My time at Walmart: Why we need serious welfare reform

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

During the 2010 and 2011 summers, I was a cashier at Walmart in Scarborough (Maine). I spent hours upon hours toiling away at a register, scanning, bagging, and dealing with questionable clientele. These were all expected parts of the job, and I was OK with it. What I didn’t expect to be part of my job was to witness massive amounts of welfare fraud and abuse.

I understand that sometimes, people are destitute. They need help, and they accept help from the state in order to feed their families. This is fine. It happens. I’m not against temporary aid helping those who truly need it. What I saw at Walmart, however, was not temporary aid. I witnessed generations of families all relying on the state to buy food and other items. I literally witnessed small children asking their mothers if they could borrow their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. I once had a man show me his welfare card for an ID to buy alcohol. The man was from Massachusetts; Gov. Michael Dukakis’ signature was on his welfare card. Dukakis’ last gubernatorial term ended in January of 1991. I was born in June of 1991. The man had been on welfare my entire life. That’s not how welfare was intended, but sadly, it is what it has become.

Other things witnessed while working as a cashier included:

• People ignoring me on their iPhones while the state paid for their food. (For those of you keeping score at home, an iPhone is at least $200, and requires a data package of at least $25 a month. If a person can spend $25-plus a month so they can watch YouTube 24/7, I don’t see why they can’t spend that money on food.)

• People using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money to buy such necessities such as earrings, Kit Kat bars, beer, toy figurines, and, my personal favorite, a Slip'N Slide. TANF money does not have restrictions, like food stamps, on what can be bought with it.

• Extravagant purchases made with food stamps, including, but not limited to, steaks, lobsters, and giant birthday cakes.

• A man who ran a hot dog stand on the pier in Portland used to come through my line. He would always discuss his stand and encourage me to “come visit him for lunch some day.” What would he buy? Hot dogs, buns, mustard, ketchup, etc. How would he pay for it? Food stamps. Either that man really likes hot dogs, or the state is paying for his business. Not OK.

The thing that disturbed me more than simple cases of fraud or abuse was the entitled nature of many of my customers. One time, a package of bell peppers did not ring up as food in the computer. After the woman swiped her EBT card, it showed a balance that equaled the cost of the peppers. The woman asked what the charge was, and a quick glance at the register screen showed that the peppers did not ring up as food. (Food items had the letter ‘F’ next to their description.) The woman immediately began yelling at me, saying that, “It’s food! You eat it!”

This wasn’t the only time things like this happened: if a person’s EBT balance was less than they thought it would be, or if their cards were declined, it was somehow my fault. I understand the situation is stressful, but a person should be knowledgeable about how much money is in their account prior to going grocery shopping. EBT totals are printed on receipts, and every cell phone has a calculator function. There’s no excuse, and there’s no reason to yell at the cashier.

The worst thing I ever saw at Walmart was two women and their children. These women each had multiple carts full of items, and each began loading them at the same time (this should have been a tip-off to their intelligence levels). The first woman, henceforth known as Welfare Queen No. 1, paid for about $400 worth of food with food stamps. The majority of her food was void of any nutritional value. She then pulled out an entire month’s worth of Women, Infants and Children program checks. I do not mind people paying with WIC, but the woman had virtually none of the correct items. WIC gives each participating mother a book containing actual images of items for which a person can and cannot redeem the voucher. This woman literally failed at image comprehension.

After redeeming more than 10 WIC checks, Welfare Queen No. 1 had me adjust the prices of several items she was buying (Walmart’s policy is to just adjust the price of the item without question if it’s within a dollar or two). She then pulled out a vacuum cleaner, and informed me that the cost of the vacuum was $3.48 because, “that’s what it’s labeled as.” The vacuum cleaner was next to a stack of crates that were $3.48. Somehow, every other customer was able to discern that the vacuum cleaner was not $3.48, but Welfare Queen No. 1 and her friend Welfare Queen No. 2 were fooled. Welfare Queen No. 2 informed me that she used to work for Walmart, and that the “laws of Walmart legally said” that I would have to sell her the vacuum for $3.48.

After contacting my manager, who went off to find the proper vacuum price, Welfare Queen No. 1 remarked that it must be tough to stand on a mat all day and be a cashier. I looked at her, smiled, shrugged, and said, “Well, it’s a job.” She was speechless. After they finally admitted defeat (not before Welfare Queen No.2 realizing she didn’t have enough money to buy all of the food she had picked out, resulting in the waste of about $200 worth of products) the two women left, about an hour and a half after they arrived at my register. The next man in line said that the two women reminded him of buying steel drums and cement. I said I was reminded why I vote Republican.

