Woman A Leading Authority On What Shouldn’t Be In Poor People’s Grocery Carts

[Exterous]

People who get pissed at this sort of thing are _much_ funnier. Yeah, it's dumb. But big fucking deal.

Its a pattern of the 'whats easiest for me' mentality. Let enough little things slide and you end up with bigger problems

 

[waggy]

I've also been watching a lot of documentaries on food lately & it's opened my eyes to the struggles that people in those more permanent low-income situations have to deal with. Not all of them have a good education, or clearly understand how their food choices affect their health. They have a need for food & fill it with things that taste good, or having screaming kids who can be placated by junk food, or whatever. It's a tough situation. It's easy to say "just dig yourself out of it", but we also don't know people's backgrounds.

/this

I was lucky growing up. My mother made EVERYTHING from scratch. no boxed dinners or shortcuts.

she would even buy whole chickens to cut up instead of buying pre-cut

I learned how to cook (not very well..heh) and how to shop. My wife on the other hand grew up eating boxed dinner all the time. The house was always filled with junk food. fresh fruit? that was rare.

I can make some good home made meals that are far better then boxed stuff and a heck of a lot cheaper. Fruit and veggies do cost a bit more then a bag of chips but also a lot better.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Its a pattern of the 'whats easiest for me' mentality. Let enough little things slide and you end up with bigger problems

The point is: It's not your problem. Why should it upset you?

Now, if YOU did that, got back in your car, drove away and said "I'm such a lazy ass. Why didn't I park and walk fifty feet?" then I would understand completely.

 

[crashtech]

It's not funny.

The Onion is supposed to be funny.

 

[Exterous]

The point is: It's not your problem. Why should it upset you?

I see you didn't get my point. I'll give you an easy albeit extreme example:
Oh a bunch of people are buying houses they can't afford under terms they don't understand from banks that don't care. Well that doesn't affect me. Oh - the housing bubble popped and the economy went to shit. Now it affects me

 

[nehalem256]

The point is: It's not your problem. Why should it upset you?

Now, if YOU did that, got back in your car, drove away and said "I'm such a lazy ass. Why didn't I park and walk fifty feet?" then I would understand completely.

You obviously missed this part:

Ugh - I was at Kroger the other day and someone was parked in the fire lane so the passenger could rent a red box movie.

I think the fact that some people think they are above the rules very much does affect others.

People following societies rules is essential to have a society. Feeling rage at people who think they above those rules is an obvious evolutionary adaptation to living in a society.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I see you didn't get my point. I'll give you an easy albeit extreme example:
Oh a bunch of people are buying houses they can't afford under terms they don't understand from banks that don't care. Well that doesn't affect me. Oh - the housing bubble popped and the economy went to shit. Now it affects me

Parking for 90 seconds in a fire lane is hardly in the same league as the behavior that led to the housing bubble and the near collapse of the economy. But I don't doubt for one second that you see red when someone parks illegally or waters their lawn on the wrong day of the week.

Don't sweat the little shit.

 

[Anubis]

Actually what she's saying makes perfect sense, people on food stamps should not be eating TV dinners, \

im pretty sure you cant

there is a HUGE list of things the cant be purchased with food stamps or WIC points. most junk foods are on there as well as TV dinners

 

[Carson Dyle]

im pretty sure you cant

there is a HUGE list of things the cant be purchased with food stamps or WIC points. most junk foods are on there as well as TV dinners

http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items

Households CANNOT use SNAP benefits to buy:

Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco
Any nonfood items, such as:
pet foods
soaps, paper products
household supplies
Vitamins and medicines
Food that will be eaten in the store
Hot foods

“Junk Food” & Luxury Items

Soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, and ice cream are food items and are therefore eligible items

Seafood, steak, and bakery cakes are also food items and are therefore eligible items

 

[alkemyst]

The main problem is many on food stamps do not need them. They are blowing them on as much as allowed. Around here they are constantly busting places that offer to buy them back for as low as 10 cents on the dollar.

What's really bad and Publix never says no is the people with the cards that give you ex amount of formula, ex amount of eggs, milk, etc...don't even know what they need so hand like 10 cards to the cashier and tell them "go get this for me"

 

[nehalem256]

Parking for 90 seconds in a fire lane is hardly in the same league as the behavior that led to the housing bubble and the near collapse of the economy. But I don't doubt for one second that you see red when someone parks illegally or waters their lawn on the wrong day of the week.

Don't sweat the little shit.

If someone thinks they are so beyond societies rules that they can't even be bothered to walk 20 feet do you think that maybe they act similarly in other situations which are more important?

