October 2012. At a small local grocery store I frequent.
There was a mom, in a nursing assistant's uniform- and a dad, in a
mechanic's overalls with a little patch displaying the name of a garage.
They had two little girls who were telling mom and dad about their day
at grandma's - their child care.
The mom told the cashier, in hushed tones, that she had food stamps
and that she had been approved by the store manager to use them there.
The cashier asked for ID and checked a list. She had been approved. The
manager only a accepted SNAP benefits from those who lived locally. He
told me that "I have my reasons and they are good ones." Nothing more.
I had let them step into line ahead of me. The girls were antsy and
mom and dad were clearly exhausted. I stepped around to help them bag
their groceries. The dad and I chatted while the cashier checked her
list, and then began scanning the groceries. We bagged.
* I learned that the Dad worked 20-25 hours a week at a garage doing simple maintenance.
* He worked another 15-20 hours a week unloading trucks.
* His wife was a nurse's aid and worked 25-35 hours a week on her regular schedule.
* He told me that he and his wife hate having to take Food Stamps but they have no choice.
Minimum wage in Mo. is $7.35, although many work for less under state
exemptions. Based on the going rate for their work, I guessed $8.00 an
hour. 65 hours of work a week. $520 a week; $27,040 a year.
(Sidenote:
Since I met this couple two years ago I have gotten to know them. I
shared this story with them and they told me that they actually make a
little less than I guessed because of slow seasons at their jobs when
their hours fall off. In 2012 they earned approximately $26,000).
-2012 Federal Poverty Guidelines for a family of four: $24,550.
-SNAP/Food Stamp Eligibility in Missouri for a family of 4: $29,064
-In Missouri, the average SNAP stipend for a family of four is $514.16 a month.
-The USDA says that the low average cost of food for a family of four is $218 a week for a healthy diet. $872 a month.
When the cashier was done, the mother presented her SNAP card and
the dad dug out $46 dollars in cash. They were $21 short. Mom started to
pull back some of the "luxuries" including some ice cream. The girls
moaned but their mom told them that they could only get ice cream if
they something extra and they didn't.
Well, that did it for me. I told the cashier to add it to my bill.
They said "No" and I said they should ask the cashier and the manager
how stubborn I am. They laughed and thanked me.
I wondered....How secure is their employment? How close to the edge
do they walk every day. Right then, they qualified for SNAP but it would
not be hard to imagine a rapid reversal of fortune and the loss of
jobs. Jobs are scarce in my county; training programs have no open
slots; and volunteer programs that qualify per the GOP's proposal are
very few.
AND THEN SOMETHING ELSE HIT ME.....I saw them drive
out of the parking lot in an old, old car....on the bumper this sticker:
ROMNEY/RYAN 2012
How often the poor vote against their own best interests. I suspect that
their family, their friends, their church, all endorsed that bumper
sticker which makes me even sadder.
The GOP is Stuck between what used to be its rock solid foundation of
reasonable, rational conservative economic and international policy
(with not a lot to say about social policy) and the hard place that
those who are labeled the Tea Party have created.
Among the 254 counties where food stamp recipients doubled between
2007 and 2011, Republican Mitt Romney won 213 of them in 2012.
I wrote this in October 2012. Truer today. I was moved to
republish as a result of this extraordinary post.... Hope mine is in
keeping with Puck's.
Everybody I know is on Food Stamps by Puck Goodfellow.
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