Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:It is entirely likely that the iPhone is the woman's sole method of using the Internet. She probably doesn't have a computer at home or a FIOs connection. The ability to use email and the web is almost as important as being able to use a telephone these days. Older iPhones can be obtained free-of-charge or for a very low fee. I wouldn't necessarily assume that it is an extravagance.

The library has free internet. She doesn't need an iPhone.

Please spend the next month using the Internet only during library hours, and spend at least 30 minutes round trip commuting each time you want to use the Internet during those hours, and deduct the bus/ gas money from your limited funds.

Let me know how that goes for you.

So self righteous I could puke.

The woman at the Golden Corral was never going to go to a library to use the internet or anything else -- maybe the bathroom in an emergency, but that was the closest she would get to a library.

Can we get one of those freakin 300K HHIs to comment on this? Please!

I have purchased things with an EBT card with a cell phone in my hand.

A colleague of mine is a caregiver for a woman with an intellectual disability. Like many Americans with significant disabilities she works in a sheltered situation where she is paid pennies per hour, so she receives SNAP. Realistically she will receive this for the rest of her life as competitive employment for.people with her combination of disabilities is rare.

This woman is a big football fan, so she sometimes accompanies our family to my son's games. Sometimes my colleague will ask if we can pick something up on the way home at the grocery store, and it is easier for me to run in quickly with the card. The way the women have worked it out my colleague pays for necessities and her roommate pays for treats. So, I might be buying them some toilet paper with cash and a cake with the card.

I don't happen to have a iPhone, but there

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OP is sickening, but DCUMs, don't kid yourself - whether she's real or a troll, this is a pretty widely held opinion. I just looked at a FB post my friend from HS had liked; both are waitresses. The post was a rant about some waitressing complaint and quickly degenerated into dozens of rants about people on public assistance. It also was unashamedly racist. I don't know what percentage of the American public thinks this way, but it's not insubstantial. These are the Trump voters.

I'm the poster who could have taken aid but didn't. What perpetuates this is the resentment from people like me who were struggling, and we watched people just like me cash in. I'm white. I saw other white people do this. You people in DC with your pensions and healthcare have no idea how the rest of us really live. You're completely delusional.

I don't have a pension and my healthcare is through my employer. I save for retirement and pray it is enough for when I am no longer employable.

I still manage not to take a shit on poor people on assistance, though.

Also, think about what you just said: you are made because you needed help and didn't take it. YOU needed help and DIDN'T take it. Someone else did. And, for that, you are resentful because YOU needed help, and didn't take it.

Let me clarify. I was resentful because when I said cash in, I meant use the benefits fraudulently. Some people I saw used benefits but were working for cash under the table. One person I knew lost her job, could have accepted another, but decided working wasn't her style, so she stayed on bendfits for as long as she could, while renting out rooms in her apartment for extra cash under the table. Another woman I know got benefits, lied about her living situation and was living with her boyfriend, so she could continue benefits. One person I knew was receiving benefits but decided to build a pool in his yard. That's why I'm resentful.

+1 I'm a different poster than above, but I saw the exact same thing. A woman renting out rooms in her 3-bedroom tax-payer subsidized apartment for cash under the table! There is so much scamming going on with these assistance programs, but responsible people who are getting by on their own are the ones who are insulted.

Ok, and there are plenty of people who use the programs to get them through hard times and better their situations. Should we cut them off because some people abuse it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OP is sickening, but DCUMs, don't kid yourself - whether she's real or a troll, this is a pretty widely held opinion. I just looked at a FB post my friend from HS had liked; both are waitresses. The post was a rant about some waitressing complaint and quickly degenerated into dozens of rants about people on public assistance. It also was unashamedly racist. I don't know what percentage of the American public thinks this way, but it's not insubstantial. These are the Trump voters.

I'm the poster who could have taken aid but didn't. What perpetuates this is the resentment from people like me who were struggling, and we watched people just like me cash in. I'm white. I saw other white people do this. You people in DC with your pensions and healthcare have no idea how the rest of us really live. You're completely delusional.

I don't have a pension and my healthcare is through my employer. I save for retirement and pray it is enough for when I am no longer employable.

I still manage not to take a shit on poor people on assistance, though.

Also, think about what you just said: you are made because you needed help and didn't take it. YOU needed help and DIDN'T take it. Someone else did. And, for that, you are resentful because YOU needed help, and didn't take it.

Let me clarify. I was resentful because when I said cash in, I meant use the benefits fraudulently. Some people I saw used benefits but were working for cash under the table. One person I knew lost her job, could have accepted another, but decided working wasn't her style, so she stayed on bendfits for as long as she could, while renting out rooms in her apartment for extra cash under the table. Another woman I know got benefits, lied about her living situation and was living with her boyfriend, so she could continue benefits. One person I knew was receiving benefits but decided to build a pool in his yard. That's why I'm resentful.

+1 I'm a different poster than above, but I saw the exact same thing. A woman renting out rooms in her 3-bedroom tax-payer subsidized apartment for cash under the table! There is so much scamming going on with these assistance programs, but responsible people who are getting by on their own are the ones who are insulted.

