Something that grinds my nerves

vikingxj said:
So, the other day at work (I work in a grocery store), a guy comes up to my counter and wants to buy shrimp. He points and makes a grunt. So, I ask, "You want one pound of white shrimp?". He nods after holding up his pointer finger.

The next thing he does is pull out a debit looking card, but its not a debit card, its an EBT food stamp card. He then proceeded to ask me if he can pay for the shrimp with his food stamps. Mind you, these shrimp are $7.99 per pound. When I said that he could, he holds up two fingers and says, "Two pounds".

I'm thinking, WTF? This dude is eating shrimp on tax dollars when I'm eating peanut-effing-butter sandwiches because I don't have anything to cook at home.

After that "incident", I told my butcher about it and he told me when he worked at another store, freakin' indians would come in and buy lobster tails, shrimp, scallops, tenderloin, porterhouse and a whole bunch of expensive meat with their EBT cards that tax payers are giving them.

Has anybody else come across similar things? It just pisses me off to see these people (the shrimp guy didn't even speak English...) using their EBT cards for luxuries when thats not what they were intended for. They should be able to buy milk, bread and maybe some ground beef, not effing shrimp!

Why does the government of WA persist in letting this happen unmonitored?

AHHHHHHHH!:gonnablow:gonnablow:gonnablow:explosion
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I don't know what your political leanings are, but even though I agree with you about how irritating this is, I have to say this. It is their right to spend that money ANY way they want to legally. I don't think it should be our right to dictate to someone what they can and cannot buy with money we gave them to purchase food.

If you don't like them buying shrimp, then contact your congressman, senator and make your wishes known.

Personally I think they should pass a law that any citizen can be a bountry hunter of sorts. You get 10% of any money that you save the government exposing people that are taking advantage of the system.

Get rid of 50% of the governemnt and cut taxes! Oh and get rid of the IRS as well!

Stop electing people that give our money away to buy votes!
 
I worked for Safeway for about 8 years and I used to see that all the time. People would buy all the best food with their food stamps and then to cover the stuff that food stamps don't buy they pull out a wad of 100's. It's very frustrating.
 
GRIMUS99XJ said:
I personally drive a nice vehicle live in a nice house and stay broke however my stepsister on the other hand (no Zac I have not)
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:gee::smootch:
 
@Mudderroy
I just don't agree that here someone is being handed everything by the govt and they're buying luxury items with it when they actually should be buying real food. I guess it doesn't really matter because no one will have the balls to actually say anything about it in the govt because it might "offend" someone.

As a taxpayer, I feel cheated. As a sales clerk, I feel cheated. As a student, I feel cheated. Why should someone who pays taxes and goes to school full time not receive any helping hand? Is it because I am not a leech? Because I have a job? Yes. If I decided to be a bum and leech off the system, I too could be buying tenderloins, ribeyes, shrimp, and the likes.

There should be limits to what you can buy BECAUSE its taxpayer money. Not some freakin' gift card that grandma gave you for Christmas.
 
I like the word rights as in their right to spend the money the way they want. ? What right do they have to get the money if they do not deserve it, if they can afford to drive a killer ride, then they have the right stop using taxpayer dollars for grub. We as taxpayers are the one who's "rights" are the issue here, who's right is it to take the money you own and buy votes with it? I love the argument, if we get rid of the illegals no one will work the menial jobs. If we abolish the welfare systems and take care of the handicapped, and incapable, the illegals will have to fight the legal residents over the "menial jobs". BTW I am above no job to feed and care for my family. I like the fact that I cannot afford cable tv, yet somehow inmates in jail have the "RIGHT" to free tv. I have the right to what I am responsible for, not the right to make you responsible. With "rights" come responibilities, you cannot have one without the other. my spellcheck just had a melt down, sory
 
muduck18 said:
Thats about the best idea I have heard yet.
Good luck, let me know how that works out for you.
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I make too much for it to actually work.

On a side note...with all these fancy vehicles that 'food stamp' people have: Does anyone actually believe these vehicles are being paid for? Has anyone considered that they're likely carrying cash because if it were in a bank it'd be detectable? Under the table work is also a way to avoid child support and other wage garnishments.

