Does it upset you to see someone use a welfare card to buy groceries?

Question

And among their groceries are junk food.

Or, they leave the store and get in an expensive car.

Isn't welfare designed as a temporary assistance, to help people get back on their feet....and shouldn't welfare be a last resort.

If you are having financial problems, wouldn't the responsible thing be to sell the expensive car, get an affordable one. Only by groceries that are needed to sustain you and your family?

Are you upset that your taxpayer dollars go to support people who are making such poor choices?

Answer 1

You probably wont like this answer, but that is why I wish more educational programs were attached to the welfare system.

To get this out of the way, we all know there are bad people who work the system and think it is their god-given right to spend their entire lives as lazy bums, having money handed to them without ever having to work. We know they are out there.

However, a great deal of the people I have met who are on welfare are usually
1.) Poorly educated, oftentimes not even graduating high school
2.) Single mothers, often pregnant at a young age and left alone
3.) several of these women had abusive husbands and were better off on their own with their children
4.) sometimes lacking in family support

A lot of the time, these people don't know how to make healthy choices. They weren't educated. Not only that, but junk food lasts a long time and is often cheep.

You get X amount of food stamps. Are you going to buy expensive fruits and veggies that will go bad soon or $1-$2 bags of cookies or chips that will last a while.

Some systems make room for education, but these women can put out 200 resumes and not get a response. Also, no one teaches them about domestic choices, just some typing skills.

Also, when these people try to make their lives better, they often get punished. If you get a raise, they take away twice that raise. If you work more hours and make $50 more a paycheck, they take away $150 in food stamps. This makes it impossible for people to get on their own two feet.

So yeah, some people abuse the system, but try not to be too quick to judgment, being on welfare isn't always as glamorous as you think it is. And just because someone is poor doesn't mean they don't deserve a couple items of pleasure.

Welfare may be "set up" as temporary assistance, but its design is a black hole, and I have seen too many people trying hard to get out.

Answer 2

No, it doesn't upset me. I'm not the one on welfare. If they want to buy junk food,, then they can. It is food and it is giving you some sort of nourishment. Not everyone is for the all natural foods and stuff like that. And if they get in an expensive car, that could mean plenty of things. They may have had enough money before they were on welfare to buy an expensive car. Maybe they want to look nice. I mean that may be the only nice thing they have. What's the point of selling a car to get a new one if the car works fine? They already have a car. Maybe the family likes junk food too. Junk food is usually more affordable than this organic healthy stuff. They buy what they can afford. Who are you to judge people? Why don't you go up and ask them yourself (which you shouldn't, that's rude). I am not upset that my tax dollars are going to help people less fortunate than I, but I am upset with the poor decisions my tax dollars are goin too. I hate how my tax dollars are going to a war that I don't support and they are going to Bush's other ridiculous plans such as the No child left behind Act, etc...

Answer 3

I am sorry you have to go through this look at real life. It is an eye opener isn't it? My son worked in a food bank a few years ago, where people came for free donated food items. He kept putting a bag of food in a ladies bag and she kept bringing it back. Reason: she didn't know how to cook it! It was a bag of carrots for crying out loud. I hear you loud and clear, I rose up from the ranks of the working poor and saw over and over again the people on welfare, squandering their resources and snubbing my lifestyle and values. They would never stoop to do the low pay, low status jobs that I worked and demanded goods I couldn't afford. and got them. It is really aggravating. There is not anything you can do about it. Just try not to think about it too much. You are right, it is soul killing to watch and hear all of that when you are out slaving for a little grimy buck. But remember, you have your pride and your dignity, and that is worth way more than those people will ever have with their whining and free hand outs. Keep working,, and get a good education so you can have a better job. Good luck to you.

Answer 4

Firstly, there are much more cheap junk foods than there are cheap healthy foods. I can't be angry about people wanting to purchase within their budget and make the most of their food stamps.

