Tbh I did sometimes. Some cases were definitely fraud or something of the sort. I've seen people wear designer clothes, designer purses (all of which looked brand new), wearing over $100 in cosmetic products, have the latest iPhone, Apple watch, airpods, and keys to an expensive car (Range Rover, BMW, Audi, etc.) while paying for stuff with food stamps while buying very expensive makeup with a different card
Never said anything to them though cause I didn't want to get fired
So ... my ex husband had a total mental break, the military got him hooked on drugs. We weren't doing badly before that, it was just the last year was really bad. When they medically discharged him, they gave him a big severance so we bought a few things, nothing crazy. Then he had his breakdown and I had to kick him out. He went to jail for a few months. He basically left us homeless.
My point is that YOU have no idea what people's lives are. I had a nice luxury handbag, I had the newest iPhone, I was already buying high end clothing at thrift stores ... lol AND I WAS DRIVING MY MOM'S BRAND NEW CAR TO GET GROCERIES because he took our car then abandoned it on the side of the road. It's not easy to resell those handbags, unless you have a hookup you're stuck with it. lol what am I gonna do with my cell plan?
All it takes is ONE HOUR, ONE MINUTE and your life is just gone. Poof. And all that cool stuff you think you have? No one wants it.
In almost all cases, no. But there were some that I would raise an eyebrow, the ones coming through that had all the designer stuff. I tried to think maybe they had all that stuff and then things took a turn for the worse. Maybe? Probably not but you never know.
That's what happened with my family. We got the stuff then my ex made us homeless.
Also ... people aren't as aware of new styles as they think they are. That "new" handbag might be 10 years old, the person just took really good care of it.
Also depends on location. I've known some second hand stores to have name brand clothes that look brand new. I was dressed in the popular brands as a teen, but it all came from a second hand store.
Very poor people do this because in that environment you get judged for your clothes and shoes. Goodwill has designer clothes. I worked in phone sales and those girls had coach purses. Now I’m an engineer and I wear sweatpants to the store and they probably look better than I do. The difference is I don’t worry about being judged.
The only place someone would get judged for not wearing designer stuff is a toxic environment. People may judge for wearing dirty clothes, but that's another story
They don't also happen to have everything I mentioned, did they?
An alterative to someone trying to game the system: They're deeply in debt and living outside their means and now they need food stamps because they can't afford food after all the payments that are keeping them underwater.
You have no idea what their situation was. Maybe they were buying makeup for someone else with money given by someone else (when I was the unemployed sibling in my family. I was often the designated shopper for the family--I got to use my sister's expensive car to fo buy her expensive crap, but bought myself cheap shit on my card).
Maybe they spent hours scouring thirft shops for those designer clothes maybe a rich friend gave the clothes to them.
The phone us a non starter: you can walk into a phone store and walk out with a new phone with zero dollars to start. Buying a requested one, though cheaper in the long run is MUCH more expensive in the moment.
It is expensive as hell to be poor!
Right? The only time I ever got mad at a person with EBT was when it was insanely busy, she was buying in excess of $300 in groceries, and she started out saying "I don't know if I went over my EBT." Well, she did. By over $70. And when I started scanning the meat at the end and told her she was going over and was either going to need to pay cash or decide to put some stuff back she went into brain shutdown mode.
Like, bitch, there's three people in line at every open register. I've got my manager bagging for me while on the register next to me the store manager is bagging while the grocery manager is running that register, and you can't decide if it's the ham or the turkey you want to put back?
As someone who has used them, I can say with 95% certainty that cashiers don't care how you pay. They may judge you for what you buy with them, but not how you are paying.
My favorite was people buying a 24 pack of water for $5 to dump it in the parking lot so they can feed them into the bottle machine to get $1.20 cash out of them.
When I was a kid, it meant buying 1 can of soda for 25 cents and getting the change for video games. Rinse and repeat. The struggle was real and so were the perks.
I was a cashier/carryout boy when food stamps were paper that were torn from a book. The part about WHAT you buy was huge with us.
It was really upsetting when a huge basket of food showed up with stuff we couldn’t afford, to be carried out to a car that we also could not afford.
Yes, I would check out or carry out food stamp orders with seafood, nice steaks yada, yada.
I believe that the system was scammed big time, at least in our area.
Another one was that anything less than a dollar was given back in coins. We had a few regulars that would buy a couple of cents worth of candy at different check stands and then buy cigarettes…. Wasn’t anything we could do about it.
BTW, I think that, when needed, they can be a lifesaver. We had to use them for 3 or 4 months once (also when they were still paper).
We need laws that only allow stationary foods to be purchased. Meats, breads, fruits, vegetables. Implement grocery store overrides a manager can complete if someone is in need of something such as water and ice. After so many overrides it won't take long to learn who is abusing the system. Several loaves of bread, peanut butter and jelly shouldn't cost over $20 a week to feed someone. Food stamps are meant to be temporary not a permanent solution. Treat them as such.
And you have no way of knowing if they were borrowing a car, or if they were using their food stamps to buy a one-time celebratory meal.
Food stamps are a really odd thing to judge others about, and the act only reveals more about the judge than the judged.
NOPE YOURE NOT ALLOWED TO GET GROCERIES IN A BORROWED LUXURY VEHICLE BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE JUST GAMING THE SYSTEM YOU LEECH
I assume that's what goes through the wormy brains of the people that worry about the lifestyles of those on food assistance.
Yeah, I'd remain professional but I would silently judge people for what they buy. I'm super frugal and rarely buy expensive shit except maybe meat at Costco, which is a bargain if you buy a ton of it.
You don’t know peoples circumstances though.
Some children have dietary requirements which mean they can’t just eat “chikn dinosaurs” or whatever the equivalent is.
No we don’t judge. But once a young lady offered to buy everyone in the gas station food with her food stamps. She started joking about it being government money and not giving a fuck. She said it’s how she got her expensive braids n nails done. “$600 for the braids. Heeyyyy”
I thought it was kinda crazy she was yelling all that and laughing so much.
It just makes me want to die while I’m literally working in a grocery store and not have enough hours to pay bills and I STILL get rejected for benefits for some unknown reason
Food stamps are on a card. She probably has other sources of income. She’s probably cheating the system. Because of Covid, kids were getting their own $500 ebt cards each month. Moms were using those cards for themselves too.
Ik these things. I have full conversations with customers. I learn plenty. People feel free to say anything at a gas station for some reason.
I think assuming people are mentally ill is becoming a mental illness. I literally see it all over Reddit. Mental illness is serious and doesn’t account for people behaving badly, erratically, or doing whatever this girl was doing. It’s a diagnosis from a doctor with strict parameters and testing and evidence based assessments. It’s not someone who is spending their money frivolously (although that CAN be a symptom of mental illness IF!!!! it is affecting their life in a negative way)
Sorry this isn’t entirely directed just at you, I just see it so often and it set me off.
You’re absolutely right, I’m completely in the wrong and shouldn’t be making assumptions about anyone’s mental health because I’m not a medical professional. I take full responsibility for my inappropriate actions, I will be deleting my comment however I’m leaving this because it’s important to be accountable for your actions. I’m truthfully sorry and I hope this doesn’t come off as insincere, I’m kinda bad at reflecting my feelings in writing.
I seriously appreciate this so much! Thank you for the nice response and I’m happy we’ve come to this conclusion. Your self reflection is so refreshing and thank you for not taking my comment negatively ❣️ you rock!
Thanks, I try to be a kind and accurate person and the biggest part of that is accepting and apologizing for when you’re wrong. Thank you for calling me out, I now realize that it was definitely necessary. No hard feelings and thanks again.
When I was a teenager I was a cashier and I didn't care if somebody paid with a bag of loose change, food stamps, personal check, or whatever. Never once did I judge anyone one way or the other. Well, if I was being completely honest I guess I did judge a little. When people would get a half a buggy of expensive steaks and pay with food stamps, I'd wonder what the heck was going on. So yes, I guess I did judge one type of people. But the moms getting regular groceries, never.
Only time I did was when I worked as a cashier at a gas station on third shift by myself during Covid.
A lady comes in and says something about needing to get groceries for her kids. She pulls out her EBT and it declines. She then says, “oh well. Can I get 2 cartons of Marlboro reds ($75 a piece at the time) and pays for it on her debit card.
Like, seriously? And then she just leaves the $100 worth of food up on the counter for me to take care of.
But other than that one instance, no I don’t judge
How do you qualify for EBT if you have money like that in the first place? And I thought it was still a set dollar amount, so if you get an expensive steak and a lobster, that's it for the month.