Food for thought...as long as it's not shrimp or steak, right? :D
 
GRIMUS99XJ said:
I personally drive a nice vehicle live in a nice house and stay broke however my stepsister on the other hand (no Zac I have not) recieves like 650.00 a month in food stamps no welfare just stamps, so one a month I go get her card spend about 300.00 dollars on it and give her bout 150.00 to 200.00 cash for it. I figure, 1) I get more for my money and 2) she now has money to buy diapers for my nephew and clothes for him. This way we both win
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$650 for 2 sounds like a pretty health grocery allowance allowance to me. My household of 3 spends about that and we get mostly organic food. We probably spend close to $200 a month on organic milk alone. And I'm including non-food items like paper towels, diapers (well, pullups now), toiletries, etc.
 
I completely agree with this. I am a hard working 24 year old man and have worked since I was 12 years old. I started working on a farm picking berries and corn under the table til I was about 15. Then I worked for a gas station for a family friend a few hours after school leading up to part-time work in a restaurant throughout high school into full-time work in a factory. I have been able to buy a house and my jeep. Between myself and my fiancee we make less than 35K a year combined. Money is extremely tight and bills barely get paid. My fiancee receives WIC (women infants and children) for the two children and herself due to the fact that our children have the ACCESS CARD insurance for free. If not for Access we would not have WIC. It gives us the bare essentials to live on each month - Milk, eggs, peanut butter, juice, and some cereals. Every time we go grocery shopping I pay for the food with my debit card or cash and she loads the WIC items onto the belt and seperates hers from mine. And you would not believe the amount of people that stare at us for using cash or plastic and buying $150 worth of food then using WIC checks for some items plus our baby's formula. It seriously sickens me that people can be extremely ignorant to those that actually need the assistance. They stare as if we are bottom of the barrel scum bags because we use some government assistance to help us out. But we are not, and we both work hard for a living and earn very little money. So the way I see it - Technically we have both paid for the items she uses WIC for out of the taxes we pay with our full-time jobs.
There are however certain people who use and abuse this priveledge. Take for instance last Friday I went grocery shopping at China-Mart and in front of me was a lady with 3 kids in a shopping cart and her husband with another pushing two other carts overflowing with food and expensive toys/clothing. Same scenario paid for all the groceries with Food Stamps and pulled out a huge wad of cash to pay for the toys/clothes. It is upsetting for me because my oldest child is 4 years old and due to being laid off on and off throughout last year we couldnt get him much of anything for Christmas. All the while heres this couple with 4 kids and a Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 and tons of games in their cart and I cant even get my kid a brand new controller for my Playstation2. It is sickening to watch these "government scavengers" rape me of the life that I could provide for my family if they wouldnt cheat the system.
End of rant.
 
RichP said:
The problem is that for every 5 you see beating the system there are 1 or 2 that you don't see that really need it, when they tighten it up those 5 still figure out how game the system and the 1 or 2 that need it get screwed.
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I agree with this, my wife has has some issues with PTSD and depression recently, and on top of that the job market in P-cola where I PCSed to is almost non-existant. She cannot buy a job. She applies for 3 a day, minimum. She recently got denied for unemployment form both NC and FL.


The other side: Her friend, who smokes pot daily, does schrooms, coke, and extacy; lost her job, and got unemployment immediatly, uses the money to buy drugs. Her friend has never looked for another job (a requirement to be on unemployment), and has just gotten pregnant from a random guy (recovering crakhead on house arrest), so she also just applied for and got welfare as well.

It has really been a kick to the balls(figurativly) for my wife to watch this happen.

second example:
My wife worked at Victoria's Secrets in the Mall after Katrina came through, and lost track of how many of the Fema cards people were paying for $150 bras with. People were coming in with BAGS of stuff from Lacost, Bananna Rep, Zales, ect.
 
So about 3 years ago i was working at Taco Bell and was getting desperate for cash. I was a full time student too! Mind you i have MD so i have a documented disability that is always getting worse. I was driving an 88 f-150 with a 302 and gas had just started climbing into the mid 2 dollar range. So i go into the welfare or whatever the hell they call it office and applied. I went in for the meeting that gives an overview of what they can give me. 10 Dollars a F*cking month is what they were gonna give me! I walked out of that place and said to hell with it. I worked there for a couple more months and finally got an opportunity for a better job. Man I love Cummins!!!!!!!

