Food Stamps, EBT

"Food-Stamps Haters: Hypocritical and Hateful" by v. johns, 2/1/12, 9:20 PM

I’ve tried my best, over the years, to become the next Seth Godin or Matt Drudge, but given the somewhat limited, and relatively politics averse, scope of this blog, uh… probably won’t happen. Still, the benefit of being able to flex my supreme intellectual prowess in writing - wink - so that my college education won’t be deemed a complete waste - is all but priceless. I’m researching more and more, but most of this blog is off the top of my head.

I’m not only an unpaid blogger, I’m currently a day laborer and temp worker. I live in Martin County, Florida. It’s fairly conservative and awfully Republican. In my opinion, where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and where there are conservatives and Republicans, there seems to be a great deal of unnecessary prejudice and fear. That’s my opinion. Not that liberals and Democrats are exempt (Low expectations, anyone?). But unlike Republicans and conservatives, liberals and Democrats generally don’t try to squeeze votes out of the worst among us: those who hate.

Conservatives and Republicans don’t want to hear about racism or prejudice. Some just want to practice these abominable crafts with impunity.  They equate doing the right thing, for those without sway, with some mythical cult of “white guilt” as they lump people who are truly stuck in “park” right in there with the real losers and scammers, among us, that all of us are victimized by.

Stop being a “hyphenated” American, they say. Yet none of them have to bare the anger and humiliation of being stereotyped as “dangerous” or being treated like something other than a normal, hard-working American. So, for a jerk like Newt Gingrich to run for president of the most diverse nation on Earth, while stoking the fires of hatred against minorities, gays, and those who seek public assistance, is not only a slap in the face, it has cramped my own personal style as I attempt to claw my way out of the bottom rung with every ounce of being I’ve got. Why not get all the help I can get on my way - what I presume is still - “up?”

The idea that a customer, clerk or manager at any retail store that accepts food stamps would have the nerve to roll their eyes or mumble and moan about someone pulling out an EBT card shows not only their ignorance of economics and commerce, but also a lack of appreciation for what any form of payment adds to the bottom line and profitability of where they shop and work. This is the kind of once-in-awhile, but highly annoying, rude behavior I’ve encountered here in Martin county, and even in some parts of Palm Beach county, without so much as an inkling of an inquiry from anyone as to what may have led to me needing food stamps in the first place (a broken leg in the latter part of 2010 and being FIRED in the summer of 2011).

Some people in Florida are not only kinda hateful, at times, but also a bit hypocritical. After the hurricanes of 2004 (Charley, Frances, Ivan and Gene), more people than you could shake a stick at were getting food stamps, some for the first time, standing in line for Army M.R.E.s and seeking help from FEMA – people I never thought I’d ever see in line for anything. I worked in seafood, then. Many were buying expensive crab legs with these cards – the same thing some poor, single black moms do and get hated for (as if seafood is junk food). So, what happened, back then, to the “boot straps” thingy that people like to wax so poetically about?

After what I’ve been through, financially, no matter what I’ve done to dig out, I don’t want to hear a DAMN THING about people’s alleged “dependency” on public assistance. Who the hell, in their right mind, wants to be limited to waiting until the beginning of each month to purchase food? That’s like aspiring to place second on Survivor.

If the American system of commerce were, at all, working the way it’s supposed to work, there’d be no need for so many people to have to hassle with – yes, hassle with - public assistance in the first place. But since capitalism 1.0 just doesn’t work well, or only works well for that infamous one-percent of us, either we keep as many people afloat as we can, during hard times, or be prepared to confront massive unnecessary, but understandable, social unrest. That’s just all there is to it.

If public assistance is so bad, we need to get rid of ALL public assistance. Put the corporate crybabies in there along with everyone else who’d apparently rather drive a government jalopy than earn a nice Chrysler 300. No more deficit-exploding tax breaks. No more Wall Street bailouts. No more oil-industry subsidies. Let airlines go bankrupt. Let farmers collude on food prices. And, for that matter, let wind, solar and natural gas get their initial operating capital the hard way, as well. Let all of these industries scrape at the margins of profitability the same way the grocery industry does. Maybe, then we’ll see who’s got cajones and who ain’t.

Before doing day labor and temp work in neighboring counties, I worked at a grocery store, here in Martin. One thing I’ll never forget is taking a break out in my car and watching a customer I knew, a white dude, DIG IN A DUMPSTER, out back, while his wife bought what she could in the store. You think a dollar more on food prices don’t make that much of a difference? Black or white, try being poor, and having to come up off of that extra dollar, then tell me what you think.

I’d like to see Mitt, Newt, Rick and Ron dig in a dumpster. Maybe, one of these days, these pompous asses can do it as a way to raise money for a charity of their choice. The smell and the flies are expected. Just watch out for heroin needles.

Well, I’m down to a meager $2.24, from last month, on my EBT card. My six months are up. It’s only by the grace of Almighty that as my time on food stamps have run out, I’m needing them less and less. For now. That’s how it’s supposed to work. And now that I’m back on the road doing what I do best – work! - I’ve replaced cold-ass convenience store fare with the usual hot-and-ready Burger King, Wendy’s and McDonalds I’ve grown accustomed to treating myself to.

So, thanks for the lift, Uncle Sam. That extra buying power was great while it lasted. But by the same token, good riddance to all the eye-rolling and dirty looks I’ve had to put up with for simply looking after myself. Wouldn’t want to raise the federal deficit with all the chips, subs, Gatorade and burritos I’ve purchased over the months.

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