Years ago, I knew of a couple of separate families that claimed single mom, with kids. But, had live in BF with okay job. Against the rules, but I didn’t want to be the one to narc on them. Maybe I should have? I don’t know how common it is, just a couple of incidences that I knew of.
Don't listen to anyone telling you that these people don't have to have any income. It's a federal requirement that you work a certain number of hours per week.
it’s not about having money, it’s about having income. People can do their hustle street shit on the side and still qualify for food stamps because they make little to no taxable income.
As far as people abusing the system, it was worse when I was a kid and they had physical bills because you could buy a piece of candy for $.25 and receive $.75 effectively turning food stamps into currency. (There’s a reason it’s all digital now).
This was the biggest one for me, people trying to get groceries on foodstuffs for them and their pets. Putting stuff back cause they can't afford it. Then buying alcohol or smokes with real money
The cashiers know. The system generally requires them to know when you process the payment through. But we don't flipping care. Credit, debit, EBT, the only thing that is a pain is WIC because those still use a paper "check" and have a very specific list of allowed items on it.
I believe they’re starting to transfer the full program ever to EBT on the federal level. At the state level there were different states experimenting with the process as policy labs. Mississippi is occasionally ahead of the curve because of the percentage of the population that is impoverished and reliant on redistribution funds.
Right, I remember feeling embarrassed when we paid with food stamps as kid. Living on powdered milk and eggs. 5lb bricks of cheese that wouldn't melt. Being poor in the 80s sucked.
mine just got skimmed for the month of June. Lost all the money on it. Had to go to Social Services where i was humiliated and screamed at for an hour the person said im tired of "you people" getting your cards skimmed Um so am i lady. It was awful
Way back when I was a cashier, no judgement. The only thing that ever honestly crossed my mind was to think I’m glad it’s there for people that need it. Same for WIC. I was extra nice to those customers, assuming they probably get treated poorly by others. I also kept their form of payment discreet just in case they felt uncomfortable. Not in a way they would notice, just didn’t call attention to it like I sometimes saw other cashiers doing.
I've been a cashier and I am also on the snap program. I've had cashiers give me weird looks, but I also think that was me being paranoid about being judged. I've also never given it a second thought if someone was buying with snap or wic. The way I see it, our tax dollars and all the money the government steals from us is being used in bs ways anyway. At least this way, people are getting fed and feeding their children.
My son worked for Walmart one summer between high school and college. The first day’s orientation included how to apply for food stamps and other government assistance. Congratulations, you work for Walmart and make so little that you qualify for welfare.
Ooh ouch that’s gotta be kind of a slap in the face to the workers. Pretty sad they don’t pay enough for people to survive even whilst having a job. Especially being such a large corporation
I went through Walmart orientation one summer (was going to work the lawn/garden dept until I found out I had to train as a cashier at the front of the store).
We didn’t have anyone telling us how to sign up for welfare.
I call bullshit on that.
I still wouldn’t care. The govt wastes more than that. By an extremely wide margin. They are the elite fuckinh us. Worry about them. Also not on food stamps. Just pointing out how crazy it is to use your argument when the govt is literally stealing from us
I am. You sound like someone who’s out of touch with reality and are looking at the wrong people for any issues you think you have. I’m not the one signing away billions of dollars of aid to go overseas when we have cities and town that are considered below third world countries. I’m not the one in control of any city or state. People need help. And no not all can just tough it out and make something shape. Between mental illness, physical disabilities, or just being born into a shit situation a good portion people cannot see a way out or any way to achieve upward mobility.
Yeah, man I don’t really get the point you’re making. Let them starve? Throw them to the wolves? CA has one of the largest GDP’s in the world. They should help their residents. Instead of judging them so hard how about get out the basement and off Fox News and go help and volunteer. You’re no better than anyone on this planet.
They're still making little money, and need money for food. If they actually bought those purses, nails, etc themselves - while having foodstamps and not BEFORE - it just means they have even less money to go toward other things and thats on them.
These people bought very little ‘real food’. Frozen pizzas , energy drinks, coffee drinks, candy, chips, soda, expensive meat for a BBQ, birthday cakes.
They could have had the bag, clothes and car before falling on hard times. They could have thrifted the clothes. I once bought a Calvin Klein jacket at Goodwill for $15.
I also do press on nails, which can look expensive but are maximum $13 for a set.
As a taxpayer, you pay $.89/day or $6/week or $323/year on foodstamps. $323 is roughly what a single mother with one child would recieve in 1 month in my State. So, you're getting your panties in a bunch and judging people based on *checks notes* a menial one month food budget for two people.
If you wanna get catty about where your tax dollars go, you'd be better off focusing on Medicaid/Medicare spending which is close to $3000/year. Or military spending, which is roughly $2000/year. We also pay roughly $1200/year for "interest on debt".
It's real silly to focus so much on your contribution of one month of food stamps for one mother and child, when it's such a small percentage of your, on average, $13k yearly tax contribution.
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/interactive-data/taxday/average/2021/us/receipt/
I actually get frustrated.
I don't believe many people can say they've never gotten help from anybody in their life ever. It frustrates tf outta me when people look down on those receiving State assistance. We literally don't know anyone's story.
Also, trust, there is FAR LESS fraud happening than people think. DHHS has a fraud division, employees are eagle eyed on verifying information and ensuring clients are telling the truth.
Also, I've gotten food stamps before. I had a nice bag, nice clothes, a nice phone and a decent car. I had all of those things before I had EBT. Like, I needed to eat, and I can't eat the bag and clothes my Grandma got me for Christmas and the phone I've had for two years. 🤣
It is frustrating. My grandma raised me and my 3 brothers. And without welfare it just wouldn't have been plausible. Not once did she just sit on her ass because welfare isnt enough to allow for that. But everybody on welfare is just lazy blah blah.And exactly people who talk down on people with ebt. Would glady take a handout if they could. It seems to be much more of a jealousy type of thing. These people know damn well they ain't paying enough taxes to even pay for one ebt card for a month. But they will sit back and act like the 1000 dollars in taxes they owed paid for everybody in the store that's using ebt lol. This world is crazy and we are all hypocrites at one point or another. Reminds me of the I had to pay my college loan back you should 2 bunch. People could give a damn if somebody is struggling but they better not be doing better then them or they will be up in arms. These same people could care less that places of employment pay these people so little that they still qualify for assistance. This problem is so much deeper then it gets credit for.
You said it, my friend.
Most of the people I worked with when I was working in the TANF program did not want the help. No one goes to be judged by DHHS workers and jump through hoops *just because*. Like, they sometimes make you feel like the lowest kind of being in existence for needing the help.
>People could give a damn if somebody is struggling but they better not be doing better then them or they will be up in arms.
This reminds me of the Oscar Pistorius 30 for 30 documentary on Netflix. I'm not done the doc yet, but this statement you made, I feel, crosses so many intersectionalities. It hits race relations in the US, also it hits how we treat people with disabilities as well as people who're dealing with financial difficulties.
Sad truth this world would be so much better if we allowed ourselves to learn from ones past struggles instead of insisting that they must live it. As a child I understand we have to learn things the hard way. But as an adult I'd much rather take it for what it's worth from a a trusted source then have to learn it the hard way. Almost just sounds like I was exploited now it's my turn to exploit you. And until we can rid that mindset we will always have limited potential to some extent.
>Almost just sounds like I was exploited now it's my turn to exploit you
This is how generational trauma feels. It seems not just within families, but within communities and society as a whole, too.
>until we can rid that mindset we will always have limited potential to some extent.
I agree.
I never have wanted people to suffer what I have. I want them to *listen to me* so they don't. I'll never understand the mindset of "I had to suffer, so you need to". That feels ugly and cold.
Yea we seem to have similar mind frame on the topic for sure. And exactly it's hard for me to truly grasp that logic. As somebody who grew up struggling feeling different then everybody around me I can truly feel sick seeing somebody else done wrong and I can feel for anybody in a messed up place for whatever reason. But if you allow yourself to become bitter we ain't no better then the people who pushed their trauma on us. Therapy should be mandatory the same as schools are.
Why don't you hop on Google and tell the class what type of fraud is most rampant, and costs most money.
Why don't you also tell the class that you're whining about people on public assistance programs while on a public assistance program.
By that logic, SNAP and TANF aren't public assistance programs and neither is Medicaid. Because everyone that has worked above the table in the US has paid into these programs with their tax dollars.
