I am a social worker. The person buying a $41 cake is MUCH MORE of the isolated case than people that use food stamps as a means of managing to not starve. I don't particularly agree with her decision, nor do I agree with those that are able to buy items at stores that skirt the rules. However, outside of finding ways to crack-down on the stores and/or provide tons of additional regulations on what can be bought (like extending some of the rules in supermarkets -- like they already cannot purchase hot meals, and extending that to "luxury" items), I'm not sure of a solution, nor am I sure that the additional cost to impose these additional regulations and oversight is cost beneficial.I do know that the solution isn't to provide cuts to this safety net because a very small portion of people on this benefit find ways to skirt rules and/or make poor decisions.Sorry about your family, but this isn't an isolated case. One of the reasons we are in the mess we are in is because of people(dirtbags) who pull crap like this. I spent 10 years working in retail grocery and believe me, this is not an isolated case. People will buy shrimp trays, nice cuts of meat, and other 'luxuries' that even most of the employees of the store (most of whom bust their ### for $8.00 an hour) cannot afford. Whatever though, from the sound of most of the jokers on this thread, nobody gives a rip about this, which is why these parasites are able to get away with such graft. Only an idiot would suggest that we get rid of welfare, it is however high time to take a close look at what people are able to purchase with their 'free' money. I don't think it would be a bad idea to make them all go to government warehouses to pick up the staples that are needed to survive. In the end, that is most likely what is going to happen anyways once the dollar is no longer the standard currency and the libs run out of other peoples' money to borrow and spend.My mentally ill mother and brother are on food stamps. They don't have a car, but there are outreach programs which will help them with basic errands like shopping once a week for an hour or two. Outside that, if they want anything in their relatively rural locatioh, they have to walk a mile to the store, or two or more miles to a discount store or grocery store. My mother doesnt use the internet, but my brother goes to the library when the weather is ok and uses their connection for the short time allowed. The amount of energy required to perform the very basic tasks that we take for granted is enormous. My brother, before the mental illness made him functionally incapable of working, developed a smoking habit, gets takeout, and drinks beer whenever he can sneak away. He spends his money as fast as it comes in. My mother is the opposite - she doesn't eat meat, wont order food at a restaurant unless she's dragged there, has never drank or smoked, stashes cheap foodstuffs in her fridge and cupboards with an intricate collection of leftovers that she shares with friends when they run out of money at the end of the month, and is as generous as they come. When I hear people complaing about people on welfare, and look at the scraps my family lives on because they had the same genes I do but just didn't have the good fortune I've had in my life, it makes my stomach turn. Ive lived in low income, urban neighborhoods and seen people abuse the system, and those who dont. I've seen more affluent people lose their job and need unemployment to avoid losing their homes, and I've seen wealthy owners of small seasonal businesses claim unemployment during the months they choose to close up shop. If you create a system to help people, some undeserving people will always abuse it. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
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