Am I the only one infuriated by this?

[Purplehood]

Not everyone using a lonestar card is purchasing for themselves. I have gone shopping regularly for those unable to do so for themselves for various reasons.

While I share your outrage over those who abuse the system, I caution you to not judge individual strangers you happen to be behind in line because you never know what their story is and looks can be deceiving. Maybe those designer clothes were picked up at Goodwill or donated to the person's homeless shelter or were gifts from family who have since disowned the person or are vestiges of better days and the car isn't theirs but is borrowed from a friend of the family that is well off and can afford to be without it while the person gets back on his or her feet. Maybe that one guy has a job and is buying his boss the beer with the boss' money. I know it isn't likely that that's the case for everyone you see, but you don't know that individual's story and it is uncharitable to assume the worst and judge that person. Call for reform of the system, yes. Sneer at that lady or couple in line ahead of you whom you think shouldn't have it based on your assumptions, no.

Exactly. I know folks that are driving an 08 Volvo C30 that they are borrowing from a relative until they can afford a decent used car. Some of the family are well-off in comparison, and they freely swap clothes all the time.
Yes, there are numerous examples of abuse with the card but appearances can often be deceiving.

[jimlongley]

Not everyone using a lonestar card is purchasing for themselves. I have gone shopping regularly for those unable to do so for themselves for various reasons.

While I share your outrage over those who abuse the system, I caution you to not judge individual strangers you happen to be behind in line because you never know what their story is and looks can be deceiving. Maybe those designer clothes were picked up at Goodwill or donated to the person's homeless shelter or were gifts from family who have since disowned the person or are vestiges of better days and the car isn't theirs but is borrowed from a friend of the family that is well off and can afford to be without it while the person gets back on his or her feet. Maybe that one guy has a job and is buying his boss the beer with the boss' money. I know it isn't likely that that's the case for everyone you see, but you don't know that individual's story and it is uncharitable to assume the worst and judge that person. Call for reform of the system, yes. Sneer at that lady or couple in line ahead of you whom you think shouldn't have it based on your assumptions, no.

And just maybe the tattoos are visible vestiges of a former lifestyle rather than an indicator of current conditions.

When I was laid off from my 6 figure job and almost destitute, I still lived in my 5 bedroom, three bath, three living area, Plano manse, and still drove the fancy cars, and still wore the same clothes I had, because I couldn't afford to replace them with junkier stuff. Out the other side of bankruptcy, I can proudly say I have dragged myself back up a few steps, but having seen the bottom, if not been there, I will not criticize without more information.

OTOH, that said, the woman buying 4 cartons of Marlboros and using Lone Star/food stamps/WIC for everything else in the cart should really consider breaking that habit.

[G.A. Heath]

When you see as much Food Stamp use and abuse as I do you tend to notice things. In one case it was a new Cadillac with dealer tags that were two days old. Or maybe it was the fact that they try to cash a check for over $1500 each week. Or maybe it was the fact that their ID is a Mexican Electoral Card. Or maybe it was the fact that they did not speak any English, and only spoke a tiny bit of very broken Spanish. Or maybe it was the fact that all of this is normal for this one party.

[gigag04]

I work off duty security at the local center where people get issued lone star cards, unemployment, and HUD.

I could tell stories for hours.

[RPBrown]

I don't want to hijack this thread but another abuse is people using a handicap mirror hanger of a freind or family member to park in a handicap space. I know of 2 different people that do this and are not handicaped.

[USA1]

Drug test welfare recipients.

[pbwalker]

Drug test welfare recipients.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner!

As for giving folks the benefit of the doubt, well...maybe I'm just jaded. I don't see it anymore. If I am down in the dumps, I 'downsize' where I can. I sell my Honda Pilot for a Kia. I sell all the stuff I don't need. I follow Dave Ramsey. And so on...but that's what these cards are for. Not for people to live on forever. And folks who buy them for cash are just as rotten. Economical, but rotten.

I just don't see that today. People are cool with being a slave to the man.

[jtran987]

yea that stuff really makes me angry, people taking advantage of the system and they just piggy back off all our work. heres a story that might make you angry too,

back in high school i use to work at a chinese restaurant in austin, this lady came it yelling and hollering on the phone how she lost everything from katrina and how the government needs to do more for them, then she takes out her wallet orders 250 worth of sesame chicken and tries to pay with the money she got from the government, needless to say i told my manager and we refused to serve the lady and told her to walk next door to HEB and buy food with that money if she wanted to feed her family

some people just dont want to work themselves, and alll of us law abiding citizens always seem to get the short end of the stick

[Hoi Polloi]

I know a family that fosters children and I talked to them about this thread. The children are wards of the state and the children's parents are ordered to pay child support to the state while the children are in the state's custody. The state has the responsibility to provide for the children's complete care and it delegates some of those responsibilities to others like an attorney ad litem and foster parents. The children must attend state schools, even if the foster family is willing to pay for a private school, and are eligible for all state services like WIC, head start, Medicaid, etc. Like almost every foster family, the one I know spends far above and beyond the small reimbursement they receive while the children are in their care.

Right now, they have a child with high medical needs. They pay for all the normal expenses of life like classes, programs, clothes, furniture, toys, car seat, housing and utilities, etc as well as the child's special needs for modified furniture, OTC medications and medical apparatuses, and the gasoline, wear and tear and maintenance on their car that is used to transport the child almost daily to 10 different specialists who are 1+ hours away, to weekly family visits, to regular court hearings, and more. On top of this, their time and money is out of pocket when they installed all the required safety precautions in their house, attend required trainings, maintain CPR & First Aid certification, keep a required life book for the child and give pictures to the child's family and workers, do hours upon hours of paperwork and phone calls, and allow 5 different entities to inspect their house at least once a month.