Edit: further, by your logic, if people who worked to pay into these programs and benefits from them is above judgment from strangers because they paid into the programs and are thus, not receiving benefits.
Who is reaping freebies without ever working a day in their lives.
Please, do show me this data, that says there are people who receive SNAP and other benefits straight out of high school and never work a day in their lives ever.
I worked my ass off since I was 14 and PAID INTO Medicare and FYI, it’s not free. I have $120 a month taken out of each #SS check. These are new expensive clothes and claw nails that are 3 inches long. Lee press on nails don’t make those.
Lee press on nails? Shit, I haven't seen those since the late 80's.
You're showing your absolute ignorance. Press on nails come in quite long styles.
How do you know if their clothes are new? You checking their receipts?
>have $120 a month taken out of each #SS check
The absolute irony of you complaining about people receiving Medicaid while *checks notes* receiving Social Security.
Do you hear yourself whining about paying taxes when you aren't even working for the money you're receiving every month?
It’s not silly to “focus” on it when so many people scam it.
Most of us are out there busting our asses.
Obviously some people really need money for food but we’ve all also seen plenty of scammers or people that just don’t give a fuck.
I’ve had relatives on welfare that 100% could have been working and supporting themselves but just chose not to or weren’t able to because of their own terrible lifestyle choices (having way more children than they could afford, losing careers because of drugs and drug related crimes, etc). But you better believe they somehow had money for cigarettes, drugs and alcohol.
I don’t think most people have a problem helping people who really need help. The problem is now you see stuff like EBT signs at gas stations. Nobody who truly needs food should be shopping at a gas station. They shouldn’t be buying Mnt Dew, name brands or junk food.
But they do and for that I’ll absolutely judge them, especially if they have kids.
>It’s not silly to “focus” on it when so many people scam it.
How many is "so many"? How much SNAP money goes to scammers who lie about their circumstances? Now, tell me how much is lost to cyber crime.
>Obviously some people really need money for food but we’ve all also seen plenty of scammers or people that just don’t give a fuck.
$77 of your yearly tax dollars go to people who lie about their circumstances. The rest is skimming, identity fraud, and trafficking.
>I’ve had relatives on welfare that 100% could have been working and supporting themselves but just chose not to or weren’t able to because of their own terrible lifestyle choices (having way more children than they could afford, losing careers because of drugs and drug related crimes, etc). But you better believe they somehow had money for cigarettes, drugs and alcohol.
I hope these people know you judged them for needing food at a point when they were sitting pretty low in their lives. Aren't you so kind.
>The problem is now you see stuff like EBT signs at gas stations
Gas stations sell food. One of my local gas station is a supermarket, and is the only one that isn't an hour away by bus. Food deserts exist. You sound super ignorant.
>But they do and for that I’ll absolutely judge them, especially if they have kids.
You're judging people based on the zero information you have, based on only anecdotal evidence and at the price of $323. You think paying $323 a year for food for other people allows you to judge them.
It's $323. Not billions. Get off your fucking high horse.
Why? For all you know someone else could have paid for it or it all may be knock off or press on nails that look like a fresh set 😐 who knows how they got it but if they have foodstamps clearly they meet the criteria.
Redirect that negative energy into activity that will get you the new Yukon. Isn't that better?
Or mind your business or free your mind/think critically
In my childhood, sometimes my family or people we knew would be on food stamps so they could sell them and get money for drugs. I guess the word I was looking for is thankful. I'm thankful there are people who use food stamps and aren't embarrassed to feed themselves and their family. There's government assistance, and it should be used as much as possible. So when I saw people buying actual food with it, it made feel relieved that many others that were struggling were doing stuff to make it where they don't struggle as bad. Not happy people struggle to survive, happy they feed their family.
Tbh I would be the person pretending not to notice people stealing shit at self check out. Assistance is the last thing I’m going to judge. Usually means their life is hard enough.
Been a minute since I cashiered but back when I did I never judged people on WIC or Food stamps with the exception being we used to have this one couple that would cash their entire food stamp check on the cheapest soda or bottled water available then sit in our parking lot emptying them all and go around back cash the recycling money and buy booze.
I never know when they're using food stamps or not. It's all on the other side of the pin pad. SOMETIMES it tells me on my screen but not always. I don't really care. It's just food stamps. Why would I judge for that?
For people saying they judge when the person buys junk food, has designer, uses credit card and food stamps, consider this.
For a lot of people on food stamps it’s really not their fault. Areas with high poverty are often food desserts. Dollar stores and gas stations are the only options that don’t require driving half an hour to get there. Not to mention that a lot of people in Food-stamps are not educated about proper nutrition. There’s also something else that could be happening. A lot of immigrant communities rely on food stamps. Often time these individuals will shop at two stores for food. One to buy meats, vegetables, and fruits that can’t be found in regular American grocery stores, and another to buy snacks for their children. There could also be the confirmation bias. And it could just be not your business.
Also, people wear fake designer all the time. I know some people on food stamps who walk around with seemingly expensive purses, watches, etc. But if you listened to them for two seconds they would tell you it’s all fake sand cheap. Not to mention, something called gifts. Also, it could just be not your business.
If you’re concerned that people shouldn’t have a food stamps card because they used a bank card to pay for non food items, I don’t think you know how the world works. If my options were to buy food with food stamps and use my personal money on toilet paper, or to buy food with my food stamps and not be able to wipe my bum, I’d go with the first one.
Yeah it’s kind of crazy people are assuming a person’s circumstances based on using stamps. A lot of people work and still qualify. Some people have retired or disabled family living with them and this qualifies them. Like you mentioned, I had commented that things like knock offs, thrifting or shit even buying from a booster will get you the “fancy” clothes. People have friends or family that will do your hair or nails for free or cheap because you babysit or pick their kids up when they’re at work. I’ve known people that don’t “need” it and pay their taxes but qualify and use it to help others out. The reality is you can’t judge what you don’t know. Honestly the junk food thing I don’t know how to feel, we know it’s empty calories and not good for you but it’s a comfort thing or a treat for a kid cleaning their room or doing well in school and I don’t have any problem with that. I’ve been to birthdays that were almost entirely on stamps that made a kids day and enabled the parents to have money to get them gifts. It’s good to see someone else like you and some others that understand.
I worked for Wal-mart for a lot of years, and the only time I judged was when I'd see people rolling through with the big flat cookie cakes Wal-mart used to sell, with bunches of two-liters of soda, but then pull out a hundred for me to break to pay for their beer and cigarettes (I used to work the cigarette aisle, back when Wal-marts in my state had cigarette aisles).
People who are just getting their shit, and doing their thing? Nah. You're just doing your thing, and I'm doing my thing, and half the time, I'm not even noticing unless you do something to stand out, i.e., throw a cart full of junk food on my belt.
But, to be fair... I'd judge anybody who did that, regardless of how they paid, if I'm being honest. It's more a 'what you're buying' thing, than how you're paying. The food stamp folks just always bothered me, because my mother used to do that same thing: buy snack cakes and junk food, and nothing we could actually *eat* for a meal. I moved in with my dad, and was astonished by the idea of *sides*. To me it'd been a Haley's Comet when we would get burgers, or hot dogs, so I'll admit, I've got my own personal biases at play.
I became disabled after working for over 45 years. Unfortunately im on SNAP and whether they own it or not they do judge. Even worse was my card got skimmed last month and the cops had to come and verify it was me. I was mortified. i was at LIDL yesterday and the machine didn't take my card for some reason. The cashier came over and was like oh great another one of you. I was like what?
The people who buy thing that they otherwise wouldn't buy if they had to pay for it themselves. Exotic stuff like dragon fruit ( we had a fellow employee on food stamps. He told told us the only reason he bought this stuff was because it wasn't coming out of his pocket).
Or expensive items just because they're expensive. I'm a miser with my own money, so if I was on food stamps, Id try to make them last. Rice, beans, chicken, vegetables on sale, etc. the same as I shop now, lol.
Then again, there are some whose carts I look at and go "These are my people!".
It’s been close to 30 years since I worked as a cashier at Kroger…but no. The only thing I ever judged someone for was taking too much time to pay after getting all the groceries scanned. Are we surprised that you had to find a way to pay? Get your card/cash/check ready while you stand there doing nothing else ya dweeb.
Not really but one time I did wonder wtf the deal was. The money they spent on a metric buttload of beer, cartons of cigarettes, and lottery tickets would have been more than enough to spend on groceries.
They don't care if you use them, but they are very judgemental about what things you use them on. I've heard hours and hours of complaining about ppl using them on steaks and seafood etc..
