Reply #62: Okay, I withdraw some of my judgement...but...

[neverevergivein]

as I've stated, her "apparent" abuse of the system is one thing. If she deserves the assistance through some circumstance I'm not aware of, I'm a jerk for being offended. But her beligerance at the cashier just doing her job, that I'm allowed to be ticked about. But many of the posts here illuminated scenarios I frankly did not know existed.

I am from a background way too privliged to be anything close to fair. I believe that "to whom much is given, much is expected". I've been given WAY too much to ever be able to give back in kind, but I do try. We do everything we can to help those in poor circumstances. My sister-in-law's family has had real financial struggles in the past. I know they are great people who have had to endure tough times. I never take my life for granted. I carry around a bit of guilt at my life - I've never known hunger or financial worry. But those that I do know that work so hard to get so little, they are the ones who are cheated by those who abuse the system. I do not want us to end assistance. I'm afraid it will end if stories like this become the norm. I'm not old enough to know the Reagan stories that people are bringing up, but I'm old enough to know that if this lady is abusing the system, the system has flaws and those flaws give fodder to people who want to end it. But again, maybe I'm wrong as many here have pointed out - perhaps her story is much deeper than meets the eye.

i will go back to the store tonight and ask the cashier about the story. Maybe she knows the lady or her circumstance. I'm not here to cause DUers to fight about this, I just wanted to know if I might be missing something as I observed something I thought was way wrong. Apparently, I could have been.