Secondly, as far as expensive cars are concerned- Is someone making the most of his/her benefits if he/she purchases an expensive car while relying upon the system for support? Certainly not. Such a person is wasting money that could be used to improve his/her situation. But what about someone who already owns an expensive car at the time of receiving government assistance? Well, as someone already pointed out- How would selling the car be of benefit if the person still owed on the vehicle? And even if this wasn't the case, what would be the point? Sell the car, buy a cheaper one, and use the rest of the money to do what? Buy groceries that will be consumed, resulting in an empty kitchen yet again? Put down a deposit and the first month's rent on another dwelling in order to get out of subsidized housing only to be evicted due to being incapable of paying the higher rent? What?

You remind me of an episode of People's Court that I watched one day. A man was suing a couple because they wouldn't return his belongings to him. He had been homeless due to being evicted and was renting the couple's storage shed. After being approved for subsidized housing, he wanted his things back. But the couple wouldn't comply even though he had paid the previous month's rent and it wasn't that far into the next month. He offered to pay for the few days, but they still wouldn't comply. Anyway, at one point the judge asked the man what he had in the couple's storage. I don't remember everything he said, but I do remember him naming a few televisions, DVD players, and other electronics. The judge replied by asking, "If you couldn't afford to pay your rent, how did you come to own all of that stuff?" The man explained that some of his possessions were gifts and that others were simply acquired over time. The judge replied again, "Well, why didn't you sell some of that stuff to pay your rent?"

What's my point? I'll tell you-

Everyone always thinks they know how others should handle their circumstances. People don't always make the best choices. But can you honestly say that you have all the answers, that you know exactly how people should deal with their poverty, that you know a sure fire way of climbing out of the "hole"? Sure, that man could have sold all of his belongings. And what would that have accomplished? He may have gotten his hands on a month's rent (maybe even a few depending upon how much his property is worth and how much his rent was). And then what? He would've simply prolonged his eviction. That's what. Because he owed rent that he couldn't afford. He would have sold his things for NOTHING. You may say that he should have been living in affordable housing. But how do you know that affordable housing was available to him at the time? You may say that he could get a better paying job. But how do you know he isn't searching for one? You may say that he could get an education or learn a trade. But how do you know that he has the time or opportunity?

What are people suppose to do? Should the impoverished just not own one damned thing, unless it's a necessity, in order to prove to the world that they are in need of a bit of help? Do people fraud the system? Absolutely. I've seen plenty of it: People quitting their jobs right before their benefits are "cut" and finding new employment so the cycle will start all over; women who lie to Social Services claiming that they don't know who fathered their babies (so they can receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families while also receiving money from the fathers who agree to the "if you pay me a little money each week (or month) then I won't sue you for child support" deal); women who suddenly start "hearing things" when their TANF is stopped (and, low and behold, here comes the Supplemental Security Income ).... I could go on all day.

Do I ever find myself getting angry with such people? I would be lying if I said I don't. But, quite honestly, it isn't something that I'm proud of. The reason being because, while I don't approve of their actions, they are only a symptom of the problem. Their actions- their OWN personal actions- is where their accountability starts and stops. Beyond that, the fault rests upon our government, politicians, big business, the rich, etc... Government assistance is merely an invention of the rich to keep poor people exactly where they are. They don't care if some people defraud the system, because the big picture is that the rich get to keep their population low. So what's the big deal if the government forks out a lot of money in the process of pretending to help the impoverished? After all, big business and the rich are stuffing a lot MORE money into the pockets of the politicians, judges, government officials, and all the other a*s holes who control our country.

Welfare sure does stink. It smells worse than an elephant's a*s-- BECAUSE IT DOESN'T TRULY BENEFIT ANYONE EXCEPT "THE MAN" AND THE RICH. They brainwash the middle class into believing that the impoverished are the reason why their checks, bank accounts, and so on, look like swiss cheese when in reality "the man" and the rich are responsible. They created the middle class by throwing them a few bones- such as college and mediocre employment "opportunities"- for the sake of using them as the "class maintenance" which ensures that the rich population doesn't grow too much for their liking.

Am I upset? Hell yea, I'm upset. I'm upset that the life is being choked out of everyone who isn't rich enough sh*t gold bricks.