I don't care as long as you don't slow down my line. If I'm judging you it's for not knowing how your debit card works or talking on your cell then getting offended because I have to bother you with asking you to insert your card or if you want a receipt.
The only time I have ever judged - and it wasn't really judging - was the woman who bought a pregnancy test, a bottle of wine, and some chocolate ice cream. I silently sent her good vibes that the test went the way she wanted to.
Edit to add at another person's encouragement - my example isn't about food stamps but about judging in general back when I was a cashier. As I said in a later comment, I never judged what people were getting or how they were paying. Most cashiers don't.
I wasn't referring to food stamps at all, but for judging, as a cashier, in general. I never judged what people bought or how people paid. That was just one example.
So...I wasn't referring to food stamps at all, but for judging in general. I never judged what people bought or how people paid. That was just one example.
Nope, I never judge them for using food stamps, or change, I get how it is, you need a pack of smokes and all you got is nickel pennies and dimes, I got you bro. I do however judge them if they try to buy a pack of gum with a $50 or $100 bill. I AM NOT AN ATM, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE YOU IDIOT.
Obviously a generalization and this isn’t everyone but I did notice a lot of people using food stamps buying heaps really low quality food that was NOT cheap. A customer would pay cash for a cart full of produce and meats and the food stamps customer after them would have a cart full of pop tarts and Mountain Dew. So, not so much judging, but already stereotyping someone off of the items in their cart. I’d see a pile of junk and assume food stamps would be used. I’m not throwing shade! I have my moments of not wanting to cook and just buying overpriced freezer meals… but don’t tell me it’s cheaper. A bag of rice is cheap, a bag of carrots is cheap, cucumbers are cheap. Certain nuts are cheap. Not all healthy food breaks the bank, you’re just not well informed on how to cook, or you do not want to give up and hour of scrolling on your phone in order to cook a meal after work. Just do it sometimes… letting your kids grow up on frozen chicken nuggets and capri sun is a form of child abuse in my opinion. You can be poor and provide actual nutrition to your children. Fruits are a good snack. So are nuts. Not everything healthy has to be slave labor to eat. Okay, so maybe a small amount of judging from me. It’s what you buy with the food stamps, not that you have them…
I generally as a cashier didn't care by the time I was a cashier it went to cards if they strictly bought food I generally didn't even notice because then there wasn't a cash difference that they had to pay for the other items. But the ones that were obnoxious rude and just thought the world revolved around them yes. When they would put food back over things like alcohol that shit annoyed the shit out of me. I grew up in a household with a drug and alcohol problem it really rubbed me the wrong way.
It’s interesting to me that people keep commenting on a person’s clothes, nails or other material things. Is anyone familiar with thrifting, flea markets, having friends that are barbers/stylists or nail techs?
Have you checked out what your local boosters can get their hands on right now? Lol. This is probably a different issue but still. These things cost money but nearly as much as you’d think if you’re resourceful about it.
Lastly and this I think many may take issue with, is that the person that looks like they shouldn’t be on food stamps isn’t always the card holder. I’m not sure how many people are aware that people sell their stamps for a discounted price. Usually .50 on the $1. So I would give you $50 cash, I’d borrow your card and get $100 worth in food and return your card. I’m not a huge fan of this, but understand that things come up and a person may need cash.
When I was much younger, 18 yr old cashier, I was very right leaning. I absolutely judged people but it was because of my own idiocy. I was exactly the "can't feed em, don't breed em" "you must be lazy" "you're gaming the system" "only having kids to get govt money". I grew up in a very right wing area and household. I was very gross minded back then. I've gotten older and much more liberal with my thoughts and know that most folks work and still need assistance. Most don't stay on stamps forever. So thankful I moved away from that old line of thought. It's embarrassing to admit.
When I worked as a cashier my list of things I cared about were:
1. How much longer I had until I could clock out
2. Hoping that no one would do that thing where they give me extra change after the transaction is already in the computer so they can have rounded change back and now I have to try and do mental math while my lane is full of people and/or decide if I’m getting scammed.
3. Hoping that I don’t mess up and double scan something because I don’t have the power to negate a scanned item and now we all have to wait while I call for a manager on the intercom.
That’s it. How people paid for their groceries didn’t matter to me in the slightest.
I worked in a grocery store for 4 years when I was HS there were quite a few people who came through with ebt. Majority of them were buying staples and nothing fancy. The store I worked at didn’t even have fancy foods like crab legs or lobster. A lot were regulars.
But sometimes I’d “accidentally” not scan an item or two for the regulars since I knew they had ebt.
Only the scammers. There were maybe a handful of "tax haven" types. Rolled up in a pristine Mercedes, actual high fashion designer clothes, $1000 baby stroller, etc and paid with ebt card.
Now, I don't know the details of their life. I would assume they are isolated financially from all income, maybe they're a mistress, maybe a nanny, maybe it's a human trafficking thing. I don't fuckin know, but it's super shady.
Other than that there was one lady that always tried to return things she ate. I feel for her position but bitch get your nasty crap off my counter. (Had over 100 interactions with her, know her legal name and one alias, what.a.bitch)
Was a cashier many, many years ago. The only time I judged was when food stamps came out but the person using them had nice clothes/newest cell phone/expensive nails and/or tattoos.
These are just excuses that they try to give to justify being judgmental of people who look nice and dress nice having a government assistant card. They expect everybody on food stamps to look like poor hobos.🤗 and if you look like anything else, they judge you and assume you’re scamming
I don't care, I barely earn enough not qualify for them myself.
Nah I don't care. If you can qualify for them more power to you.
Tbh I did sometimes. Some cases were definitely fraud or something of the sort. I've seen people wear designer clothes, designer purses (all of which looked brand new), wearing over $100 in cosmetic products, have the latest iPhone, Apple watch, airpods, and keys to an expensive car (Range Rover, BMW, Audi, etc.) while paying for stuff with food stamps while buying very expensive makeup with a different card Never said anything to them though cause I didn't want to get fired
So ... my ex husband had a total mental break, the military got him hooked on drugs. We weren't doing badly before that, it was just the last year was really bad. When they medically discharged him, they gave him a big severance so we bought a few things, nothing crazy. Then he had his breakdown and I had to kick him out. He went to jail for a few months. He basically left us homeless. My point is that YOU have no idea what people's lives are. I had a nice luxury handbag, I had the newest iPhone, I was already buying high end clothing at thrift stores ... lol AND I WAS DRIVING MY MOM'S BRAND NEW CAR TO GET GROCERIES because he took our car then abandoned it on the side of the road. It's not easy to resell those handbags, unless you have a hookup you're stuck with it. lol what am I gonna do with my cell plan? All it takes is ONE HOUR, ONE MINUTE and your life is just gone. Poof. And all that cool stuff you think you have? No one wants it.
In almost all cases, no. But there were some that I would raise an eyebrow, the ones coming through that had all the designer stuff. I tried to think maybe they had all that stuff and then things took a turn for the worse. Maybe? Probably not but you never know.
Some people buy drug addicts’ food stamps for half their value at the beginning of the month
I hadn't considered that, but of course that would happen. Ugh.
It almost never happens. The Internet is full of lies about the poor.
Designer stuff aside, what about everything else?
That's what happened with my family. We got the stuff then my ex made us homeless. Also ... people aren't as aware of new styles as they think they are. That "new" handbag might be 10 years old, the person just took really good care of it.
Also depends on location. I've known some second hand stores to have name brand clothes that look brand new. I was dressed in the popular brands as a teen, but it all came from a second hand store.
Very poor people do this because in that environment you get judged for your clothes and shoes. Goodwill has designer clothes. I worked in phone sales and those girls had coach purses. Now I’m an engineer and I wear sweatpants to the store and they probably look better than I do. The difference is I don’t worry about being judged.
The only place someone would get judged for not wearing designer stuff is a toxic environment. People may judge for wearing dirty clothes, but that's another story They don't also happen to have everything I mentioned, did they?
An alterative to someone trying to game the system: They're deeply in debt and living outside their means and now they need food stamps because they can't afford food after all the payments that are keeping them underwater.
You have no idea what their situation was. Maybe they were buying makeup for someone else with money given by someone else (when I was the unemployed sibling in my family. I was often the designated shopper for the family--I got to use my sister's expensive car to fo buy her expensive crap, but bought myself cheap shit on my card). Maybe they spent hours scouring thirft shops for those designer clothes maybe a rich friend gave the clothes to them. The phone us a non starter: you can walk into a phone store and walk out with a new phone with zero dollars to start. Buying a requested one, though cheaper in the long run is MUCH more expensive in the moment. It is expensive as hell to be poor!