I had been working at a job for three years, got an IPhone in the beginning of December, got laid off a month later, and eight months later needed food stamps. Still had the phone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:It is entirely likely that the iPhone is the woman's sole method of using the Internet. She probably doesn't have a computer at home or a FIOs connection. The ability to use email and the web is almost as important as being able to use a telephone these days. Older iPhones can be obtained free-of-charge or for a very low fee. I wouldn't necessarily assume that it is an extravagance.

The library has free internet. She doesn't need an iPhone.

Please spend the next month using the Internet only during library hours, and spend at least 30 minutes round trip commuting each time you want to use the Internet during those hours, and deduct the bus/ gas money from your limited funds.

Let me know how that goes for you.

So self righteous I could puke.

No one needs the Internet every moment of every day. If I had limited funds and wanted to improve my situation in life, I certainily would not get a smartphone. Besides that, there are PLENTY of libraries in the area - 30 minutes, hardly.

For future reference :

http://www.dclibrary.org/hours-locations

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see this every year at the Salvation Army Angel Tree Distribution. There I am with my family looking hot and disheveled, dragging out bags of new selected gifts and bicycles to mom who have been to the beauty salon that morning, have decorated fingernails two inches long, makeup, tight new clothes, boots, new purses and better iphones than I use. In fact they don't even put down the phone to bother to thank us - the donors to the salvation army - nor do they even respond when I wish them a "Merry Christmas". Most, if they check their backs, complain that the microwaved they asked for it is not in there. I'm done with the attitude of entitlement. ANd yes all of these moms are perfectly capable of working from what I can observe.

How very Christian of you. You give and you judge. I bet Jesus approves.

See what I mean? The decent people volunteering their time to help the poor are put down when they note how unappreciative and rude these poor people can act - and yet, the horrible, unappreciative attitude of the poor is never even mentioned. Crazy, politically correct world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OP is sickening, but DCUMs, don't kid yourself - whether she's real or a troll, this is a pretty widely held opinion. I just looked at a FB post my friend from HS had liked; both are waitresses. The post was a rant about some waitressing complaint and quickly degenerated into dozens of rants about people on public assistance. It also was unashamedly racist. I don't know what percentage of the American public thinks this way, but it's not insubstantial. These are the Trump voters.

I'm the poster who could have taken aid but didn't. What perpetuates this is the resentment from people like me who were struggling, and we watched people just like me cash in. I'm white. I saw other white people do this. You people in DC with your pensions and healthcare have no idea how the rest of us really live. You're completely delusional.

I don't have a pension and my healthcare is through my employer. I save for retirement and pray it is enough for when I am no longer employable.

I still manage not to take a shit on poor people on assistance, though.

Also, think about what you just said: you are made because you needed help and didn't take it. YOU needed help and DIDN'T take it. Someone else did. And, for that, you are resentful because YOU needed help, and didn't take it.

Let me clarify. I was resentful because when I said cash in, I meant use the benefits fraudulently. Some people I saw used benefits but were working for cash under the table. One person I knew lost her job, could have accepted another, but decided working wasn't her style, so she stayed on bendfits for as long as she could, while renting out rooms in her apartment for extra cash under the table. Another woman I know got benefits, lied about her living situation and was living with her boyfriend, so she could continue benefits. One person I knew was receiving benefits but decided to build a pool in his yard. That's why I'm resentful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see this every year at the Salvation Army Angel Tree Distribution. There I am with my family looking hot and disheveled, dragging out bags of new selected gifts and bicycles to mom who have been to the beauty salon that morning, have decorated fingernails two inches long, makeup, tight new clothes, boots, new purses and better iphones than I use. In fact they don't even put down the phone to bother to thank us - the donors to the salvation army - nor do they even respond when I wish them a "Merry Christmas". Most, if they check their backs, complain that the microwaved they asked for it is not in there. I'm done with the attitude of entitlement. ANd yes all of these moms are perfectly capable of working from what I can observe.

This is why I stopped contributing to charities in this area. Most of those toys and gifts are re-sold for things the mothers want because the children receive so much through other sources. Through the Salvation Army I found other charities in less affluent areas where the gifts stay with the children. I am also involved with a local charity which allows me to earmark donations for things like medicine rather than rent or food. Recipients charity shop and know how to get food first, then payment of utility bills, followed by rent, school supplies and weekend food backpacks and last medicine. I earmark the money for medicine because the pharmacies are paid directly Donations are also more likely to go to people who are not covered by government or charity programs.

I'm the PP. Yes, I stopped with the angel tree gifts after that experience 20 years ago. (I started giving to local homeless shelters instead, and now I also like to give to veterans' organizations.) But what you say about the mothers selling their kids' gifts for their own wants (since the kids already get from multiple sources) is infuriating. Call me naive, but it never occurred to me the recipients of charity gifts scammed people like that.

NP but society has moved on from a point where kids need toys or gifts.Those things are so cheap and plentiful now, whereas housing and daycare are the main things that families can't afford. Which is mostly why we don't donate to the angel trees. And I'm sure that so many of these moms CAN work, but they can't make enough to afford daycare, so why bother.

