# Bri1600BV Has Shown Me The Light! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 18, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898 "2009-08-18T23:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/21 "2009-08-19T14:36:16Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Let’s not go the other way and make food stamp and welfare recipients some sort of heroic oppressed underclass, either. > > I like the part about condecension – you know the one that follows right after forcing the poor to eat healthy food, for their own good. > > If we’re honest, a lot of poor people are poor because they don’t have priorities that fit in with financial success in our society. I can’t count the number of food stampers I’ve seen buying shiny rims or spending hundreds on lottery tickets or simply having 5 or 6 kids in as many years. > > Blame it on their environment if you like, or on our education system, or on whatever your personal boogeyman is, but some people aren’t going to succeed. > > (And I have grave doubts that anyone on this board is projects poor as opposed to student poor or waitress poor.) Projects poor? You mean section-8 qualifiers? I was on the waiting list for three years but when my daughter got a job for seven dollars an hour we were bumped. My teen daughter, who uses her seven dollars an hour to buy anime and hair products. I’ve been city homeless, but my SO has been “living in a shack with no toilet or lights, shooting his dinner for food” poor. Then he was "living in a tin can picking tomatoes"poor. We are in better shape now, but less than two years ago there were four of us living in a one bedroom apartment in a very bad neighborhood. We live in a two bedroom house now in a not-too-dangerous area in Memphis’s little Mexico district. My SO is a laborer. I was a laborer until I became the parent of a child with special needs. I’m not enjoying this “let’s see who is poorer” game, but I can assure you there are plenty here who have been and may still be “projects poor”. I’m not blaming ANYONE for my problems. I am asking not to be treated like a dog and fed a can of people chow when I’m down on my luck so I don’t get _comfortable_ flashing my EBT card at Aldi. And for the record, I drive an '88 Ford Econoline when it’s running. The rims are not even the least bit shiny. And I will NEVER buy a lottery ticket because I think they’re scams but my Mig has been known to purchase one on payday every once in a while. I’m not trying to make us all sound like “underclass heroes”. I just want it made clear that we aren’t all the stereotype and we aren’t welfare queens with five or six kids. I’m pretty sure there’s a cap on how many children you can get stamps for just like there’s a time limit on TANF cash benefits these days. I’ve never known anyone personally like you’ve described but I have to go to DHS every few months. I have seen some nice cars and nicely dressed people chatting on nice cell phones while they stand in line for benefits. I don’t know if they are there for themselves or helping out their great-grandma. It’s not my business. You never know what someone’s story is just by seeing them on the street. My mother looked healthy almost up until the day she died and people…strangers in parking lots… made cracks about her having a handicap placard. They could not see her as being a very sick woman who couldn’t walk far, they just saw the fat lady using her fat as an excuse to get a handicap card. She was one of those folks who just never succeeded I guess. She had two kids, my dad disappeared, she was plagued with health problems and depression. She worked 22 years, hard, every day until she qualified for disability, the year before she died. We never had much growing up. She didn’t didn’t use welfare but there was always charity from family and friends. She never went to college, never really had a promotion after 22 years working for Goldsmiths. She never had a decent car and we lived in a dumpy house in a bad neighborhood. I imagine few would consider her successful. She still deserved more than People Chow. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/22 "2009-08-19T14:55:14Z")
AY-men. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/23 "2009-08-19T14:57:19Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I’ve never known anyone personally like you’ve described but I have to go to DHS every few months. I have seen some nice cars and nicely dressed people chatting on nice cell phones while they stand in line for benefits. I don’t know if they are there for themselves or helping out their great-grandma. It’s not my business. You never know what someone’s story is just by seeing them on the street. Some of those people standing in line are there waiting for assistance for a family member they are caring for or for foster kids. As an example, I have a good job. But If I were to end up with my grandson for an extended period, you would see me standing in line at the social services office to get his medical coverage. Because without adopting him, I can’t cover him on my medical. And you can’t just adopt a kid–the parents have rights. And I would need daycare assistance until he starts school. I would take advantage of these things because I pay taxes just for such purposes…to assist people when they need it. I’ve been on “welfare” and I worked my ass of to be where I am today. Both of my kids have needed assistance of some kind during their adult lives. A good family friend is staying at my house this week because he had to have emergency surgery. He will be off work for 3 weeks. He may lose both of his jobs. He had no insurance. He will need assistance and I’ll be happy to drive him to the welfare office to get it. And if he decides to buy tasty food with his food stamps, that’s just fine with me. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/24 "2009-08-19T15:06:41Z")