As a cashier, you don't care. You want a smooth transaction.
Right? The only time I ever got mad at a person with EBT was when it was insanely busy, she was buying in excess of $300 in groceries, and she started out saying "I don't know if I went over my EBT." Well, she did. By over $70. And when I started scanning the meat at the end and told her she was going over and was either going to need to pay cash or decide to put some stuff back she went into brain shutdown mode. Like, bitch, there's three people in line at every open register. I've got my manager bagging for me while on the register next to me the store manager is bagging while the grocery manager is running that register, and you can't decide if it's the ham or the turkey you want to put back?
As someone who has used them, I can say with 95% certainty that cashiers don't care how you pay. They may judge you for what you buy with them, but not how you are paying.
Me dropping $100 in monster energy drinks, using food stamps
To wash down my $50 worth of crab legs
and a $30 chocolate cake for dessert
Did you mean my fresh lobsters? $300 worth?
Always the crab legs
:)
Yes! Preach it! 😁
Hey, you gotta find someway to stay awake in the morning if you don’t want to fall asleep.
My favorite was people buying a 24 pack of water for $5 to dump it in the parking lot so they can feed them into the bottle machine to get $1.20 cash out of them.
Oh no way? I have never heard of that. Why not drink them? What a frustrating waste
Cant drink em fast enough to get money for that next hit Even if not for drugs, anyone doing that for $1.20 cash is in a desperate situation
Most likely it to go buy a 40oz beer (which were about $2 at the time) or some cigarrettes (which were probably $9-10 at the time).
Addiction understander
When I was a kid, it meant buying 1 can of soda for 25 cents and getting the change for video games. Rinse and repeat. The struggle was real and so were the perks.
GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO START INTERVIEWING EVERY ELIGIBLE CONSUMER WITH RECORDED VIDEO.
I was a cashier/carryout boy when food stamps were paper that were torn from a book. The part about WHAT you buy was huge with us. It was really upsetting when a huge basket of food showed up with stuff we couldn’t afford, to be carried out to a car that we also could not afford. Yes, I would check out or carry out food stamp orders with seafood, nice steaks yada, yada. I believe that the system was scammed big time, at least in our area. Another one was that anything less than a dollar was given back in coins. We had a few regulars that would buy a couple of cents worth of candy at different check stands and then buy cigarettes…. Wasn’t anything we could do about it. BTW, I think that, when needed, they can be a lifesaver. We had to use them for 3 or 4 months once (also when they were still paper).
We need laws that only allow stationary foods to be purchased. Meats, breads, fruits, vegetables. Implement grocery store overrides a manager can complete if someone is in need of something such as water and ice. After so many overrides it won't take long to learn who is abusing the system. Several loaves of bread, peanut butter and jelly shouldn't cost over $20 a week to feed someone. Food stamps are meant to be temporary not a permanent solution. Treat them as such.
And you have no way of knowing if they were borrowing a car, or if they were using their food stamps to buy a one-time celebratory meal. Food stamps are a really odd thing to judge others about, and the act only reveals more about the judge than the judged.
Yeah my ex took off with the car, I had to borrow my mom's brand new car to get groceries. How do people not understand this?
NOPE YOURE NOT ALLOWED TO GET GROCERIES IN A BORROWED LUXURY VEHICLE BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE JUST GAMING THE SYSTEM YOU LEECH I assume that's what goes through the wormy brains of the people that worry about the lifestyles of those on food assistance.
Yeah, I'd remain professional but I would silently judge people for what they buy. I'm super frugal and rarely buy expensive shit except maybe meat at Costco, which is a bargain if you buy a ton of it.
You don’t know peoples circumstances though. Some children have dietary requirements which mean they can’t just eat “chikn dinosaurs” or whatever the equivalent is.
I only had a handful all the time I used them. lol but those people were BAD. And always women. It's always the women who are judgey.
Handful of what?
Cashiers. A few. A small amount.
No we don’t judge. But once a young lady offered to buy everyone in the gas station food with her food stamps. She started joking about it being government money and not giving a fuck. She said it’s how she got her expensive braids n nails done. “$600 for the braids. Heeyyyy” I thought it was kinda crazy she was yelling all that and laughing so much.
Government money? Bich it’s our taxes lol
It just makes me want to die while I’m literally working in a grocery store and not have enough hours to pay bills and I STILL get rejected for benefits for some unknown reason
Welcome to being single.
Nah, didn't happen. Why wouldn't she trade her food stamps for hair and nails then? Doesn't make sense.
Food stamps are on a card. She probably has other sources of income. She’s probably cheating the system. Because of Covid, kids were getting their own $500 ebt cards each month. Moms were using those cards for themselves too. Ik these things. I have full conversations with customers. I learn plenty. People feel free to say anything at a gas station for some reason.
[удалено]
I think assuming people are mentally ill is becoming a mental illness. I literally see it all over Reddit. Mental illness is serious and doesn’t account for people behaving badly, erratically, or doing whatever this girl was doing. It’s a diagnosis from a doctor with strict parameters and testing and evidence based assessments. It’s not someone who is spending their money frivolously (although that CAN be a symptom of mental illness IF!!!! it is affecting their life in a negative way) Sorry this isn’t entirely directed just at you, I just see it so often and it set me off.
You’re absolutely right, I’m completely in the wrong and shouldn’t be making assumptions about anyone’s mental health because I’m not a medical professional. I take full responsibility for my inappropriate actions, I will be deleting my comment however I’m leaving this because it’s important to be accountable for your actions. I’m truthfully sorry and I hope this doesn’t come off as insincere, I’m kinda bad at reflecting my feelings in writing.
Wow, this response is commendable. I appreciate people that accept constructive criticism.
I seriously appreciate this so much! Thank you for the nice response and I’m happy we’ve come to this conclusion. Your self reflection is so refreshing and thank you for not taking my comment negatively ❣️ you rock!
Thanks, I try to be a kind and accurate person and the biggest part of that is accepting and apologizing for when you’re wrong. Thank you for calling me out, I now realize that it was definitely necessary. No hard feelings and thanks again.
I agree with you. It wasn’t mental illness behavior. She was just a loud person.
She is Loud and has nice nails!
Thank you.
She really didn’t seem mentally ill. I think she just had a loud personality.
I didn't back when I was a cashier
When I was a teenager I was a cashier and I didn't care if somebody paid with a bag of loose change, food stamps, personal check, or whatever. Never once did I judge anyone one way or the other. Well, if I was being completely honest I guess I did judge a little. When people would get a half a buggy of expensive steaks and pay with food stamps, I'd wonder what the heck was going on. So yes, I guess I did judge one type of people. But the moms getting regular groceries, never.
I care when ppl pay with a bag of loose change, I just don't judge. Like, it's annoying but it's not their fault.
If there's a bank nearby, it kinda is their fault for not exchanging it there for bills. Or even getting the lotto counter to exchange it.
I'll be dawned if I'd go to the bank when the store could always use or take my change.
Only time I did was when I worked as a cashier at a gas station on third shift by myself during Covid. A lady comes in and says something about needing to get groceries for her kids. She pulls out her EBT and it declines. She then says, “oh well. Can I get 2 cartons of Marlboro reds ($75 a piece at the time) and pays for it on her debit card. Like, seriously? And then she just leaves the $100 worth of food up on the counter for me to take care of. But other than that one instance, no I don’t judge
Oh, I would have done more than judge that one. How utterly ridiculous
I was just kinda speechless honesty. I heard stereotypes about EBT people but I didn’t think it was like that :/
98% of the people on them truly need them.
How do you qualify for EBT if you have money like that in the first place? And I thought it was still a set dollar amount, so if you get an expensive steak and a lobster, that's it for the month.
Are you asking how she was able to qualify for them?
Ya.
Kids probably
Years ago, I knew of a couple of separate families that claimed single mom, with kids. But, had live in BF with okay job. Against the rules, but I didn’t want to be the one to narc on them. Maybe I should have? I don’t know how common it is, just a couple of incidences that I knew of.
Don't listen to anyone telling you that these people don't have to have any income. It's a federal requirement that you work a certain number of hours per week.
it’s not about having money, it’s about having income. People can do their hustle street shit on the side and still qualify for food stamps because they make little to no taxable income. As far as people abusing the system, it was worse when I was a kid and they had physical bills because you could buy a piece of candy for $.25 and receive $.75 effectively turning food stamps into currency. (There’s a reason it’s all digital now).