I decided thats its best that i just work up until i am not able to do it much longer. Then, i am gonna go get denied disability a couple more times until i finally have to get a lawyer!
 
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srimes said:
$650 for 2 sounds like a pretty health grocery allowance allowance to me. My household of 3 spends about that and we get mostly organic food. We probably spend close to $200 a month on organic milk alone. And I'm including non-food items like paper towels, diapers (well, pullups now), toiletries, etc.
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I also agree that it is to much and ther is no way she needs that much thats why I do what I do. If the money is not used it just rolls over to the next month and so on and so on. I in no way feel guilty or bad for doing this. In this world today it never hurts to get a little ahead one way or another.

Truly if my stepsister was not such a hoe to have a child by some random dude that she never knew his last name or where he was from then I could give to sh!ts bout it but I care to much for my newborn nephew that without me would have crap for clothes and no baby accesories ie highchair stroller crid ect ect..... She gets all that from the money i give her to use her stamp card
 
GRIMUS99XJ said:
I also agree that it is to much and ther is no way she needs that much thats why I do what I do. If the money is not used it just rolls over to the next month and so on and so on. I in no way feel guilty or bad for doing this. In this world today it never hurts to get a little ahead one way or another.

Truly if my stepsister was not such a hoe to have a child by some random dude that she never knew his last name or where he was from then I could give to sh!ts bout it but I care to much for my newborn nephew that without me would have crap for clothes and no baby accesories ie highchair stroller crid ect ect..... She gets all that from the money i give her to use her stamp card
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I understand and don't blame you or your stepsister for using what's given. Last year my tax return ended up being about $1,500 MORE than my withholdings! I was ambivalent about it because I think it's wrong and deceptive (a tax cut that goes negative isn't a tax cut, it's a handout), but I sure as hell wasn't going to donate it back to the government to waste as they see fit! Plus, I did need the money as I had just been laid off.

ps., at least your stepsister is raising her kid when she could have offed the "incovienence." everyone makes mistakes.
 
8Mud said:
Finally got a check from some agency and took it down to the super market to buy groceries, was informed store policy, was not to cash welfare checks. Said OK, went into the market and loaded up a shopping cart and wheeled it out through the back, just before the loading dock exit I was stopped by a stock boy and asked what I was doing. Told him cast or no cast, it would be extremely unhealthy for him to not just turn away and walk off and forget he ever saw me. I guess I convinced him, I never heard another word about it.
Sometimes you get so frustrated you just say fawk it.
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So you finally got a welfare check and because the store wouldn't cash it you stole a cartful of food? Sounds like you're just as bad as the people abusing the system...;)

EDIT: XJCruiser:, Ain't nothing wrong with WIC. Me and my wife are on it also. Food Stamps ought to be the same way, each certificate is for a specific item, and you'll never see shrimp or filet mignon on one of them.
 
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I could have gone without this thread today.

I'm 24 and make 30k per year in Los Angeles. The only places I can afford an apartment are far enough away from work that if I lived there I couldn't afford the gas to get to work. So, I live at my parent's house. 3 years ago I would have told you'd I'd be long gone by now. I've been working since I was 14, and when I spent some time unemployed last year I didn't apply for a thing because I was living at home and had no need for assistance. Sounds like I should have tried and spent the money on Jeep parts.
 
8Mud said:
Part 2
Finally got a check from some agency and took it down to the super market to buy groceries, was informed store policy, was not to cash welfare checks. Said OK, went into the market and loaded up a shopping cart and wheeled it out through the back, just before the loading dock exit I was stopped by a stock boy and asked what I was doing. Told him cast or no cast, it would be extremely unhealthy for him to not just turn away and walk off and forget he ever saw me. I guess I convinced him, I never heard another word about it.
Sometimes you get so frustrated you just say fawk it.
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Darky said:
So you finally got a welfare check and because the store wouldn't cash it you stole a cartful of food? Sounds like you're just as bad as the people abusing the system...;)
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:roflmao: How did I miss this?

8Mud the grocery robber. :clap::looser:
 
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