We had this discussion maybe 5 or 6 years ago. It’s funny how some people get on a soap box about “Not on my dime, buster! The poor should suffer!” I raised a hypothetical about someone on EBT who is so good at shopping for groceries, who manages to eat healthy on the VERY cheap, that they save enough each week to indulge in a lobster. The answer was pretty much “Hell no! If they’re that good at saving money, their benefits should be reduced even further! Why should they enjoy life on my dime?” Interesting how some people only want to see suffering in others. Interesting and sad. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/25 "2009-08-19T15:58:29Z")
As a poor person AND a food snob, there have been many times when I’ve survived on beans and rice for a week to compensate for some occasional indulgence. Anyone who thinks that’s a choice that should not be available to me is an asshole and not worth my time. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/26 "2009-08-19T16:37:58Z")
Meh, my rant is in the original thread. It’s not like it really needed personal attacks to be effective. But to keep this in the pit: I wonder if it’s just another Rand Rover sock\* \*Even in the pit I feel I need a disclaimer: I am not accusing RR of breaking the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/27 "2009-08-19T16:38:11Z")
188 dollars for three people is not going to ever be enough for me to buy lobster. I took the whole amount and spent it for basics. Pasta, rice, beans, flour, canned tomatoes and whatever else would be good for a month. If I had a lobster in my basket (which I wouldn’t because yuck, lobster!) I’d pay for it with cash anyway. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/28 "2009-08-19T17:05:22Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > 188 dollars for three people is not going to ever be enough for me to buy lobster. How much is it where you live? Or have you never bothered to look? Declaring a nation-wide moratorium on it is silly, because it’s probably cheaper in coastal areas. Around here it’s usually about $7.99/pound, but I’ve seen it as high as $11.99. At one place I used to shop they’d occasionally drop it to $2.99 when they wanted to clean the tank. And they’d sometimes have specials on culls. On those $2.99 days, it would make more sense to buy lobster than chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/29 "2009-08-19T17:13:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > How much is it where you live? Or have you never bothered to look? > > Declaring a nation-wide moratorium on it is silly, because it’s probably cheaper in coastal areas. Around here it’s usually about $7.99/pound, but I’ve seen it as high as $11.99. At one place I used to shop they’d occasionally drop it to $2.99 when they wanted to clean the tank. And they’d sometimes have specials on culls. > > On those $2.99 days, it would make more sense to buy lobster than chicken. I don’t have any idea honestly. I’ve never bought it, but it seems to come up in these conversations every single time. I expected it to be rather high. Lobster and steak, steak and lobster. And when it was paper stamps the complaint was using the change to buy beer and cigarettes. Because we all know how poor folks love our beer and cigarettes! This is my big splurge: Real butter instead of margarine. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/30 "2009-08-19T23:03:37Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > If I had a lobster in my basket (which I wouldn’t because yuck, lobster!) I’d pay for it with cash anyway. Not to appear to be siding with **Bri1600BV** , but so what? Money is money, and if I don’t think you should be buying lobster, beer, or cigarettes, it’s not going to make me happy to see you buying everything else on the food stamps and the ‘contraband’ with cash. Not to say that that you _should_ be restricted to eating protein mush and dirt, but as somebody who plays a rational person on television, I can see thinking that there’s not a heck of a lot of a point of putting purchasing restrictions on food stamps when there is such an _obvious_ workaround that people are demonstrably using. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/31 "2009-08-19T23:20:26Z")
So…no love for New NestleFoodPaste? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/32 "2009-08-19T23:21:14Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Not to say that that you _should_ be restricted to eating protein mush and dirt, but as somebody who plays a rational person on television, I can see thinking that there’s not a heck of a lot of a point of putting purchasing restrictions on food stamps when there is such an _obvious_ workaround that people are demonstrably using. Someone I know has a tenant who does just that. It’s his own rant so I won’t go into details but this tenant has caused him serious financial hardship by not paying rent regularly. It’s compounded by the tenant sometimes paying with hundreds of dollars in “food stamps” (they’re a credit card thingy here but the principle is the same). There’s a black market in food stamps that immediately springs up around them that makes attempts to control them fruitless. (And yes, I’ve pointed out the need to cut this tenant loose and the trouble with food stamp fraud to this person. So it goes, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/33 "2009-08-20T01:20:26Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I don’t have any idea honestly. I’ve never bought it, but it seems to come up in these conversations every single time. I expected it to be rather high. Lobster and steak, steak and lobster. And when it was paper stamps