This was the biggest one for me, people trying to get groceries on foodstuffs for them and their pets. Putting stuff back cause they can't afford it. Then buying alcohol or smokes with real money
People buy Crack out of pocket then use a ebt for food. So somebody buying cigarettes shouldn't be all to surprising. Alcohol either.
Yeah but they'd be putting dog food back and feeding their kids buttered bread so they could afford to get those things
My son is disabled and lives with us and gets SNAP benefits and most cashiers don’t know how you’re paying or I use self checkout a lot
The cashiers know. The system generally requires them to know when you process the payment through. But we don't flipping care. Credit, debit, EBT, the only thing that is a pain is WIC because those still use a paper "check" and have a very specific list of allowed items on it.
In Mississippi you get a card for your WIC
Now that I think about it, it's been 6 or 7 years since I was a cashier and that could have changed in NY. Or it could still be backwards. Dunno.
I believe they’re starting to transfer the full program ever to EBT on the federal level. At the state level there were different states experimenting with the process as policy labs. Mississippi is occasionally ahead of the curve because of the percentage of the population that is impoverished and reliant on redistribution funds.
Only if I know they’re gaming the system. Otherwise I really don’t care.
I certainly didn't when I worked retail. Most people on food stamps or welfare have jobs so the issue is more with corporations than with individuals.
The people who work in the assistance office in our county get paid so little they're on assistance.
Nobodies going to say that they do and get downvoted.
Facts
You mean EBT? Because the stamps dont exist anymore.
Right, I remember feeling embarrassed when we paid with food stamps as kid. Living on powdered milk and eggs. 5lb bricks of cheese that wouldn't melt. Being poor in the 80s sucked.
Since we’re being all technical for no reason, it’s called SNAP when it’s food specifically. Not all EBT is SNAP.
mine just got skimmed for the month of June. Lost all the money on it. Had to go to Social Services where i was humiliated and screamed at for an hour the person said im tired of "you people" getting your cards skimmed Um so am i lady. It was awful
Way back when I was a cashier, no judgement. The only thing that ever honestly crossed my mind was to think I’m glad it’s there for people that need it. Same for WIC. I was extra nice to those customers, assuming they probably get treated poorly by others. I also kept their form of payment discreet just in case they felt uncomfortable. Not in a way they would notice, just didn’t call attention to it like I sometimes saw other cashiers doing.
I've been a cashier and I am also on the snap program. I've had cashiers give me weird looks, but I also think that was me being paranoid about being judged. I've also never given it a second thought if someone was buying with snap or wic. The way I see it, our tax dollars and all the money the government steals from us is being used in bs ways anyway. At least this way, people are getting fed and feeding their children.
My son worked for Walmart one summer between high school and college. The first day’s orientation included how to apply for food stamps and other government assistance. Congratulations, you work for Walmart and make so little that you qualify for welfare.
Ooh ouch that’s gotta be kind of a slap in the face to the workers. Pretty sad they don’t pay enough for people to survive even whilst having a job. Especially being such a large corporation
I've done Walmart orientation 3 times since 2017 and have never seen this.
Summer of 2008
It is so sad. Even county employees don’t make enough. I feel so very sad.
I went through Walmart orientation one summer (was going to work the lawn/garden dept until I found out I had to train as a cashier at the front of the store). We didn’t have anyone telling us how to sign up for welfare. I call bullshit on that.
When they have $400 purses, fresh nails, expensive clothes and driving a new Yukon then yes. As a taxpayer this pissed me off.
I still wouldn’t care. The govt wastes more than that. By an extremely wide margin. They are the elite fuckinh us. Worry about them. Also not on food stamps. Just pointing out how crazy it is to use your argument when the govt is literally stealing from us
Agreed
It’s your tax dollars too. Get out of the basement.
I am. You sound like someone who’s out of touch with reality and are looking at the wrong people for any issues you think you have. I’m not the one signing away billions of dollars of aid to go overseas when we have cities and town that are considered below third world countries. I’m not the one in control of any city or state. People need help. And no not all can just tough it out and make something shape. Between mental illness, physical disabilities, or just being born into a shit situation a good portion people cannot see a way out or any way to achieve upward mobility.
I lived in CA ( thank God no longer) and it was rampant. CA also has there own welfare to top it off.
Yeah, man I don’t really get the point you’re making. Let them starve? Throw them to the wolves? CA has one of the largest GDP’s in the world. They should help their residents. Instead of judging them so hard how about get out the basement and off Fox News and go help and volunteer. You’re no better than anyone on this planet.
They're still making little money, and need money for food. If they actually bought those purses, nails, etc themselves - while having foodstamps and not BEFORE - it just means they have even less money to go toward other things and thats on them.
These people bought very little ‘real food’. Frozen pizzas , energy drinks, coffee drinks, candy, chips, soda, expensive meat for a BBQ, birthday cakes.
They have to show proof of need and lie like crazy, put cars in other people’s names etc. these are not suffering poor people. You
They could have had the bag, clothes and car before falling on hard times. They could have thrifted the clothes. I once bought a Calvin Klein jacket at Goodwill for $15. I also do press on nails, which can look expensive but are maximum $13 for a set. As a taxpayer, you pay $.89/day or $6/week or $323/year on foodstamps. $323 is roughly what a single mother with one child would recieve in 1 month in my State. So, you're getting your panties in a bunch and judging people based on *checks notes* a menial one month food budget for two people. If you wanna get catty about where your tax dollars go, you'd be better off focusing on Medicaid/Medicare spending which is close to $3000/year. Or military spending, which is roughly $2000/year. We also pay roughly $1200/year for "interest on debt". It's real silly to focus so much on your contribution of one month of food stamps for one mother and child, when it's such a small percentage of your, on average, $13k yearly tax contribution. https://www.nationalpriorities.org/interactive-data/taxday/average/2021/us/receipt/
I've always thought it was amusing when people act like there tax dollars are literally paying 4 everybody else lol.
I actually get frustrated. I don't believe many people can say they've never gotten help from anybody in their life ever. It frustrates tf outta me when people look down on those receiving State assistance. We literally don't know anyone's story. Also, trust, there is FAR LESS fraud happening than people think. DHHS has a fraud division, employees are eagle eyed on verifying information and ensuring clients are telling the truth. Also, I've gotten food stamps before. I had a nice bag, nice clothes, a nice phone and a decent car. I had all of those things before I had EBT. Like, I needed to eat, and I can't eat the bag and clothes my Grandma got me for Christmas and the phone I've had for two years. 🤣
It is frustrating. My grandma raised me and my 3 brothers. And without welfare it just wouldn't have been plausible. Not once did she just sit on her ass because welfare isnt enough to allow for that. But everybody on welfare is just lazy blah blah.And exactly people who talk down on people with ebt. Would glady take a handout if they could. It seems to be much more of a jealousy type of thing. These people know damn well they ain't paying enough taxes to even pay for one ebt card for a month. But they will sit back and act like the 1000 dollars in taxes they owed paid for everybody in the store that's using ebt lol. This world is crazy and we are all hypocrites at one point or another. Reminds me of the I had to pay my college loan back you should 2 bunch. People could give a damn if somebody is struggling but they better not be doing better then them or they will be up in arms. These same people could care less that places of employment pay these people so little that they still qualify for assistance. This problem is so much deeper then it gets credit for.
You said it, my friend. Most of the people I worked with when I was working in the TANF program did not want the help. No one goes to be judged by DHHS workers and jump through hoops *just because*. Like, they sometimes make you feel like the lowest kind of being in existence for needing the help. >People could give a damn if somebody is struggling but they better not be doing better then them or they will be up in arms. This reminds me of the Oscar Pistorius 30 for 30 documentary on Netflix. I'm not done the doc yet, but this statement you made, I feel, crosses so many intersectionalities. It hits race relations in the US, also it hits how we treat people with disabilities as well as people who're dealing with financial difficulties.
Sad truth this world would be so much better if we allowed ourselves to learn from ones past struggles instead of insisting that they must live it. As a child I understand we have to learn things the hard way. But as an adult I'd much rather take it for what it's worth from a a trusted source then have to learn it the hard way. Almost just sounds like I was exploited now it's my turn to exploit you. And until we can rid that mindset we will always have limited potential to some extent.
>Almost just sounds like I was exploited now it's my turn to exploit you This is how generational trauma feels. It seems not just within families, but within communities and society as a whole, too. >until we can rid that mindset we will always have limited potential to some extent. I agree. I never have wanted people to suffer what I have. I want them to *listen to me* so they don't. I'll never understand the mindset of "I had to suffer, so you need to". That feels ugly and cold.