Maine has a problem with welfare spending. Maine has some of the highest rates in the nation for food stamp enrollment, Medicaid, and TANF. Nearly 30 percent of the state is on some form of welfare. Maine is the only state in the nation to rank in the top two for all three categories. This is peculiar, as Maine’s poverty rate isn’t even close to being the highest in the nation. The system in Maine is far easier to get into than in other states, and it encourages dependency. When a person makes over the limit for benefits, they lose all benefits completely. There is no time limit and no motivation to actually get back to work. Furthermore, spending on welfare has increased dramatically, but there has been no reduction of the poverty rate.

Something is going terribly wrong, and the things I saw at work were indicators of a much larger problem. Something must change before the state runs out of money funding welfare programs.

Christine Rousselle of Scarborough is a political science major, pursuing a minor in French, at Providence College in Rhode Island. She is assistant editor for news at The Cowl, and vice chairwoman of the Providence College Republicans. Her column originally appeared on thecollegeconservative.com. Follow Christine on Twitter: @Crousselle.

http://www.theforecaster.net/content/pnms-forum-rousselle-122111

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

What a shame such a young lass is already disillusioned. Her college professors will get her right thinking in no time.

[Danno 1,228]

This piece from an unknown college student has gone viral.

Pretty cool.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Of course, I am sure half of her essay is pure made-up bullcrap.

This piece from an unknown college student has gone viral.

Pretty cool.

Not unknown -- that is Christine, and obviously, she didn't come from a loving home.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I saw ####### a lot like this when I lived down in the Seattle-Tacoma area. What I never understood is how they afforded those $300+ Oakland Raider and Chicago White Sox parka's (they seemed to be into black colors) along with the $25,000+ cars with gold rims and god only knows how much for the stereo equipment that makes everything vibrate. Then of course they could never park in the parking lot, it was either right up front in the Fire Lane, or in the handicap spots. I would see them in the Safeway store buying NY steaks, prime rib, lobster, king crab, you name it with food stamps. And with those coats/parka's...they would be wearing them in the middle of summer when it was 80 outside along with a sock hat or baseball cap (worn sideways of course).

Out here in the bush we have a ####### load of Alaskan natives with some kind of welfare card that they use to buy pretty much the same thing I just named up top...although instead of those cars they have the newest boats, snow machines and atv's out on the market. Even their houses are free...new HUD homes all paid for by the government. And it cost a mint to ship the materials out here by barge and plane let alone the cost to construct them. They have them looking like sh*t in no time flat. They even get free fuel oil every year...and medical, dental, and optical. It's unreal.

Edited December 22, 2011 by Why_Me

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I have to agree here. See way too many freeloaders out in the grocery store buying food on my dime and then drive off in a recent model Benz, Hummer, you name it. They wouldn't be caught in a car like mine - that would be like trampling on their dignity. Or the folks buying ####### - candy and stuff - in a gas station where the grocery is like across the street on their EBT cards. ** them, I say. Seriously. That sort of thing really pisses me off.

[Pooky 3,828]

Of course, I am sure half of her essay is pure made-up bullcrap.

Not unknown -- that is Christine, and obviously, she didn't come from a loving home.

And I'm sure you have no clue what you're talking about.

Until you've been to WallyWorld in Scarborough, and seen things for yourself, you'd best quit before you make a fool of yourself.

[Ban Hammer 13,508]

interesting read.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

And I'm sure you have no clue what you're talking about.

Until you've been to WallyWorld in Scarborough, and seen things for yourself, you'd best quit before you make a fool of yourself.

Your sarcasm detector seems to be broken.

[Pooky 3,828]

Your sarcasm detector seems to be broken.

I'm not so sure Uncle Crusty was being sarcastic

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Do NOT even go near the grocery stores here on the 1st of the month! The amount of groceries they are packing into 2-3 carts is truly....

But I will say this, I do not care so much if they buy junk food or whatever, that is not the problem, the problem is too much handed out and nothing required in return. If you say they cannot buy potato chips, for example, they will buy deodorant with food stamps and buy the chips with cash they saved buying the deodorant with food stamps. Food stams, are, pure and simple a form of income. It is like saying "I will use the income from my second job ONLY for food" Makes no difference really.

I think we need to require people to help theselves if they want help form us...

1. Anyone receiving ANY welfare MUST have...

1. A high school diploma or be enrolled in a GED program

IF they already have a HS diploma or GED then they MUST either

1. Be enrolled in an educational institution OR

2. Employed

YES the government (us) should pay for the education

Education is the key to ending welfare. Will it end ALL welfare? No. But how many college grads are collecting welfare? How many HS grads as opposed to non HS grads?

The fact os that most of these people do not possess the knowledge and eduication to make more money than they can suck up from government...you and I. As long as the BEST they can do is welfare, that is what they will do. When you give people the tools to do better themselves, they will.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Do NOT even go near the grocery stores here on the 1st of the month! The amount of groceries they are packing into 2-3 carts is truly....

But I will say this, I do not care so much if they buy junk food or whatever, that is not the problem, the problem is too much handed out and nothing required in return. If you say they cannot buy potato chips, for example, they will buy deodorant with food stamps and buy the chips with cash they saved buying the deodorant with food stamps. Food stams, are, pure and simple a form of income. It is like saying "I will use the income from my second job ONLY for food" Makes no difference really.