Their family income and the small reimbursement check (Texas ranks low in reimbursement) are used for life's necessities and discretionary spending like vacations so the children have a normal homelife. To make it stretch as far as possible, they purchase name-brand clothes at resale shops and garage sales. Their current child's necessary medical grade food costs around $700 a month and must first go through WIC before Medicaid will cover the rest. Around $150 in specialty food falls to the family in addition to their other expenses.

I asked them about this thread and if they feel bad that they live in a middle class home and drive a nice car--not luxury, but not a junker--when they are getting WIC benefits for the child's food. They said absolutely not. They couldn't afford to care for this child if the overwhelming expense of his medical care and medically necessary foods weren't covered, and they don't know anyone who would. This child is not theirs and their goal is to get him back home to his family in a safe and loving environment. They said that they brought time, determination, nurturance, and love to the table, which were essential components of the child's healing that CPS couldn't provide while the state, who is responsible for the child's care, has covered his medical needs through Medicaid and WIC and has the recourse of the parents' child support to offset those costs. They said that if everyone does their job well, the children will leave them and return to their families of origin. If they went broke in caring for this one out of a displaced sense of guilt or shame for using the child's benefits to provide for his exceptional needs, they couldn't be available to help the next child who needed a loving home in which to grow and heal.

I told them what the cashier or the person in line behind them must think based on this thread and they laughed and said they owe no explanation to strangers. They said they'd rather a stranger think they're using a stolen card than realize that the adorably perfect and obviously well-loved child with them is a foster child or has all the medical needs he does. They said it means they're doing their job right. But then they pointed out that they can't win because if they don't dress the child well and provide any luxuries, they're accused of fostering for the money, which isn't sufficient to cover any luxuries. They said people will always think the worst, so they just protect the children from it as much as possible and take the heat themselves and then go on in life because they know that they're doing what's right.

It made me realize how exceptional foster parents are when I compared their attitude and their lives to some of the responses and assumptions I've seen here. These people pour their hearts out for children who aren't theirs, care for wounds they didn't cause, and give far more of their time and money to a person in need, voluntarily and without complaint, than anyone I've ever met. And then they told me how wonderful it is and how much they love having the privilege to help bring healing and wholeness to families, and how I could do the same.

I challenge you, next time you're at the register behind that tattooed woman with the adorable baby, the Lone Star card, and a decent looking car, think of my friends and give them a smile instead of a frown. They sure deserve the support!

[Keith B]

Great post Hoi.

While there are always going to be those that work to abuse any system, before you jump to conclusions on someone, realize there are a lot more of those out there that are good folks and they have very valid reasons that you may not know.

Thanks to you and please thank your friends for me for what they do!!

[joe817]

Great post Hoi.

While there are always going to be those that work to abuse any system, before you jump to conclusions on someone, realize there are a lot more of those out there that are good folks and they have very valid reasons that you may not know.

Thanks to you and please thank your friends for me for what they do!!

Indeed Keith B! Thanks for sharing Hoi! It reaffirms my belief that there are still good people in the world. It is good for us to hear stories like this to counter all the stories we hear that are diametrically opposed to the good side of human nature.

[pbwalker]

We can "what if" and "in this situation" all day long. My gripe is with the abusers. Not the ones who have a valid need for it. I grew up and out of 'poor'. If I can do it, so can anyone else.

Pull 1000 Lone Star card recipients and stand them side by side. What percentage is in the situation explained by Hoi Polloi?

I'm sorry if this makes me a bad person, but I don't give anyone or anything the benefit of a doubt anymore...unless I am proven wrong, I'll draw my conclusions. I've been burnt by the 'benefit of the doubt' in the past...

[Keith B]

We can "what if" and "in this situation" all day long. My gripe is with the abusers. Not the ones who have a valid need for it. I grew up and out of 'poor'. If I can do it, so can anyone else.

Pull 1000 Lone Star card recipients and stand them side by side. What percentage is in the situation explained by Hoi Polloi?

I'm sorry if this makes me a bad person, but I don't give anyone or anything the benefit of a doubt anymore...unless I am proven wrong, I'll draw my conclusions. I've been burnt by the 'benefit of the doubt' in the past...

Unfortunately the abusers of these and other programs, and just other things in life overall, have left many (including me) very cynical and overly critical on many things. I too have a tendency to jump to conclusions and tend to put it on the the bad side on things, and have to force myself to take a step back before passing judgment.

There are a couple of good sayings (paraphrased) from a really good book I read that I remember when I start to pre-judge: 'Let him who is without fault be the first to throw rocks', and 'Judge not, lest ye be judged'

In the end, I still approach the issues with skepticism, but try to scope out the whole thing before tossing the baby out with the bath water.

[NuBer92]

As a former recepient of WIC benefits, it really assised me when i was laid off for an extended period of time. Yes i started washing dishes to pay rent, but with out those benefits i would not have been able to feed my newborn infant. I was provided with whole grains and formula to feed my child and i was thankful for that. Sometimes people would look at me funny because i have a newish honda civic but believe me when i bought this car i wasnt thinking of losing my job and getting "welfare". Sometimes you need a helping hand.

[Purplehood]

I hate hearing the stories of abusers of welfare. In my feeble mind welfare at best should be only a short-term solution, kind of similar to the Bill Clinton effort to get people off of it by trying to move them back into the workforce. One of the things I actually admired him for.

What is this about people buying LoneStar cards for cash? Why would one do that? Do they buy them at a discount so that they can buy goods they might normally shop for with cash at a lower price and the seller use the cash for unintended (drugs) purposes?