 

[nehalem256]

http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items

Lol. They actually specifically say its okay to buy ice cream and candy.

Gift baskets that contain both food and non-food items, are not eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits if the value of the non-food items exceeds 50 percent of the purchase price. To read our most recent notice about Gift Baskets, click here.

Items such as birthday and other special occasion cakes are eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits as long as the value of non-edible decorations does not exceed 50 percent of the purchase price of the cake.

Please tell me that www.fns.usda.gov is some kind of Onion site. Please. Please. Please.

 

[Carson Dyle]

If someone thinks they are so beyond societies rules that they can't even be bothered to walk 20 feet do you think that maybe they act similarly in other situations which are more important?

So, it's not the trivially unimportant act that gets your panties in a wad. It's that you figure they're bound to do something else to you? If you let them throw chewing gum on the sidewalk today, the next thing you know they'll be mugging you on a dark street.

Some of you people are physically unable to stop whining and worrying about every little damned thing you encounter in your lives. It's pitiful. You must be absolutely miserable if crap like this winds you up.

 

[waggy]

Lol. They actually specifically say its okay to buy ice cream and candy.



Please tell me that www.fns.usda.gov is some kind of Onion site. Please. Please. Please.

I no problem with them buying some ice cream or candy. trouble is far to many buy a bunch of both. add in shitty pre-made food, soda etc and it turns into a problem.

If they were buying 95% healthy and smart. yet decided to have some ice cream or a candy bar it wouldn't be a issue.

 

[Ventanni]

So, it's not the trivially unimportant act that gets your panties in a wad. It's that you figure they're bound to do something else to you? If you let them throw chewing gum on the sidewalk today, the next thing you know they'll be mugging you on a dark street.

Some of you people are physically unable to stop whining and worrying about every little damned thing you encounter in your lives. It's pitiful. You must be absolutely miserable if crap like this winds you up.

Both of you guys are right. We shouldn't sweat the small things so much, but the point he's trying to make is that people push boundaries. That's how we function. The human brain learns by pushing boundaries. We push boundaries in learning, creativity, physical capability, authority, etc. That's why teenagers can be so obnoxious, anti-authority, hate-the-world; because their brains are at a point in their life where they're pushing boundaries and learning to the extreme. Then, they chill out and become adults. But pushing boundaries isn't always a bad thing. We push boundaries on musical creativity, and new genres are born. Not always a bad thing, right?

But you have to understand where the individual you're debating with is coming from. When we push boundaries, one of two things happen: We either learn it's okay to continue that behavior and maybe even get something out of it immediately (positive reinforcement), or we learn that it's not okay (negative reinforcement). If I park in the fire lane for 5 minutes while my passenger rents a Red Box, and no one cares, then I've only learned that parking in the fire lane is okay. And once I've established that it's okay to park in the fire lane, then I can move on to further pushing those boundaries of what I can get away with. Oh sweet, I can park in the disabled parking spots now, right? Park in front of a fire hydrant? Hey, why not. No one is going to stop me.

So for the negative behavior kind of things, sweating the small stuff is important. You are right when you say sweating the small stuff on things like this is vastly different than what caused the housing bubble, but it's exactly this type of behavior that builds up to catastrophic events like the crashing of the housing bubble later on down the road. They start with the small things, and they get bigger, because those boundaries get pushed farther and farther.

It doesn't mean we have to be Nazis about the enforcement of these kinds of things, but it's important that we take the time to point out to individuals that, hey, what you're doing is crossing the line.

 

[NetWareHead]

Even though its an onion article I agree. People are not money or food smart. My gf's father owns a food store/convenience market and when its food stamp day, people line up and spend $30-60 per visit on bullshit food. Little debbie snacks, frozen breakfast trays, candy bars, chips and other junk food. I happened to witness one lady buy 4 one liter bottles of pepsi for $1.69 when the 2 liter bottles were right there for $3 each. Not even any consideration for smart shopping or trying to save a little.

The store used to be in a good neighborhood and back in those days, it also ran a full time deli in the back. As the character of the neighborhood changed and became more run down, the customers started buying less of the fresh food and whole ingredients and more of the junk/frozen/instant food. Thats how the store changed from a food store/deli into a convenience store.

 

[BUTCH1]

ummm no about feeding a family for a week.