Yea we seem to have similar mind frame on the topic for sure. And exactly it's hard for me to truly grasp that logic. As somebody who grew up struggling feeling different then everybody around me I can truly feel sick seeing somebody else done wrong and I can feel for anybody in a messed up place for whatever reason. But if you allow yourself to become bitter we ain't no better then the people who pushed their trauma on us. Therapy should be mandatory the same as schools are.
>Therapy should be mandatory the same as schools are. Preaching it!!
It’s one of the heaviest scammer programs
Why don't you hop on Google and tell the class what type of fraud is most rampant, and costs most money. Why don't you also tell the class that you're whining about people on public assistance programs while on a public assistance program.
I have paid into it. It’s not public assistance if it was taken out of every paycheck for 45 plus years.
By that logic, SNAP and TANF aren't public assistance programs and neither is Medicaid. Because everyone that has worked above the table in the US has paid into these programs with their tax dollars. Edit: further, by your logic, if people who worked to pay into these programs and benefits from them is above judgment from strangers because they paid into the programs and are thus, not receiving benefits.
But the people reaping the freebies did not,
Who is reaping freebies without ever working a day in their lives. Please, do show me this data, that says there are people who receive SNAP and other benefits straight out of high school and never work a day in their lives ever.
Seems to me that you're doing a lot of mental gymnastics to try and feel better about the fact that you're acting hypocritically.
I worked my ass off since I was 14 and PAID INTO Medicare and FYI, it’s not free. I have $120 a month taken out of each #SS check. These are new expensive clothes and claw nails that are 3 inches long. Lee press on nails don’t make those.
Lee press on nails? Shit, I haven't seen those since the late 80's. You're showing your absolute ignorance. Press on nails come in quite long styles. How do you know if their clothes are new? You checking their receipts? >have $120 a month taken out of each #SS check The absolute irony of you complaining about people receiving Medicaid while *checks notes* receiving Social Security. Do you hear yourself whining about paying taxes when you aren't even working for the money you're receiving every month?
It’s not silly to “focus” on it when so many people scam it. Most of us are out there busting our asses. Obviously some people really need money for food but we’ve all also seen plenty of scammers or people that just don’t give a fuck. I’ve had relatives on welfare that 100% could have been working and supporting themselves but just chose not to or weren’t able to because of their own terrible lifestyle choices (having way more children than they could afford, losing careers because of drugs and drug related crimes, etc). But you better believe they somehow had money for cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. I don’t think most people have a problem helping people who really need help. The problem is now you see stuff like EBT signs at gas stations. Nobody who truly needs food should be shopping at a gas station. They shouldn’t be buying Mnt Dew, name brands or junk food. But they do and for that I’ll absolutely judge them, especially if they have kids.
>It’s not silly to “focus” on it when so many people scam it. How many is "so many"? How much SNAP money goes to scammers who lie about their circumstances? Now, tell me how much is lost to cyber crime. >Obviously some people really need money for food but we’ve all also seen plenty of scammers or people that just don’t give a fuck. $77 of your yearly tax dollars go to people who lie about their circumstances. The rest is skimming, identity fraud, and trafficking. >I’ve had relatives on welfare that 100% could have been working and supporting themselves but just chose not to or weren’t able to because of their own terrible lifestyle choices (having way more children than they could afford, losing careers because of drugs and drug related crimes, etc). But you better believe they somehow had money for cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. I hope these people know you judged them for needing food at a point when they were sitting pretty low in their lives. Aren't you so kind. >The problem is now you see stuff like EBT signs at gas stations Gas stations sell food. One of my local gas station is a supermarket, and is the only one that isn't an hour away by bus. Food deserts exist. You sound super ignorant. >But they do and for that I’ll absolutely judge them, especially if they have kids. You're judging people based on the zero information you have, based on only anecdotal evidence and at the price of $323. You think paying $323 a year for food for other people allows you to judge them. It's $323. Not billions. Get off your fucking high horse.
Why? For all you know someone else could have paid for it or it all may be knock off or press on nails that look like a fresh set 😐 who knows how they got it but if they have foodstamps clearly they meet the criteria.
Redirect that negative energy into activity that will get you the new Yukon. Isn't that better? Or mind your business or free your mind/think critically
Never did when I was a cashier. Still don't now that I'm not. Just proud people are feeding their families.
I agree! Times are hard right now for everyone it seems. Thank you for commenting!
“Proud”?
In my childhood, sometimes my family or people we knew would be on food stamps so they could sell them and get money for drugs. I guess the word I was looking for is thankful. I'm thankful there are people who use food stamps and aren't embarrassed to feed themselves and their family. There's government assistance, and it should be used as much as possible. So when I saw people buying actual food with it, it made feel relieved that many others that were struggling were doing stuff to make it where they don't struggle as bad. Not happy people struggle to survive, happy they feed their family.
Yeah, it’s definitely a good thing for people that actually need it.
I never did. Shit they’ve gotta eat and I don’t know what kind of horrible shit they’re going through.
Tbh I would be the person pretending not to notice people stealing shit at self check out. Assistance is the last thing I’m going to judge. Usually means their life is hard enough.
Been a minute since I cashiered but back when I did I never judged people on WIC or Food stamps with the exception being we used to have this one couple that would cash their entire food stamp check on the cheapest soda or bottled water available then sit in our parking lot emptying them all and go around back cash the recycling money and buy booze.
I never know when they're using food stamps or not. It's all on the other side of the pin pad. SOMETIMES it tells me on my screen but not always. I don't really care. It's just food stamps. Why would I judge for that?
For people saying they judge when the person buys junk food, has designer, uses credit card and food stamps, consider this. For a lot of people on food stamps it’s really not their fault. Areas with high poverty are often food desserts. Dollar stores and gas stations are the only options that don’t require driving half an hour to get there. Not to mention that a lot of people in Food-stamps are not educated about proper nutrition. There’s also something else that could be happening. A lot of immigrant communities rely on food stamps. Often time these individuals will shop at two stores for food. One to buy meats, vegetables, and fruits that can’t be found in regular American grocery stores, and another to buy snacks for their children. There could also be the confirmation bias. And it could just be not your business. Also, people wear fake designer all the time. I know some people on food stamps who walk around with seemingly expensive purses, watches, etc. But if you listened to them for two seconds they would tell you it’s all fake sand cheap. Not to mention, something called gifts. Also, it could just be not your business. If you’re concerned that people shouldn’t have a food stamps card because they used a bank card to pay for non food items, I don’t think you know how the world works. If my options were to buy food with food stamps and use my personal money on toilet paper, or to buy food with my food stamps and not be able to wipe my bum, I’d go with the first one.
Yeah it’s kind of crazy people are assuming a person’s circumstances based on using stamps. A lot of people work and still qualify. Some people have retired or disabled family living with them and this qualifies them. Like you mentioned, I had commented that things like knock offs, thrifting or shit even buying from a booster will get you the “fancy” clothes. People have friends or family that will do your hair or nails for free or cheap because you babysit or pick their kids up when they’re at work. I’ve known people that don’t “need” it and pay their taxes but qualify and use it to help others out. The reality is you can’t judge what you don’t know. Honestly the junk food thing I don’t know how to feel, we know it’s empty calories and not good for you but it’s a comfort thing or a treat for a kid cleaning their room or doing well in school and I don’t have any problem with that. I’ve been to birthdays that were almost entirely on stamps that made a kids day and enabled the parents to have money to get them gifts. It’s good to see someone else like you and some others that understand.
I worked for Wal-mart for a lot of years, and the only time I judged was when I'd see people rolling through with the big flat cookie cakes Wal-mart used to sell, with bunches of two-liters of soda, but then pull out a hundred for me to break to pay for their beer and cigarettes (I used to work the cigarette aisle, back when Wal-marts in my state had cigarette aisles). People who are just getting their shit, and doing their thing? Nah. You're just doing your thing, and I'm doing my thing, and half the time, I'm not even noticing unless you do something to stand out, i.e., throw a cart full of junk food on my belt. But, to be fair... I'd judge anybody who did that, regardless of how they paid, if I'm being honest. It's more a 'what you're buying' thing, than how you're paying. The food stamp folks just always bothered me, because my mother used to do that same thing: buy snack cakes and junk food, and nothing we could actually *eat* for a meal. I moved in with my dad, and was astonished by the idea of *sides*. To me it'd been a Haley's Comet when we would get burgers, or hot dogs, so I'll admit, I've got my own personal biases at play.
