt be up for discussion.

Agreed!! Now a days, people are working and still in need of assistance. Not everyone sits on their rears eating bon bons and watching soap operas all day

I was going to say this...but not for the reason you stated. I teach in a high school in a low-income area. The kids tell me that it is common for many people to apply for (and receive) multiple cards, which multiplies their benefits.

Well then the kids you teach have no idea on how it works. It is impossible to collect benefits on multiple cards for the SAME individuals at once. Their name and SSN are ran through a system statewide database that will show whether or not they are receiving assistance in another state or already are being issues assistance at this time. Unless they are using other people's SSN they are NOT receiving multiple benefits

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

If there's one thing that's going to run me off the DIS, it's the upper-middle-class entitlement of people on this board who think that they know the entire life history of someone on government assistance.

I grew up on food stamps and disability. My dad was in kidney failure and on dialysis (and later had cancer, which ultimately killed him) and couldn't be left alone for 8 hours a day for my stepmom to work. So she had to quit her job too to keep an eye on him. So we got foodstamps, and government cheese, and everything else.

And someone seeing her in the grocery store might question why a healthy mid-30's woman was buying food with foodstamps, and why didn't she just get a job?

Because she had to quit her job to take care of her husband. So I really, really am getting sick and tired of people around here judging STRANGERS. You have NO IDEA what someone else's situation is, and I find it distasteful to go on the internet and start snarking about someone you've never met and never will.