Yea, that's a bit of a stretch, who wants chicken for breakfast?. But if you cook your own meals you do save a bunch, for example I bought bone-in chicken breast last week @1.49/lb, bought a 4 pack, had BBQ chicken w/rice and Jiffy corn muffins then took the other 2 cooked breasts and made a huge chicken casserole that lasted 2-3 days and actually tastes great from the microwave, made up some salad to go with it. So for about $15 in food cost I ate fairly well for almost 4 days, excluding breakfast. $15 in frozen food will never get you that far, the key is to buy on sale, in some bulk and not be fussy about eating leftovers.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The woman herself is what's funny. Like she feels she so justified as to judge others when she doesn't know their lifestyle at all.

What is funny is not that her observations are wrong, but that she never does anything about it. The whole point of why its satire is that in the story she feels better about herself criticizing these other people instead of using her position to create to donate to some charity that teaches nutritional awareness.

 

[alkemyst]

Yea, that's a bit of a stretch, who wants chicken for breakfast?. But if you cook your own meals you do save a bunch, for example I bought bone-in chicken breast last week @1.49/lb, bought a 4 pack, had BBQ chicken w/rice and Jiffy corn muffins then took the other 2 cooked breasts and made a huge chicken casserole that lasted 2-3 days and actually tastes great from the microwave, made up some salad to go with it. So for about $15 in food cost I ate fairly well for almost 4 days, excluding breakfast. $15 in frozen food will never get you that far, the key is to buy on sale, in some bulk and not be fussy about eating leftovers.

When you are POOR it's about fucking eating, not what you want to eat. I am sure that was not the limit of the food she was going to give, but most can tolerate chicken for dinners everyday. Get a bunch of oatmeal, grits, beans, etc and you can actually be eating the way people should all on food stamps. I don't know if they still do, but you'd also get a huge ass brick of government cheese and milk. The cheese was very good. I knew a lot of poor kids growing up and 'mac and cheese' was the best their families could send in for school pot-lucks. It was some of the best macaroni and cheese I have ever eaten.

 

[nehalem256]

I no problem with them buying some ice cream or candy. trouble is far to many buy a bunch of both. add in shitty pre-made food, soda etc and it turns into a problem.

If they were buying 95% healthy and smart. yet decided to have some ice cream or a candy bar it wouldn't be a issue.

Not only can they buy ice cream and cady. They can also buy gift baskets...

Also bizarrely they can buy precooked cakes, but not precooked chicken

 

[BUTCH1]

When you are POOR it's about fucking eating, not what you want to eat. I am sure that was not the limit of the food she was going to give, but most can tolerate chicken for dinners everyday. Get a bunch of oatmeal, grits, beans, etc and you can actually be eating the way people should all on food stamps. I don't know if they still do, but you'd also get a huge ass brick of government cheese and milk. The cheese was very good. I knew a lot of poor kids growing up and 'mac and cheese' was the best their families could send in for school pot-lucks. It was some of the best macaroni and cheese I have ever eaten.

Can't beat government cheese LOL. It just seems people don't cook as much as they used to or are too lazy to learn to cook, that's their loss, very sad..

 

[Exterous]

I see you didn't get my point. I'll give you an easy albeit extreme example:

Parking for 90 seconds in a fire lane is hardly in the same league as the behavior that led to the housing bubble and the near collapse of the economy.

Yeah - no shit. Hence my use of the word 'extreme'

 

[Newell Steamer]

Sure, it's satire,.. but, it's just too close to really call it a joke.

 

[Ventanni]

The point of the article is to point out how quick we, as a society, are all too often quick to judge. I can go on about how healthy I eat 95% of the time, but the fact of the matter is, I freaking love those $2.50 frozen pizzas found at Save-A-Lot, but in my admittance, it simply proves I am not blameless in my overall decision making. Who am I, therefore, to judge?

I use this point as an example. I do not mean to start a religious conversation. I, myself, am a Christian, but I simply use this point for the sake of the argument. For a very, very long time, Christianity has condemned homosexuality. We often say, "Hate the sin, love the person," but turn right around and do nothing as our own shepherds of the flock carry on with child molestation.

Lots of individuals criticize the eating habits of the poor, but in the end, it does nothing. The poor don't listen. Why? Because the message isn't conveyed with love. I sit here and judge your mistakes when I, myself, am not blameless. Who, then, is going to take me seriously? No one wants to listen to themselves by ostracized by their own kind, so they turn away.

 

[shortylickens]

Satire aside,
I'm more angry that convenience shops accept food stamps. They only sell junk food and everything they have costs twice as much as a grocery store.
I hate watching people stock up on Cheetos and energy drinks with food stamps, then pull out a huge wad of cash and buy 3 bottles of premium whiskey & 4 cartons of Kools.