Giving Others Like You, A Bad Name

Yesterday, Meredith left to go to the beach with her parents, and she’ll be gone until Sunday. So, being the sweet boyfriend I am, last Sunday night, I decided to go over to her apartment bearing gifts. Not just any gifts, but the greatest gifts anyone could bring, chocolate-chip cookies and milk.

The only problem was, I didn’t have any. So, I fugured I’d stop by the grocery store and pick some up, which brings me to the title. Before I tell the story, let me preface it with this: I do not have anthing against people who use food stamps (EBT). There are many people in this state who simply cannot afford to buy groceries, and for my tax money to go to helping those truly in need, is an honor.

But, remember the title? There are just some people who give everyone else like them a BAD name. So, here’s the story. I get my cookies and milk and walk to the register. I wasn’t in a rush or anything, since Meredith was still on her way home from church. There was a woman in line (an extremely thin woman, by the way) who literally had a HEAPING cart full of groceries. Most of the groceries had been scanned already, so I figured that it wouldn’t be too long until she was done. I was wrong.

She proceeded te explain to the cashier (a new cashier, nonetheless) that her EBT card had been broken and that he would have to manually input her number. Since I worked at a grocery story when in High School, I knew that this was possible, but that the person must have the card in her possession for this to take place. She did not have her card, but had written the number down on a slip of paper. This grocery store had no obligation to process the card number without the card, and could even get in big trouble for doing so. The cashier explained this to the lady, and even called his manager on the phone to verify this. She promptly demanded to see the manager, and up he came. He reiterated what the cahier had said, but she wasn’t satisfied, even muttering a mild explitave under her breath.

Finally, the man gave into her demands and ran her number. Turns out, there weren’t enough funds to cover the cost of all her groceries. She had $40 in cash to cover the balance, but even that wasn’t enough. Get this: this lady had over $240 in groceries! By the way, when doing a transaction like this, usually the EBT user wants to use all the funds in their food stamp account before using any of their cash, which means that they must first run the card, then pay the balance off afterward. So, first she asks him to try $200. Insufficient funds. Then $190. Insufficient funds. Then $185. Bingo, we have a winner! Problem is, she still has over $240 in groceries, and not enough cash to make up the difference.

Now, I absolutely love Soda and snacks, but when the lady has 2, 3-liter bottles of soda in her cart, and she decides to put back the beef roast to lower her balance, you know you have a problem. Of all the snacks, chips and sodas, she decides to put back a roast. Amazing. Finally, after putting back 2 or 3 things, she has enough. She pays, and apologizes, then leaves with her cart overflowing with over $200 worth of groceries. All in all, I probably sat in line behind this woman for over 20 minutes.

So, my question is, why do these people insist on giving others like them a bad name? Anyway, I paid for my stuff and went to Meredith’s and had a fun night. We watched a couple of episodes of 24: Season 4 and I went home. 24 seems to always help my frustrations go away I’m a HUGE fan, and even named my 2 ferrets Nina and Chloe :-p Anyway, it was a fun evening, and I’m gonna miss my girl while she’s away I guess I’ll survive

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