the complaint was using the change to buy beer and cigarettes. Because we all know how poor folks love our beer and cigarettes! > > This is my big splurge: Real butter instead of margarine. Lobsters are relatively cheap now. From [Robb Walsh](http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/07/lobster_prices.php) of the Houston Press: > [@](#): > > Desperate lobster fisherman are selling cheap lobsters by the side of the road, undercutting an already weak market for the luxury seafood item, according to recent accounts. An Atlantic article, “The Mystery of Cheap Lobster Prices,” explains that the crash of the Icelandic banking system and subsequent closing of Canadian packing plants is to blame for the flood of lobster that’s currently hitting the market. With nowhere to unload their excess catch, lobstermen are putting too much lobster on the market, which is resulting in lower prices. Not that I’ve bought any. Alton Brown, trying to make the public less wussy about murdering lobsters, explained that they are about as smart as cockroaches. Yum–we’ve got some really big ones here in Houston! I’ll bet **bri1600BV** would support a government program to breed roaches as Protein for the Poor! Enjoy your butter; margarine has weird stuff in it. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/34 "2009-08-20T01:54:56Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Not to appear to be siding with **Bri1600BV** , but so what? Money is money, and if I don’t think you should be buying lobster, beer, or cigarettes, it’s not going to make me happy to see you buying everything else on the food stamps and the ‘contraband’ with cash. > > Not to say that that you _should_ be restricted to eating protein mush and dirt, but as somebody who plays a rational person on television, I can see thinking that there’s not a heck of a lot of a point of putting purchasing restrictions on food stamps when there is such an _obvious_ workaround that people are demonstrably using. Yeah I can see what you’re saying. I said I’d be buying lobster with cash because I was thinking all my food stamps would go to Aldi, where there wouldn’t be lobster. But if I’m on stamps it wouldn’t matter if I used them or cash, because if I had cash for lobster (Or cigarettes or beer) I wouldn’t need stamps. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/35 "2009-08-20T02:16:14Z")
> [@](#): > > We’ve had old-time members here who were SRO-poor. Post from the library-poor. > [@](#): > > I was on the waiting list for three years but when my daughter got a job for seven dollars an hour we were bumped. My teen daughter, who uses her seven dollars an hour to buy anime and hair products. > [@](#): > > I was a laborer until I became the parent of a child with special needs. > [@](#): > > The answer was pretty much “Hell no! If they’re that good at saving money, their benefits should be reduced even further! Why should they enjoy life on my dime?” > > Interesting how some people only want to see suffering in others. Interesting and sad. Anyone notice these things? Posting to an internet message board from the library? A person on welfare is allowing her teen daughter to spend her seven dollars an hour on junk? A laborer already not really making ends meets has another child? Someone thinks that limiting those that are living off of others (ie the taxpayer) to “only” necessities is causing them to suffer? And you all wonder why there are so many people who are anti-welfare and anti-poor people? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/36 "2009-08-20T02:24:01Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Anyone notice these things? Posting to an internet message board from the library? A person on welfare is allowing her teen daughter to spend her seven dollars an hour on junk? A laborer already not really making ends meets has another child? Someone thinks that limiting those that are living off of others (ie the taxpayer) to “only” necessities is causing them to suffer? And you all wonder why there are so many people who are anti-welfare and anti-poor people? What the HELL is wrong with people going to the fucking library, and using the internet there? Or are they only supposed to check-out boring, dull books? What about those on disability – we haven’t even discussed those people! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/37 "2009-08-20T02:48:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What about those on disability – we haven’t even discussed those people! :rolleyes: It’s okay. I’m used to being ignored. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/38 "2009-08-20T02:57:56Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What the HELL is wrong with people going to the fucking library, and using the internet there? Or are they only supposed to check-out boring, dull books? Do not they have to have an account that they are paying for, so they have access? > [@](#): > > What about those on disability – we haven’t even discussed those people! :rolleyes: What about them? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/39 "2009-08-20T03:03:45Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What about those on disability – we haven’t even discussed those people! :rolleyes: Shhhh! **curlcoat** doesn’t like it when we talk about her and her disability check. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898/40 "2009-08-20T03:04:38Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Do not they have to have an account that they are paying for, so they have access? Not that I know of. I don’t pay for e-mail (yahoo is free). I don’t pay for the SDMB. If I use a library computer, I don’t pay for anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bri1600bv-has-shown-me-the-light/506898.md?page=3)