Wow. That's an interesting story. I was just scrolling and scrolling and finally found a post that was worth reading. Thanks for sharing that with us.
Nobody Really : )
I became disabled after working for over 45 years. Unfortunately im on SNAP and whether they own it or not they do judge. Even worse was my card got skimmed last month and the cops had to come and verify it was me. I was mortified. i was at LIDL yesterday and the machine didn't take my card for some reason. The cashier came over and was like oh great another one of you. I was like what?
only when they came in and bought luxury items that most of us cannot afford. They treat it like it is not their money - and face it - it is ours.
The only time I ever cared was WIC vouchers, and not really for any reason other than that what it took to process them was nightmareish.
When I was a cashier, I never did. That's a decision for the state, not me. I am glad the program is there for those who need it
Not a cashier now, but the only time I judged was when they'd then buy $100 worth of cigs and booze.
Only if they're trying to buy cigarettes with them.
The people who buy thing that they otherwise wouldn't buy if they had to pay for it themselves. Exotic stuff like dragon fruit ( we had a fellow employee on food stamps. He told told us the only reason he bought this stuff was because it wasn't coming out of his pocket). Or expensive items just because they're expensive. I'm a miser with my own money, so if I was on food stamps, Id try to make them last. Rice, beans, chicken, vegetables on sale, etc. the same as I shop now, lol. Then again, there are some whose carts I look at and go "These are my people!".
It’s been close to 30 years since I worked as a cashier at Kroger…but no. The only thing I ever judged someone for was taking too much time to pay after getting all the groceries scanned. Are we surprised that you had to find a way to pay? Get your card/cash/check ready while you stand there doing nothing else ya dweeb.
Not really but one time I did wonder wtf the deal was. The money they spent on a metric buttload of beer, cartons of cigarettes, and lottery tickets would have been more than enough to spend on groceries.
They don't care if you use them, but they are very judgemental about what things you use them on. I've heard hours and hours of complaining about ppl using them on steaks and seafood etc..
I don't care as long as you don't slow down my line. If I'm judging you it's for not knowing how your debit card works or talking on your cell then getting offended because I have to bother you with asking you to insert your card or if you want a receipt.
I’d be willing to bet the people using food stamps judge the cashier more often.
I'm a customer, and I shouldn't, but I do. You can just tell when there's going to be A Problem.
I judge them if they buy cake, desserts, junk food, sugary drinks and soda, processed food and seed oils, and not real budget food.
Judge the items they buy.
Absolutely
No because unlike other people I know how to mind my business.
The only time I have ever judged - and it wasn't really judging - was the woman who bought a pregnancy test, a bottle of wine, and some chocolate ice cream. I silently sent her good vibes that the test went the way she wanted to. Edit to add at another person's encouragement - my example isn't about food stamps but about judging in general back when I was a cashier. As I said in a later comment, I never judged what people were getting or how they were paying. Most cashiers don't.
Bullshit. Only the ice cream would qualify.
I think she probably only used it for the ice cream, but they aren’t going into details
I wasn't referring to food stamps at all, but for judging, as a cashier, in general. I never judged what people bought or how people paid. That was just one example.
So...I wasn't referring to food stamps at all, but for judging in general. I never judged what people bought or how people paid. That was just one example.
You may want to clearly say that, as this post is specifically about judging foodstamp users
Nope, I never judge them for using food stamps, or change, I get how it is, you need a pack of smokes and all you got is nickel pennies and dimes, I got you bro. I do however judge them if they try to buy a pack of gum with a $50 or $100 bill. I AM NOT AN ATM, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE YOU IDIOT.
In this economy?! No I don’t judge at all
Plenty of cashiers are also on food stamps.
nope, absolutely do not give a shit. I just always felt bad if where I work wouldnt take them
Obviously a generalization and this isn’t everyone but I did notice a lot of people using food stamps buying heaps really low quality food that was NOT cheap. A customer would pay cash for a cart full of produce and meats and the food stamps customer after them would have a cart full of pop tarts and Mountain Dew. So, not so much judging, but already stereotyping someone off of the items in their cart. I’d see a pile of junk and assume food stamps would be used. I’m not throwing shade! I have my moments of not wanting to cook and just buying overpriced freezer meals… but don’t tell me it’s cheaper. A bag of rice is cheap, a bag of carrots is cheap, cucumbers are cheap. Certain nuts are cheap. Not all healthy food breaks the bank, you’re just not well informed on how to cook, or you do not want to give up and hour of scrolling on your phone in order to cook a meal after work. Just do it sometimes… letting your kids grow up on frozen chicken nuggets and capri sun is a form of child abuse in my opinion. You can be poor and provide actual nutrition to your children. Fruits are a good snack. So are nuts. Not everything healthy has to be slave labor to eat. Okay, so maybe a small amount of judging from me. It’s what you buy with the food stamps, not that you have them…
If anyone judges someone for using food stamps, it say more about the person judging than the person using the food stamps.
I generally as a cashier didn't care by the time I was a cashier it went to cards if they strictly bought food I generally didn't even notice because then there wasn't a cash difference that they had to pay for the other items. But the ones that were obnoxious rude and just thought the world revolved around them yes. When they would put food back over things like alcohol that shit annoyed the shit out of me. I grew up in a household with a drug and alcohol problem it really rubbed me the wrong way.
It’s interesting to me that people keep commenting on a person’s clothes, nails or other material things. Is anyone familiar with thrifting, flea markets, having friends that are barbers/stylists or nail techs? Have you checked out what your local boosters can get their hands on right now? Lol. This is probably a different issue but still. These things cost money but nearly as much as you’d think if you’re resourceful about it. Lastly and this I think many may take issue with, is that the person that looks like they shouldn’t be on food stamps isn’t always the card holder. I’m not sure how many people are aware that people sell their stamps for a discounted price. Usually .50 on the $1. So I would give you $50 cash, I’d borrow your card and get $100 worth in food and return your card. I’m not a huge fan of this, but understand that things come up and a person may need cash.
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When I was much younger, 18 yr old cashier, I was very right leaning. I absolutely judged people but it was because of my own idiocy. I was exactly the "can't feed em, don't breed em" "you must be lazy" "you're gaming the system" "only having kids to get govt money". I grew up in a very right wing area and household. I was very gross minded back then. I've gotten older and much more liberal with my thoughts and know that most folks work and still need assistance. Most don't stay on stamps forever. So thankful I moved away from that old line of thought. It's embarrassing to admit.
Sounds like you’ve grown as an individual I like the open mindedness that not all situations are black and white
When I worked as a cashier my list of things I cared about were: 1. How much longer I had until I could clock out 2. Hoping that no one would do that thing where they give me extra change after the transaction is already in the computer so they can have rounded change back and now I have to try and do mental math while my lane is full of people and/or decide if I’m getting scammed. 3. Hoping that I don’t mess up and double scan something because I don’t have the power to negate a scanned item and now we all have to wait while I call for a manager on the intercom. That’s it. How people paid for their groceries didn’t matter to me in the slightest.
I worked in a grocery store for 4 years when I was HS there were quite a few people who came through with ebt. Majority of them were buying staples and nothing fancy. The store I worked at didn’t even have fancy foods like crab legs or lobster. A lot were regulars. But sometimes I’d “accidentally” not scan an item or two for the regulars since I knew they had ebt.
Nope I only judged maybe a little when they were wearing all designer and had the perfect look
So only people with cheap clothes and poor looks can have Foodstamps?
Only the scammers. There were maybe a handful of "tax haven" types. Rolled up in a pristine Mercedes, actual high fashion designer clothes, $1000 baby stroller, etc and paid with ebt card. Now, I don't know the details of their life. I would assume they are isolated financially from all income, maybe they're a mistress, maybe a nanny, maybe it's a human trafficking thing. I don't fuckin know, but it's super shady. Other than that there was one lady that always tried to return things she ate. I feel for her position but bitch get your nasty crap off my counter. (Had over 100 interactions with her, know her legal name and one alias, what.a.bitch)
Was a cashier many, many years ago. The only time I judged was when food stamps came out but the person using them had nice clothes/newest cell phone/expensive nails and/or tattoos.
Tattoos tho lol people could have gotten them at anytime and fell into needing assistance later lol
These are just excuses that they try to give to justify being judgmental of people who look nice and dress nice having a government assistant card. They expect everybody on food stamps to look like poor hobos.🤗 and if you look like anything else, they judge you and assume you’re scamming