# I pit the Welfare Division (long and slightly lame) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 21, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318 "2006-10-21T02:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/21 "2006-10-21T04:18:12Z")
I’ve never seen anyone who didn’t have a child, or was disabled, get food stamps. $30 a month? Surely you can think of some odd job around your neighborhood you can do! I’ve made that taking elderly people’s garbage out, or watching pets. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/22 "2006-10-21T04:18:23Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] Are you sure about that? From her profile: [http://www.gun-slinger.net/us.php](http://www.gun-slinger.net/us.php) **tashabot** , You never answered the question. Why did you expect to get food stamps from the government? Seriously, who taught you that? WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), commonly refered to as food stamps, was designed to help mothers in need to feed themselves and their children, not as a giveaway for healthy, able-bodied, lazy, (your own words, from your profile) single adults. No, it’s not any department’s job to sort out your life for you. The government cannot solve your problems. For your own good, you need to become self-reliant. [/QUOTE] Damn that is kind of funny that I said what I did, with no idea of what was in her profile or who she is other than she sounded young and a little confused. However, anyone working two jobs and walking to work is not lazy in my book. I am guessing that information might be left over from when she was living at home. I will err on the side of sympathy and encouragement. Jim ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/23 "2006-10-21T04:18:38Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), commonly refered to as food stamps, was designed to help mothers in need to feed themselves and their children, not as a giveaway for healthy, able-bodied, lazy, (your own words, from your profile) single adults. [/QUOTE] You might attempt to actually learn a bit about the things you wish to berate other people for before you open your mouth and let turds like this drop out. WIC is an entirely different program from Food Stamps. It’s an entirely different _agency_, for crying out loud! WIC is not an entitlement, it’s a grant. WIC does not pay for general foodstuffs and only families with children under 5 are eligible. > [@](#): > > WIC foods include iron-fortified infant formula and infant cereal, iron-fortified adult cereal, vitamin C-rich fruit and/or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, dried beans or peas, tuna fish and carrots. Special infant formulas and certain medical foods may be provided when prescribed by a physician or health professional for a specified medical condition. From [here](http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/FAQs/FAQ.HTM#6). ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/24 "2006-10-21T04:18:41Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), commonly refered to as food stamps… [/QUOTE] Bzzzzt! Wrong. WIC assistance and food stamps are two entirely different things. Food stamps are meant to aid anyone regardless of gender or dependencies to afford food. Being unqualified to receive WIC assistance does not necessarily preclude one from receiving food stamps. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/25 "2006-10-21T04:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] WTF? So she’s not allowed to have certain interests, in order to be deserving of assistance? You’re a real piece of work, **Carol Stream**. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] I should have previewed, **Guin** , she manged to use my own words and \*\*Tasha’s \*\* website to make a little snarky humor. As the profile is 2 years old (it mentions she was 20) I would expect it is outdated now. It would be nice if she checked her facts a little better however. Looks like she made several mistakes in her post. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/26 "2006-10-21T04:23:02Z")
**tashabot** , don’t take it personally - I don’t think I’ve seen a post from **Carol Stream** that wasn’t just pissing all over another poster. And yes, you can have some stuff and be practically starving. Buy something in a better time and suddenly your situation goes bad, and you’re still paying off some “nice” item that isn’t going to give you squat for cash if you try to sell it. In poorer times I sold jewelry for pennies on the dollar because that’s all that jewelry resells for. I sold computer games, my CDs. I think I made less than a quarter of a rent payment. Sell too much and you’ll just dig yourself into a hole - if you sell your car, you’re probably still paying for it plus now you’ve lost your ability to get around easily. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/27 "2006-10-21T04:35:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Truth to tell, I’d be hard-pressed to find ANY welfare recipient that comes into our office who doesn’t own a cell phone. They’re rapidly becoming as ubiquitous as land lines. The poor people I know all have cell phones, because it’s cheaper than a landline, and you can buy the phone and then buy minutes as you can afford them. This has helped a lot of homeless people who couldn’t get jobs because there wasn’t a way to reach them. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/28 "2006-10-21T04:38:12Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] WTF? So she’s not allowed to have certain interests, in order to be deserving of assistance? [/QUOTE] I never said that, and you know it, you dishonest harpy. Anyway, she said that she needed $30/month assistance for food. Are you telling me that with all those other expenses, cell phone, laptop, internet, apartment, utilities, boyfriend, (at least she’s dumping the car), she can’t cut down by $30 somewhere? Instead, she wants to get govt assistance, and becomes indignant when it is denied? Please. On preview, I see that I was wrong about WIC vs. food stamps. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/29 "2006-10-21T04:38:22Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Wait, when did you [move out of your parents’ house](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7598651&postcount=7)? You went from having a decent home to needing food stamps in 3 months? [/QUOTE] I’d be interested to hear that. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/30 "2006-10-21T14:39:29Z")
Your first mistake, **tasha** , was to try to be a responsible individual. Bet you will never do that again! Really, if you are a flake that can’t get her shit together and hold down a job for more than two days, welfare will be there for you–paying your rent and past due utilities, making your car payments, etc. But if you pay your bills and just need help with food, you are fucked. You either have to quit paying your bills and get a couple of shut-off and eviction notices\*–in which case you can usually get an emergency grant that will pay those bills for you–or you will have to suck it up and not look to your state to help you. They aren’t going to give you foodstamps–that’s the hardest thing to be eligible for. Your SO should look at trying to get retro-active disability for the time he was off work. That is also usually through your social services agency–they generally have what amounts to delegated authority from the SSA to pay temporary disability. However, there are income eligibility requirements for that as well and he may not qualify. \*I do not recommend becoming a loser like this…I’m just pointing the reality of getting assistance. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/31 "2006-10-21T16:08:33Z")
What about your boyfriend’s family? Surely there is someone closer to you than the state government that can offer up assistance. I’d sooner ask for help from my family my SO’s family than try to get government help. I know it’s none of my business, but I’m kind of curious why your credit is so bad. I’m living on my own too, and have been in financial binds, but I’ve managed to pull myself out of them. I personally have a hard time imaginging someone who does not have enough money for food- the average american spends only _nine percent_ of their income on food last I heard; I’m certain there is something less important you could do without. I do have a credit card, but I have it soley to avoid getting in situations like yours- It helps carry myself over during lean periods. I too made some excessive purchases (a computer and a gym membership) but I am working hard to pay off my debt. Do I have debt right now? Yes. However, I am not starving, either. Your call. Try not to get too ruffled at the people who are critical of your decisions. I used to claim I couldn’t move out of my parents house because I ‘couldn’t afford it’. The truth was, I could, I just couldn’t do it with the margin of safety I wanted. I took the risk and it involved doing things I do not like (draining my savings during lean periods) but I’m learning a lot as a result. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/32 "2006-10-21T19:51:42Z")
I have to agree with some of the posters whose opinions have been less than popular in this thread, even if I disagree with the general attitude of the posters. I’m a single mom, raising 4 children, and _I_ was denied for food stamps making $10 an hour plus about $300 a month (not guaranteed) in commission. If I cannot get food stamps, there’s no way that a single person making the same amount of money that I was at the time should be able to. Incidentally, though I don’t like to make so much of my life public information on the board, I’m raising someone else’s two kids plus the two he and I had together, before anyone decides to make any derogatory comments about me “popping out” children. There must be something else you can do. We don’t know your full situation, so I can’t make any suggestions, but food banks sometimes are willing to help people without kids, as others have mentioned. I agree that it may really suck that people who don’t work and don’t even try get support. I don’t agree that means that someone in **tashabot’s** situation really needs food stamps. Maybe it would be nice if we had the extra funds in the government to do so, but we would have to stop all of the food stamp fraud first. There are women here in my hometown who have kids and whose boyfriends have NICE jobs. They just take a crummy job, go and tell the welfare office that they are living alone and get tons of assistance. The system sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/33 "2006-10-21T20:03:19Z")