I think we need to require people to help theselves if they want help form us...

1. Anyone receiving ANY welfare MUST have...

1. A high school diploma or be enrolled in a GED program

IF they already have a HS diploma or GED then they MUST either

1. Be enrolled in an educational institution OR

2. Employed

YES the government (us) should pay for the education

Education is the key to ending welfare. Will it end ALL welfare? No. But how many college grads are collecting welfare? How many HS grads as opposed to non HS grads?

The fact os that most of these people do not possess the knowledge and eduication to make more money than they can suck up from government...you and I. As long as the BEST they can do is welfare, that is what they will do. When you give people the tools to do better themselves, they will.

** that. Winter in hell again.

Except, what do you do with folks that are then forthwith eternally enrolled in GED programs or educational institutions? Or do you mean they actually have to show up full time each and every day in order to remain enrolled? Then, this might actually work.

Edited December 22, 2011 by Mr. Big Dog

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I'm not so sure Uncle Crusty was being sarcastic

Insufferable Brown-Haired 20-Year-Old Believes She’s The Second Coming of Ann Counter

Great news, nobody! There's a new conservative talking head in town, and she's got "Baby Ann Coulter" written all over her. She's 20. She's perky. She hates poor people— a lot!— and she's flattered by marriage proposals from strangers.

Christine Rousselle is a 20-year-old junior at Providence College in Rhode Island who, until recently, lived in a state of relative obscurity. That is, until she wrote a screed about how much America needs welfare reform, because she, as a former employee of a Wal-Mart in Maine, is an Official Welfare Scholar. In her now-Facebook-famous piece, entitled "My Time At Wal-Mart: Why We Need Serious Welfare Reform," she argues that welfare abuse is rampant. Poor people are buying all sorts of things that aren't burlap sacks, toilet paper, and lentils, and they're deriving pleasure from those things. They've even gone so far as to own a piece of technology widely considered a basic social amenity: cell phones! Quote she,

People ignoring me on their iPhones while the state paid for their food. (For those of you keeping score at home, an iPhone is at least $200, and requires a data package of at least $25 a month. If a person can spend $25+ a month so they can watch YouTube 24/7, I don't see why they can't spend that money on food.)

Good point! Poor people should use all of their resources to eat food rather than purchase a device that helps them stay in touch with friends and family, receive information, and get a job.

But the phones weren't the only thing that convinced Rousselle that poor people were not coming correct to Wal Mart. She also noticed that they were buying crazy #### like steaks, lobster, and birthday cakes— giant ones. Who gave poor people the right to have birthdays? She further lamented their "entitled" attitude; Wal-Mart customers who used their government benefits to pay for groceries dared express shock and dismay over low balances on their benefits cards or blame her when their cards were rejected (which is sort of what people do to bank tellers when they're startled by a low balance in their bank account or when their credit card is rejected, but never mind that. We're having a Poverty Hating Powwow Here; let's not interrupt the magic.)

Poor, overworked Christine the Cashier also couldn't help but notice that poor people are, in addition to being wasteful social leeches, kind of dumb. One woman tried to buy a bunch of groceries with her WIC benefits that weren't on the approved list of items. It's almost as though the economically disadvantaged citizens of this country have been overlooked by the educational system to the point that they can't even perform basic daily functions as adults. Man, what kind of jerk doesn't know how to read?

But one woman's childish ranting about how much work sucks is another woman's welspring of conservative knowledge and thinkiness, and Rousselle's column has gained her a moment of pop political notoriety and a small army of followers, some of whom are horny and/or lonely. She boasts to TODAY that her policy thinkpiece has already garnered her five marriage proposals. Bet they're pretty stand up guys, too.

Rousselle says she wants to take her show on the road and spend her career Ann Coultering for fun and profit. She's even got support from the Queen of the Race Trolls herself; Coulter sent Rousselle a Tweet complimenting her incredible insight and telling her she'd be "perfect" to fill her pinched, vitriolic shoes.

One problem: Rousselle has brown, straight hair. And everyone knows that you're never going to make it as a purveyor of lady-flavored conservative Haterade unless your hair shines like the spun gold standard or is inflated into a Bumpit-aided configuration like the mane of a soap opera flight attendant. She best get to the factory that makes sure Megyn Kelly's hair is military grade blonde and get her hair up to speed, stat. The future of liberal annoyance is on the line.

http://jezebel.com/5870188/insufferable-brown-haired-20+year+old-believes-shes-the-second-coming-of-ann-counter

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I'm sorry,Crusty, but this coming from you seems like sarcasm on top of sarcasm.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I'm sorry,Crusty, but this coming from you seems like sarcasm on top of sarcasm.

I can't take a twenty year old seriously, of any stripe.

Besides, when a train is heading your way, get off the tracks.