# "We Accept Food Stamps" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 10, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936 "2018-05-10T20:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/121 "2018-05-13T21:34:22Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Maybe if the majority of people don’t get the joke, it’s not a very good one. 🙂 Eh, he’s dying anyway. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/122 "2018-05-13T22:19:16Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I have multiple times encountered people who claim they would stave before they would use food stamps. > > I think yeah… right. :rolleyes: That reminds me of a woman I worked with many years ago who had previously been in a situation where her husband lost his job, and it was a matter of dire need for their family. Whenever they shopped with the stamps, she would go to a store in a part of town where they didn’t know anybody, and bought the cheapest generic brands, etc. she could find. When her husband got a new job, even before he started, the evening they found out he was hired, they took the remaining stamps out in the backyard after sundown and burned them. THAT’S someone who deserved to get them, and I told her so. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/123 "2018-05-13T22:30:45Z")
Why? Why is she more deserving than someone who shopped locally and bought non-generic products? Is the suffering and shame a required part of being deserving? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/124 "2018-05-13T23:02:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Eh, he’s dying anyway. So are we all. Just some of us sooner, and with advance knowledge, than others. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/125 "2018-05-13T23:16:18Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I have multiple times encountered people who claim they would stave before they would use food stamps. > > I think yeah… right. :rolleyes: I know at least one person who won’t take any government assistance for any reason other than his politics. He’s very republican, when Obamacare first showed up, I pointed out to him that he could get a tax credit (and I know that he could, I looked at the numbers), his response ‘whatever, it’ll all be gone in 4 years anyways’. So, uh, why not take advantage of it while it’s here? This is a person that regularly needs to borrow money to get from one paycheck to the next, but won’t take a handout from the government. I know people have given him information on our state’s insurance (Badgercare), as well as how to get Snap benefits. All eschewed. > [@](#): > > That reminds me of a woman I worked with many years ago who had previously been in a situation where her husband lost his job, and it was a matter of dire need for their family. Whenever they shopped with the stamps, she would go to a store in a part of town where they didn’t know anybody, and bought the cheapest generic brands, etc. she could find. When her husband got a new job, even before he started, the evening they found out he was hired, they took the remaining stamps out in the backyard after sundown and burned them. That, to me, sounds more like someone that was embarrassed to use them. If you are, that’s fine, but you don’t _deserve_ them because you don’t want them and more importantly you aren’t undeserving of them because you’re not shamed by them. If you feel that people should only be allowed to have certain items with them, then, at least to me, it sounds like you feel they’d be better off being restricted to a government owned store or the new proposal right now to cut down how much is put on their EBT card each month and partially make it up with a box of food sent right to them. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/126 "2018-05-14T01:53:57Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Why? Why is she more deserving than someone who shopped locally and bought non-generic products? Is the suffering and shame a required part of being deserving? Of course not. But she and her husband were reluctant to use them until their situation became dire, and this would have been about 40 years ago when attitudes about this kind of aid were not the same as they are now. This was not someone who was trying to scam the system, that’s for sure. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/127 "2018-05-14T05:02:54Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > If you feel that people should only be allowed to have certain items with them, then, at least to me, it sounds like you feel they’d be better off being restricted to a government owned store or the new proposal right now to cut down how much is put on their EBT card each month and partially make it up with a box of food sent right to them. Last I heard “box o’ food” was dead in the water and we had a lengthy thread on why it was a bad idea compared to the current system. Just FYI. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Zox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Mr\_Zox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Zox)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/128 "2018-05-14T06:18:46Z")
Regarding “Legal tender, for all debts public and private”— > [@cochrane](#): > > As has been pointed out before, if you pay for goods and services at the time you receive them, it’s not a debt. You and a number of other people are missing the point. A “tender” is an offer. At times in the past, offering a piece of paper in payment was illegal; at other times, legal only for certain debts. That statement on US money says it is legal to offer this particular piece of paper for anything you owe. There is no obligation to accept it. And **that** , not any foofarah about paying at the time you receive the whatever, is why stores, companies, etc. can refuse to accept large bills, or even refuse cash at all. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/129 "2018-05-14T06:27:16Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That reminds me of a woman I worked with many years ago who had previously been in a situation where her husband lost his job, and it was a matter of dire need for their family. Whenever they shopped with the stamps, she would go to a store in a part of town where they didn’t know anybody, and bought the cheapest generic brands, etc. she could find. When her husband got a new job, even before he started, the evening they found out he was hired, they took the remaining stamps out in the backyard after sundown and burned them. > > THAT’S someone who deserved to get them, and I told her so. When a family’s situation is rough there should be no shame in accepting help to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/130 "2018-05-14T07:19:23Z")
These types of situations always hit me hard. When my parents were married, my dad refused to let my mom work. When they divorced, she had no skills to fall back on. We ended up on welfare, using food stamps, on Medicaid, living in government housing, and on free school books and free lunch programs. My mother had dropped out of school to get married, and had to get her GED. She was working the graveyard shift at a fast food restaurant while studying for her GED, and while putting 3 sons through school. There were times when the only food we had was whatever she could get from work, and I know of several times when she would go hungry for well over 24 hours to make sure that we were able to eat something. When we first got the food stamps, it was like a godsend. First time I ever saw her cry happy tears. The second time was when we came off of them. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/131 "2018-05-14T09:13:04Z")
> [@Mr\_Zox](#): > > Regarding “Legal tender, for all debts public and private”— > You and a number of other people are missing the point. A “tender” is an offer. At times in the past, offering a piece of paper in payment was illegal; at other times, legal only for certain debts. That statement on US money says it is legal to offer this particular piece of paper for anything you owe. There is no obligation to accept it. And **that** , not any foofarah about paying at the time you receive the whatever, is why stores, companies, etc. can refuse to accept large bills, or even refuse cash at all. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/132 "2018-05-14T09:34:27Z")
I saw a band and they were begging for people to buy merchandise and they even said from the stage, “we accept EBT.” Obviously I was instantly skeptical of this. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/133 "2018-05-14T15:59:44Z")
There is this thing called a “joke” that might have been happening… ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/134 "2018-05-14T16:09:54Z")
Maybe they were selling uncooked chickens with the band’s logo seared into them? ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/135 "2018-05-14T19:46:27Z")
Food stamps _are_ the proceeds of slave labor. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/136 "2018-05-14T19:53:32Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Food stamps _are_ the proceeds of slave labor. You really need to lay off the wood alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/137 "2018-05-14T19:57:18Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > So we are paying for her food and her phone, and probably her healthcare and maybe her housing as well. What else should we be on the hook for? Makeovers, spa days, and vacations? You know, I never understood this mindset of “we’re paying for their whatever…” You are paying your taxes, that’s something that is always going to be there no matter what the tax money is used for. You’re making it sound like the less fortunate are assigned more financially capable life partners by the government that are forced to follow them around in their lives and go with them from store to store and place to place to pay for their stuff. Until that actually happens, suck it up, quit your bitchin’, pay your taxes and be grateful that you aren’t one of the ones that need government assistance. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/138 "2018-05-14T20:00:25Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You really need to lay off the wood alcohol. Those one-liners really only work with a laugh track. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/139 "2018-05-14T21:20:19Z")
As opposed to your unintentional hilarity every time you think you make a semi-intelligent post? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936/140 "2018-05-14T21:23:50Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > As opposed to your unintentional hilarity every time you think you make a semi-intelligent post? What part is “intelligent”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-accept-food-stamps/813936.md?page=8)