Yep. You have moms here on DCUM who quit working because their whole check would go to daycare costs. Poor people, though, they made bad choices and deserve their lot in life. Their kids should suffer, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see this every year at the Salvation Army Angel Tree Distribution. There I am with my family looking hot and disheveled, dragging out bags of new selected gifts and bicycles to mom who have been to the beauty salon that morning, have decorated fingernails two inches long, makeup, tight new clothes, boots, new purses and better iphones than I use. In fact they don't even put down the phone to bother to thank us - the donors to the salvation army - nor do they even respond when I wish them a "Merry Christmas". Most, if they check their backs, complain that the microwaved they asked for it is not in there. I'm done with the attitude of entitlement. ANd yes all of these moms are perfectly capable of working from what I can observe.

I had the same experience with distributing "angel tree" gifts. (Not sure it was the Salvation Army program....it was similar, though.) It was more than 20 years ago, so I don't remember the logistics of how we did the distribution, but I know that we (the individual gift-givers) actually handed our gifts to the specific families. (We had been given a list of wishes from each family, and some of the items they were asking for were a fortune. I stuck with the more modest gifts for a fsmily of three children and ended up spending about $100.) On "distribution day," we handed out the gifts - and as I gave a big Meeey Christmas to each of the kids, they took the gift and left. No smile. No thank you. Nothing. And the mother was with the kids, of course, and SHE didn't even say thank you. They just figured that they're poor, I'm "rich," and they're entitled.

Or maybe they were ashamed. Yes, they should have said thank you, but, why did you need it if you gave with an open heart?

Anonymous wrote:I see this every year at the Salvation Army Angel Tree Distribution. There I am with my family looking hot and disheveled, dragging out bags of new selected gifts and bicycles to mom who have been to the beauty salon that morning, have decorated fingernails two inches long, makeup, tight new clothes, boots, new purses and better iphones than I use. In fact they don't even put down the phone to bother to thank us - the donors to the salvation army - nor do they even respond when I wish them a "Merry Christmas". Most, if they check their backs, complain that the microwaved they asked for it is not in there. I'm done with the attitude of entitlement. ANd yes all of these moms are perfectly capable of working from what I can observe.

How very Christian of you. You give and you judge. I bet Jesus approves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OP is sickening, but DCUMs, don't kid yourself - whether she's real or a troll, this is a pretty widely held opinion. I just looked at a FB post my friend from HS had liked; both are waitresses. The post was a rant about some waitressing complaint and quickly degenerated into dozens of rants about people on public assistance. It also was unashamedly racist. I don't know what percentage of the American public thinks this way, but it's not insubstantial. These are the Trump voters.

I'm the poster who could have taken aid but didn't. What perpetuates this is the resentment from people like me who were struggling, and we watched people just like me cash in. I'm white. I saw other white people do this. You people in DC with your pensions and healthcare have no idea how the rest of us really live. You're completely delusional.

I don't have a pension and my healthcare is through my employer. I save for retirement and pray it is enough for when I am no longer employable.

I still manage not to take a shit on poor people on assistance, though.

Also, think about what you just said: you are made because you needed help and didn't take it. YOU needed help and DIDN'T take it. Someone else did. And, for that, you are resentful because YOU needed help, and didn't take it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have called her on it OP and then slapped the crap out of her. Snatched the iphne away from her and took the ebt card. Your tax dollars are paying for them anyway, right? Why wait for Trump? Poor people certainly don't deserve nice things/delicious food at Golden Corral.

I've been through hard economic times, where I didn't take public aid. I didn't have an iPhone or eat out. I lived on boxes of pasta, day old bread, and tomato sauce. There was no protein because meat was too exoensive. I ended up in the emergency room on thanksgiving, where they did give me a food basket. That's what you do when you have hard times. You save your pennies, and don't cry "I deserve xxxxxxxx." You don't spend every last dime on Air Jordans or iPhones because that's one of the things which perpetuates poverty, this type of entitled consumerism.

No, that's what YOU chose to do in hard times. You should have taken the public aid.

No, some people have pride and would rather "do for themselves" as best they can. I qualified for food stamps at one point - for several months - but didn't take it. Lots of people feel the same.

Well, if you want to be a hungry martyr good luck with that. I have worked for 20 years -- not all of them prosperous and there were times in the early years where things were crazily tight and I cut corners ate cheaply to get by -- but if I fell on hard enough times where I needed food stamps I would go get food stamps. That is what the safety net is for, that's why it's called a safety net.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you use EBT for prepared food?

No.

You can't use food stamps for prepared food, but you can use TANF cash, unemployment, foster care stipends,or the money you earn from summer youth employment, all of which come on EBT cards.

Golden Corral has to have an agreement with the state to accept TANF or other benefits via EBT. This almost certainly isn't the case.

Cash benefits, like those listed, work wherever other debit cards work.

You are confusing EBT cards and SNAP, which is one of the benefits available that comes on an EBT card. SNAP is very restricted and can not be used at Golden Corral.