Go Away

[Sliceanddice]

This is a quick rant
My store is near the local WIC area, Public Health vaccination center, Three check cashing place, a mexican drugstore, basic foods store, mexican grocery store, and a minimal coverage auto insurance.
im going to be frank,
We get alot of scammers and people wanting free food.
We will not give you any free food. even if we had messups we wouldnt.
No free food, if we did you would just sue us or something saying it was bad,
We will give into some scammers but only if your story is flessable because we are corporate and corporate is all pansys. But when you cant keep your story straight, dont know the manager who gave your the green lights name, there is no record, or if is just plain impossible (such as the guy who called at 12 on a slow day. So slow we had no orders all day, claiming the order we just did, which would be none, had animal hair in it).
Oh and to you people who come in who assume that because you cant feed yourselves we should feed you, why are you here? generally (since this only happens in the morning and i only work morning two days in the week)this normally happens on a Tuesday. I dont know bout all you people reading this but here, in mesa on tuesday? EVERY FREAKING CHURCH, EVERY GOVERNMENT FOOD BANK AND EVERY NON PROFIT FOOD BANK HAS FREE FOOD BOXES ON TUESDAY!!! there are like 30!!!!!! i could seriously fill up my pantry to the brim if i wanted too.
which is better one hours worth of pleasure of lukewarm possibly nasty pizza, or a weeks worth of food for you to eat??
why why why!!1

[rerant]

I do volunteer work at a major food bank in my city and sadly, people scam food banks, too.
It's very depressing that people are taking advantage of the generous donations from the people in this city and are literally taking food out of the mouths of people who desperately need it.

[zigcat]

Beggars who want to be choosers

I get this exchange a lot:

Shabbily dressed guy (SDG) comes in and inches up to the counter.

ME: Can I help you?
SDG: Yeah, bro, could you help me out? I just gotta eat something. You got any pizzas you gonna throw away?
ME: Sorry, all of our pizzas are made to order. However if you're hungry, the Cathedral just up the street gives away sandwiches, and there's also a food bank just a block away.

This is met with a blank open mouth stare. And then a wave off as he walks out.

Seriously, if you were really THAT hungry you would've taken my advice rather than try to hold out for a pizza.

[calulu]

I've volunteered at the local soup kitchen for years and it seems to be a truism that many of the regulars are rolling around with more bling and cell phones and the like than any of us solid working citizens staffing the kitchen.

[friendofjimmyk]

You know, some people don't like to go to those homeless shelters or churches because to them, those places highlight the reality of their situation too much that they can't deal with it. You think I'm kidding...

I've been homeless and I know a few others who have too...it was my pride and ego that told me I wasn't homeless and I wasn't in need of anyones charity. Going to a homeless shelter was beneath me - even though I was homeless. I was in denial about the reality of my situation...plus, I was really strung out - so in the drug induced hazed, I really didn't see the reality of my situation. In most cases, I had money - but my money was for drugs. If I got hungry - I either found a way to do more of the drug I was on (Meth really kills your appetite) or I'd eat condiments.

I'm so glad those days are behind me. I never want to forget them though.

{edit} on another note - currently, I'm a broke college student. Today, I know when its time to ask for help. I have no qualms about requesting vouchers for food. I know that someday, I will give back when I can. Today, I am well aware of the reality of my situation and Ramen is once again my friend.

[BaristaTrav]

{edit} on another note - currently, I'm a broke college student. Today, I know when its time to ask for help. I have no qualms about requesting vouchers for food. I know that someday, I will give back when I can. Today, I am well aware of the reality of my situation and Ramen is once again my friend.

Ahhh.. memories of college. I became something of a Ramen connoisseur (Oriental was my favorite).

Oh, and I'm still broke.

[friendofjimmyk]

You know, its filling and very low in fat...now carbs and sodium on the other hand...mmmm....not so good. BUT - food is flippin' food when you're hungry!

[BaristaTrav]

After 3 solid years of that.. I can't really even look at ramen or cup o' noodles again. Besides.. in my college days they were like 7 for $1. Now they're like 50 cents each. Inflation.. it's a killer.

[Seraph]

Yeah, I know exactly what kind of scammers you're talking about. My old town was full of the suckers.

I did happen to see one of the SUCKIEST WIC SCs in a long time last year though... We were at a grocery store, getting our own WIC items, when this woman barges down the aisle, yakking on a cell phone the entire time, talking about how she's "soooo mad" they won't give more food for her WIC drafts...she's tried so many different stories...yadda yadda. I had a bad feeling as soon as I overheard her...