Answer 5

sell the expensive car to whom? when you are out of work and the only income you have is public assistance, car dealers tend to NOT want to finance an 'affordable' car (or any car, for that matter) to someone with virtually no income. And if one has an 'expensive' car that almost paid off, why trade it in for 'affordable' car and five more years of payments?

welfare and food stamps are a last resort ... do you really think that you just walk and and walk right back out with a check in your hand? remember, public assistance is a government service, and the government moves at its own pace.

if a food stamp recipient chooses to waste their funds on potato chips and then not have food for the last few days of the month, then that's their business. should someone who makes more money than you be able to tell you what to buy in the grocery store?

in most cases, you're are probably right, and the system is being abused. but there are the cases where someone on the outside (like you) don't know all the details or facts, and those people (like you) wind up jumping to conclusions.
have a little christian compassion, huh?

Answer 6

No, although welfare money has a social stigma, it is now that persons "money", and can be used to buy whatever they feel, just like anybody else would.

I don't agree with buying junk foods period, but why is it wrong for a person on welfare to buy junk food when millions of other Americans buy it.

Even if a person on welfare bought enough healthy & lasting foods for their family, how do you know how much they receive? Is there not room to buy both?

And how do you know they drive an expensive car, or have any car at all?

Answer 7

Well, when I first left my ex husband and I was a mother of 2 small children. . .I signed up for welfare. . .food stamps, I had no other choice and to this day I am still very thankful that it was available to me when I needed it.

I can say that I felt eyes glare upon me whenever I swiped my card . . .I would go to the grocery store after work, so yes, I would be dressed up, had my jewelry on and a nice purse and drove a nice vehicle at the time. . .all things I had acquired before my life turned upside down.

The thing is you never know what situation the person w/ the Food Stamps is in. . .what they are going through and so be it if they want to buy a Kit Kat bar for their kid. . .sheesh.

Answer 8

Well, yes and no. As someone posted earlier, we never know the entire story. If someone really needs the assistance, then I think they are entitled to it - temporarily.
I work for my county's housing authority (section 8 and public housing) and what makes me quite angry is the spirit of poverty itself. I cannot tell you how many people come into the office thinking they are entitled to the assistance...or they believe they are entitled to even more assistance. They fail to realize that many other countries don't have this type of help and they really should be grateful for it.
Not only do some clients have their hands out for more, more, more but they are completely content to live off the system forever and that's not what it's designed to do. There are multiple generations on public assistance just because "that's what my mother did and that's what her mother did". That type of mentality is truly gross. That's what I don't like.
But yes, I do get angry sometimes when I see someone purchasing expensive steaks, shrimp, potato chips, cookies and all the while, there are babies and young children around. I am angry when they don't buy anything that helps the children. That's sick.

Answer 9

No, I can't say that it upsets me because I don't know that persons circumstances. What is your problem with them having "junk food"? Evey body likes it . How does the fact that these ppl buy junk food, say that they are not trying to get back on their feet?
You might want to bear in mind that for most to sell their present car and buy a cheaper one....many times their present vehicle will not bring enough to pay it off AND buy another one. What would you have them buy? A junker that is going to need EXPENSIVE repairs constantly?
Do ppl abuse the system? Of coarse they do. Can we stop it ? No. Should they be penalized, in this country, for needing a helping hand? No. Would you be able to get the same help. Yes.
Prudence is a great thing and necessary but many times there are other circumstances , which you haven't covered, that prevent people from being able to get off food stamps, buy their own home and vehicle, be able to afford Health Care Insurance, plus car and home ins. , etc, etc.
Better training is one way to help. Better screening and investigation into fraudulent use of the available resources is also necessary.

Answer 10

Don't jump to conclusions. Welfare doesn't always mean poor choices. Our son is in the military. Because he is in the military and has a family, one of his benefits is the WIC program. This program gives them certain grocery items for free including baby formula, baby cereal, and other selected items such as milk and cheese, juice, etc. When they go to the grocery store, they get those certain things for free, and then they pay for the rest.