I’m making ten dollars an hour too. I don’t have a car, a laptop, my office pays for my cell phone so they can contact me 24/7, and my only internet access is at work or the library. I would not support anybody, nor would I ever go on welfare. People know that I am available in my off-hours to “watch your children, your pets, your house, help you move or clean your house.” I will work during my lunch hour and/or overtime in exchange for meals. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_With\_Words](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weird_with_words/32/385_2.png) [@Weird\_With\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_With_Words)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/34 "2006-10-22T00:50:25Z")
So a guy comes up to you and says he needs 50 cents for the bus, otherwise he will have to walk several miles home. Even if he _can_ just walk the several miles, and even though that _would_ be quite admirable, just giving him the 50 cents is _still_ (IMHO) the right thing to do. Just because people can help themselves, doesn’t mean you can’t be helpful too. Expand that to a political view, and you’ve pretty much got my take on the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/35 "2006-10-22T00:54:26Z")
[QUOTE=Incubus] I personally have a hard time imaginging someone who does not have enough money for food- the average american spends only _nine percent_ of their income on food last I heard; I’m certain there is something less important you could do without. [/QUOTE] /Hijack The nine percent figure is interesting. The median household income in the US is $46,326 ([http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104688.html](http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104688.html)), so nine percent is $4149. Not too bad. But does a household whose income only $22K a year _eat_ less? Maybe they’re more frugal, but even $3000 a year is a huge chunk, and that’s not even $60 a week, which is not a whole lot for two people to live (comfortably- not rice and beans every night) on. Just thinkin’. ZJ ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/36 "2006-10-22T01:05:33Z")
[QUOTE=Weird With Words] So a guy comes up to you and says he needs 50 cents for the bus, otherwise he will have to walk several miles home. Even if he _can_ just walk the several miles, and even though that _would_ be quite admirable, just giving him the 50 cents is _still_ (IMHO) the right thing to do. [/QUOTE] Does your opinion change if you just watched him buy a 50 cent newspaper? I think that’s where people are having a problem, the perception that tashabot (and most people who post financial issues, really) is spending money foolishly while having a hand out for more. These things always wind up the same, you’re just spending foolishly until you write a page and a half detailing your frugal habits. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_With\_Words](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weird_with_words/32/385_2.png) [@Weird\_With\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_With_Words)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/37 "2006-10-22T01:38:58Z")
If the person bought the paper not realizing he was short $.50? Absolutely. It’s an understandable mistake. And when you get right down to it, just about any situation you find yourself in can be traced back to something **you** did. Which is why I think the whole “you made your bed” argument rings kinda hollow. Now if, OTOH, someone came up to me and asked for $.50 to buy a paper he doesn’t need, I’d probably base my reaction on whether or not I could _easily_ afford to help. If I can, I will. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/38 "2006-10-22T01:56:36Z")
[QUOTE=Weird With Words] If the person bought the paper not realizing he was short $.50? Absolutely. It’s an understandable mistake. [/quote] No, he knows very well that it’s his last 50 cents. He’s made a choice, he chose to buy the paper instead of taking care of his needs, then asks you to take care of them. People look at a person who can’t afford to eat and wonder how much money is being spent on things less important than eating. > [@](#): > > And when you get right down to it, just about any situation you find yourself in can be traced back to something **you** did. Which is why I think the whole “you made your bed” argument rings kinda hollow. It all depends on whether or not the underlying action is “reasonable”. If tashabot was spending $20 a week on lottery tickets, I suspect that everyone would tell her to buy food with that money, instead of asking the government for foodstamps. If that money was going towards her commute, I don’t think anyone would fault her for spending it. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/39 "2006-10-22T02:58:30Z")
You say you need the laptop and internet access for your job. Any chance you could ditch both and hike/bus/bike to the library and use the internet there? That would represent a nice financial cushion. What kind of job only pays $10 an hour but requires you to have a computer and internet access at home? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318/40 "2006-10-22T03:02:07Z")
[QUOTE=XJETGIRLX] You say you need the laptop and internet access for your job. Any chance you could ditch both and hike/bus/bike to the library and use the internet there? That would represent a nice financial cushion. What kind of job only pays $10 an hour but requires you to have a computer and internet access at home? 😕 [/QUOTE] I know at my library patrons are limited to an hour on the computer. It takes me an hour to just check my email. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-welfare-division-long-and-slightly-lame/377318.md?page=3)