Wednesday, June 12, 2013

It's multigenerational!

We just went to Wal-Mart for a few things.  We had the pixie along, and she was a very pleasant shopper.  Everything went fine...until we got to the check out line. 

There was one family taking up two lines.  One family of about four generations.  Great grandma was in one of the fast lanes, had greasy, stringy, thin gray hair, probably in her early sixties, and was probably right around five or six hundred pounds.  She was using a moto-cart, and a SNAP card.  Grandma had slightly thicker, cleaner hair, dyed orange, probably in her late thirties or early forties, and around five or six hundred pounds.  She was also in a moto-cart.  She had a load of groceries, and a WIC voucher that her daughter laid on the baby food.  And a SNAP card and welfare debit card.  Mom was at least on her own two feet, but probably topped the scales at around four hundred.  She had about $1500 worth of tattoos (and so did Grandma and, horribly enough, Great grandma), and a smart phone tucked under a straining cami top strap.  No bra.    Mom had two babies--about two, and about six months.  Her younger sister was there, looked to be about twelve, and about 150 or so pounds, and a vacant, slack jawed look.

Four generations of dependence on the taxpayer.  The only male in the bunch was the six month old. 

I was disgusted enough, standing in line behind them.  Then, they left, and I got up to the pin number key pad--greasy--and smelled the nasty.  Seriously, it smelled like something dead. 

And this is what we, the taxpayer, is supposed to feel sorry for. 

I'm sorry.

I don't.

The only ones I feel sorry for are the babies.  They need to be removed from their biological mother and placed into a middle-class family that will teach them a work ethic, and to not be parasites upon the productive members of society.  And, given how I feel about child "welfare" programs, that ought to tell you something.

What we stood behind in line at Wal-Mart is a cumulation of stupid choices that would have been punished by reality before Johnson decided that poverty was something other than the results of stupid choices made by the people who shouldn't have offspring survive to keep the stupid choices going for another generation.

Had I control of the social programs like welfare, food stamps, and social engineering taxes, I would do a few things:

1. Nothing but beans, rice, canned veggies and fruit, hamburger meat, bread, chicken leg quarters qualify for SNAP.  If they want soda and junk, they can pay cash.

2. Only the first child counts for assistance for unwed mothers and deadbeat couples who refuse to work.  Two is a blatant grab for more money.  (It'd be a little different if the parents were working, and spending all their money on child care--which is entirely possible.)  I would also require any single, never-wed mother to have a birth control implant placed as soon as she'd given birth, if she wasn't planning to breast feed.

3. No taxes on cigarettes or alcohol.  Let 'em die.

4. No Medicaid for anyone who smokes.  If they smoke, they can buy their own insurance, or die. 

I'd be willing to bet that our national deficit would shrink by about half within about ten years or so.  And so would the group that perpetually makes bad choices, sucks the life out of the taxpayer, and votes Democrat.

10 comments:

  1. God forgive me, but my first thought with people that are so huge is "How many bars of soap would she make?" Remember I am old enough to vividly recall the unvarnished accounts of Uncle Adolph's misadventures in Europe.

    I was talking recently with a very bright man I know who spend 12 years hard time for killing some shithead who deserved it. His comments run consistent with what you saw. Most are so seriously mentally deficient as to defy belief. He told me the worst thing about being in prison was finding someone with enough functional grey matter to hold a conversation was almost impossible.

    Winston

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    1. Tell him, if you think it would make him feel better, that it's not just prison. Most of the population are no better.

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    2. Sure that's what prompted Einstein's famous remark about abundance of hydrogen in the universe vs human stupidity. And that was a century ago. Damn sure has not changed.

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    3. Nope. It hasn't. My husband commented, on reading your comment, that where he works bears a striking resemblance to prison, if one judges by the ability to find two brain cells to rub together for conversation.

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    4. Yuk!

      Sounds like a good scenario for a sci-fi story!!

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  2. I feel sorry, but it's for working schlubs like you and me who scrimp and save and then have our taxes going to support people who feel that it's their due, and that it's unfair to them if they don't get the promised increase in benefits.

    I don't have a problem with helping the truly disabled, or helping for a short period of time while someone gets their life back together....but multiple generations, for ever and ever?

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    1. Exactly. And by just giving money with no real strings except "You can't build a savings account" and money for food with no strings except that you have to buy some kind of food with it is causing this. Rewarding poor choices. And increasing the subsidy for each child born out of wedlock is making that seem like a good choice, instead of being one of the worst choice to be made, especially for the child.

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  3. I am willing to guess that these special snowflakes have made multiple appearances on the "People of Walmart" website. Stories like this really do a number on my blood pressure. Thank you for that. Seriously though, you don't get to uber morbidly obese eating healthy foods in moderate proportions unless your thyroid is well and truly screwed (I have seen one legitimate case of that in 20 years handling insurance claims...it was a sad case involving medical malpractice from a surgery gone wrong).

    I have zero problem limiting what food stamps (or their modern equivalent) will buy. Heck, as a foster parent, our foster kids qualified for WIC assistance, and we were told which baby formula we could buy, how much and how often. We had to have a doctor's note to prove a legitimate medical need for something other than the approved formula. We finally gave it up and just bought the stuff we needed from the per diem.

    I also have zero problem with taking away major decision making including the right to vote and procreate from those who have failed so miserably as to need the government to bail their butts out. If you are part of the problem, you should have no say in the rules or who makes them. Heck, we take away rights from convicted felons upon due process of law. Make it a due process issue. You have to go through a court to prove a legitimate need. Upon such a finding, you relinquish your rights until such time as you get your act together and can function in society without sticking your snout in the public trough.

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    Replies
    1. Making sure the parasites feel the consequences of their choices is a lovely thought...

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