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Yesterday on social media, I kept seeing an article come up in my news feeds. It was talking about a Missouri lawmaker wanting to have steak and seafood (among a few other items like chips) banned from food stamp users accessibility. I read the article, shook my head over the idiocy, and moved on. Well.....I tried to anyway. It was while I was reading comments on these various posts, last night, that I lost my composure and my husband asked me what was wrong.
I looked up at him and replied, "God forbid that I should ever become so calloused against humanity, especially as a Christian, as what I have witnessed on here tonight."
I kept seeing the same theme running in all of these comments.
"If you're on food stamps, you don't deserve to eat steak and seafood."
"Those on food stamps are scum of the earth. They live off the system and never work."
And, I am sad to say, most of the negative, hate filled comments that I read were coming from people who professed to be Christians.
Portrait of A Food Stamp Family
Now, allow me to digress for a moment. If you were to ask my husband what my greatest, most paralyzing fear has always been, he would be quick to answer that it is of my children going hungry. You see, I went hungry when I was little. There were days without food and there were days of digging food out of dumpsters. The fear of not knowing when or if you will get to eat again is truly terrifying, especially as a child.
Once my grandparents took my sisters and me in, I hid food (just in case) and I ate a lot and quickly because inside of me was that terror that something could happen and there wouldn't be food again. That isn't something you can get over easily when you have already experienced it.
Back to my story. We had to go on food stamps in order to eat. I was not willing to put my children through what I went through. You can call it selfish - I call it parenting. And do you know what the worst part was? The kicks we got while we were down. The looks, the comments, the advice on what we should be eating (name brands were too good for people in our position).
Do you know what we had once while we were on food stamps? A clam bake. It was a highlight during a very dark time for us. You see, we couldn't go on vacation. In fact, our youngest has never been on vacation. The last time we took a vacation our teenage son was a year and a half. We were actually planning a vacation this year, until something recently came up and we needed to use that money we had put back. (Maybe next year!) Anyway, because of the food stamps, I was able to buy the food for a clam bake that summer. It was a meal that reminded us that we were not less than worthy. It was a meal without shame and humiliation and fear. And all these years later, our children still talk about that first clam bake. It's why we do a shrimp boil every year. It's a reminder of that moment for us, that pivotal moment when we saw our worth through God's eyes instead of people.
So, I have to ask, "Where is our compassion?"
I know I saw compassion when Jesus fed fish to the five thousand. He didn't keep some back from the people who weren't working or poor or barely making ends meet. He fed them all the same. And out of that compassion, came abundance.
How dare we try and dictate what another human being is worthy of eating.
We must find our compassion. Love and kindness are our most powerful weapons against darkness, but it does us no good if we don't use them.
AMEN!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have worked since the age 15 and am now 53. Which means I paid taxes and I have had to go on food stamps due to illness and not able to work. So no one is paying for my food because I already paid my taxes. I also never complained about others getting food stamps. Everyone deserves to eat and why not sometimes splurge for your children
ReplyDeleteJust because you paid taxes doesn't give you an entitlement to eat high off that hog. Eat healthy and be grateful that you have anything from the government.
DeleteHIGH OFF the HOG??? Entitlement?? You have no idea what Tammy even ate!! And gee, you sign in as Anonymous. GO FIGURE!
DeleteWhat is eating high off the hog?, if I bought steak it would be because it's cheaper than hamburger (and sometimes it is) and Talapia is cheap fish. We eat chicken, pasta with red sauce, and we can use 1 piece of chicken ( yup just 1) to make soup or fried rice at least 4 days per week. Yep were really living high of the hog now. And I don't shop at the dollar store because it's fun, it's because I have no choice. And I am very grateful. And my kids eat healthy. To bad that we don't deserve to eat all those expensive fruits and vegetables. Sure hope you come up with a menu for us soon, because you are so much better at this budgeting then we are.
DeleteLooks like a comment from someone who needs a reality check. Organic fruits and veggies are costly... Who are you to dictate what foods people can or cannot buy?
DeleteGod forbid if you're ever put in a position where you'll need public assistance!
Amen!
ReplyDeleteLiberals... Such crap
ReplyDeleteTeabaggers.....such doucheness
DeleteGod Bless you
ReplyDeleteMy husband lost his job of 15 years and we get food stamps not because we are jobless but because we no longer make the money we are making...We don't have cable, Internet (other then what are phones have), we don't take vacations and yet people act like we are jobless drug addicts that sit on our couch all day eating dorritos and cupcakes washing it down with a soda. It's the furthest thing from the truth.
ReplyDeleteAmen AND Amen, father help us!