She eventually grabs what she needs and moves on. I kept shopping, but heard a sudden scuffle from up front, and peeked out from the aisle only to see Ms. SC scrambling for the door, juggling her cell phone. There was a very angry cashier, and I saw a couple of baggers (biiiig guys) running towards SC's direction.

Turns out, she tried to buy items that she wasn't allowed to, and started screaming at the cashier because she wouldn't run them through the WIC. (Cashier, ironically, was also on the WIC program and knew what was allowed and what wasn't) Lady yelled for a manager to come "straighten the girl out"....cashier tells her not even the manager will bend the WIC rules for her. At that point, the SC took her WIC folder and literally SMACKED the cashier with it. I forget if it was the face or whatever...I remember them mentioning the general head area. Ergo why she made a run for it, and bag boys were after her.

She got away, unfortunately...but I do know that the cashier remembered her name and the store promptly called up the WIC offices to let them know of the situation. While they may let almost anyone in the program...I'll give that office one thing. You abuse the privileges, they will yank your butt off the program so fast it'll make your head spin. I sincerely wish I could have eavesdropped on THAT phone call...no more free food for Ms. Lying Abusive SC!

[calulu]

Sucks that people like that have to ruin it for everyone else. Straight out of college I was a social worker in the inner city for some years before switching to high end sales. I always thought that the WIC program was one of the best things they ever did. It's great that it cannot be used for sugar encrusted nutritionally void crap. Good to hear that it's being enforced like that too.

No shame in struggling or getting WIC or eating boatloads of Ramen, lord knows I did all three back in my earlier years and may end up doing it again.

[draftermatt]

You know, some people don't like to go to those homeless shelters or churches because to them, those places highlight the reality of their situation too much that they can't deal with it. You think I'm kidding...

I understand that, and it's a valid point. But if you're walking into local restaurants and pizzerias, etc. and asking for free food why would you be too "proud" or "in denial"? You're begging for food, when you can go somewhere anonymously and get a free meal.

After 3 solid years of that.. I can't really even look at ramen or cup o' noodles again. Besides.. in my college days they were like 7 for $1. Now they're like 50 cents each. Inflation.. it's a killer.

Really? They're still like 12 cents a piece around here.

[AdminAssistant]

Ramen...EW. I lived on peanut butter sandwiches and mac'n'cheese. Now I've promoted myself to spaghetti! (whole wheat spaghetti and I add veggies to storebought sauce) Produce here is actually pretty cheap, bananas $0.60/lb, apples $1.00/lb, celery/broccoli usually $1.00/lb. Just have to find the right sales. And farmer's markets don't hurt either.

That said...it's really cheaper to eat healthy stuff than most of the junk (candy bars, cookies, crackers) people fill up on. Boggles the mind.

[friendofjimmyk]

I understand that, and it's a valid point. But if you're walking into local restaurants and pizzerias, etc. and asking for free food why would you be too "proud" or "in denial"? You're begging for food, when you can go somewhere anonymously and get a free meal.


.

I know, really. But I think its the stigma of a shelter/soup kitchen that keeps most away. Not too proud to beg - but too proud to admit they need help.

{edit} Ramen here is still around .17 - .28 cents depending on the brand. The most expensive is the "healthy, low-fat, low sodium" Ramen for .43 a packet. I haven't eaten Ramen in a loooooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggggg time as I had eaten a lot of it as a teenager or young adult but the reality of my situation calls for food that you can get buttloads cheap. Mac n cheese fits in that too...some cereals are pretty cheap - if you buy generic - its amazing how much groceries you can actually get for 20 bucks.

[HereWeGo]

I hope things are different now, but when I was a kid, taking charity was like getting punched in the eye and then expected to be grateful for it. Broken toys at Christmas, food drives with nothing but ramen noodles and tang, and clothes two generations out of fashion. More than the humiliation, what I remember was the attitude the world had of "be happy for what you can get" and feeling that deep down inside I was a deviant because I hated being given other people's trash.

So when I hear that story, I think, maybe that guy just wanted a pizza. Maybe he could have gotten the sandwich and still wanted a pizza.

[wagegoth]

If you go by the charity places, you'll see people putting the boxes of food in the trunks of Mercedes, while yapping on their cell phones, wearing expensive clothes. They're totally working the system. It's beyond disgusting.

HereWeGo, I'm sorry people take pleasure in abusing poor children. When I was a kid, we weren't poor, although things were often tight, so we had hand-me-down clothes, toys and books. My mom used to make me feel guilty (she was a kid during the Great Depression) because I'd rather wear the same two dresses and pants over and over, than have a closet full of out-of-style clothes that never fit right and that the kids would make fun of at school. I'd take the toys, but I wouldn't play with them. The books weren't so bad, because I was a voracious reader, so I read anything you handed me, including encyclopedias.