ReplyDeleteIt's usually the ones who have never been in the situation of necessity that think everyone on food stamps are lazy drug addicts. I had to be on food stamps when I moved out the first time, I had a minimum wage job with inconsistent hours. I received $100/month, so I really had to make my dollar stretch. Especially if I didn't want all processed food - like making a pound of beef last 4 dinners instead of 1. There were a few months that I miscalculated how long the food should last and went hungry for a few days until the next month's funds were available. As soon as I didn't need them anymore, I stopped the benefits. Then you had my roommates - 2 adults (who smoked) with a child. They weren't married, so they filed twice and each got benefits. It wouldn't have been that big a deal, except they both worked at the same place I did, but were both full-time. They received $300/month, bought whatever they wanted and still ate out all the time. They regularly went on shopping sprees and never once thought of quitting smoking. So, yes, you have those that actually need it and those that take advantage of the system. But don't just assume everyone that is on them is of the latter.
ReplyDeleteThere are some people who 'work' the system. I would rather error on the side of compassion and kindness. I have also seen people buy lots and lots of junk food for SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, with food stamps! They bought the beer with a big roll of cash. Heck, I would rather have them buy a steak or two than soda pop and chips and crap!! I am more than blessed to never go without as an adult. As a child, we had to beg our grandparents for shoes and then listen to them tell us how worthless our Dad was. At 7...REALLY??
DeleteI am thankful that now we have SNAP cards, which are less obvious, take less time to use at checkout, and easier to use than the coupon books we had to use back in the 80s. And just to prevent some holier than thou conservative from having a stroke, thinking I've been on food stamps all these years... I was on food stamps and Medicaid back then, as a young, divorced mother of six, recovering from cancer. After that, I was in the work force for 29 years. Now I am retired, on Social Security and Medicare which I paid for all those years, and to keep food in my pantry, SNAP. I am sick of the damn Republican Tea Party trying to take benefits away that we Senior citizens worked hard for most of our lives. And they should be ashamed of treating the working poor like they don't deserve to live, and taking food away from children.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with 5 brothers and sisters. So we had a family of 8. My mother was a waitress and my father a laborer who had dropped out of school in the 8th grade to help take care of his large family. So we were actually, dirt floor poor. My mother was a FIRM believer that "if you can't feed your children then you don't need your children" and would never accept a hand out or help from anyone. She made sure we were fed and never went hungry but we had no luxuries. My mom fed 8 people on 1 chicken for 3 nights. On the first day she would boil the chicken to make her broth and make dumplings, on the second day she would boil the chicken and make chicken soup, finally on the third day she would take all the chicken off the bone and make gravy add the chicken to it and some mashed potatoes and we finally got to eat some meat. I never felt like we were deprived of anything. She taught us how to survive and thrive. Too many parents these days believe that they are somehow entitled and they are teaching their children the same values. I have a family of 4 and our grocery budget is $50 a week. I manage to feed us on that and my kids are never and have never went hungry. No they don't get clam bakes nor name brand food or have they ever been on a vacation and my son is 17. What they do have is plenty of love, clothes on their back and a nice roof over their heads. They also have good work ethic and they don't feel entitled. I am a 2 time cancer survivor and have never and will never expect anyone else to feed my children. That is my job and with the help of the good Lord and my mother teaching me and raising me with survival skills I will continue to raise them with out any help from the government.
ReplyDeleteYou sound really angry. MOM?? Is that YOU?? "I never had nothing and it was good enough for me and then my kids had nothing and it was good enough for them too!!!" YIKES!
DeleteI just shared this post on Facebook. I am disgusted by the disdain and vitriol of so-called Christians with regard to those who are less fortunate. It is the exact opposite of what Jesus would do. It is long past time to bring back the concept of WWJD! We need to remember that we as humans must feel compassion toward our fellow people. I wish you and your family all the best in the world!
ReplyDeleteJust because someone is on food stamps doesn't mean they aren't working. I have a full time job and still have to be on FS to feed my kids. No one has a right to dictate what we eat. The problem with eating healthy is everything that is healthy is expensive. Have you seen the prices lately? I don't go out and buy caviar or even $20 steaks but do I buy steaks occasionally? Yes. Especially when they are on sale. If someone is that rich and concerned so much about what I feed my family, I welcome them to pay my bills. Because if you aren't a part of my household and paying my bills you don't have a right to tell me what we eat or when we eat it. Some people need to experience what is like, to go work all day, take care of kids, pay bills and still have to have assistance. Until you have experienced it, I don't think you have a right to judge. I don't have cable TV. I pay $8 a month for hulu plus so we have something to watch. I do have Internet bc the kids need it for school. Other than that I have the basic bills that everyone has. We have taken 1 vacation in 8 years. My point is, it's not all because someone lives above their means. It's mainly because our government sucks and the cost of living is so high and jobs dont pay enough!!!!!! So do I think some people need to get off their high horse?? Absofreakinglutely. Please live one day in someone else's shoes before you are so quick to judge them!!!!
ReplyDeleteBecause poor kids shouldn't get birthday parties. AM I RIGHT? Only Right Wing Douchebags think so.
ReplyDelete