My experience with Food Stamps (so far...)
I applied for food stamps the other week. I'm a a young woman with a part time job, desperately looking for more income, in debt out my ears from student loans, and honestly only just now coming to understand the idea of budgeting.
I finally wrote down a list of all the money I make compared to the money I spend and I realized that while I was still going to desperately look for that extra income, I might need some help.
So I took to the internet and applied for more jobs and also food stamps to just help.
This was my experience of the process, as a privileged, educated, white, middle class indiviual with no children. But just for the sake of stepping into the shoes of others, let's pretend it wasn't me.
Let's pretend it was a mother of three who lost her job a few months ago. She has little to no savings and will only be able to buy two weeks worth of groceries before she's out of money.
Or maybe it was an elderly man who's social security sure as heck isn't covering shit. He doesn't know how to use a computer, so he relies on phone calls. We will see above how well that works.
Maybe it's a regular young adult.... went to college, got the degree and the crippling debt that goes with it, can't rely on mom and dad for money because they're just barely making it anyway. and despite the degree, the only place that will hire him/her without 'experience in the field' is the fast food place down the street, and even they were hesitant (why hire someone with a degree, they'll only be around until they get a better job!)
It could be anyone. Let's also keep in mind that in this society, asking for help is seen as a shameful act. Many of these individuals has probably just barely talked themselves into applying, accepting the feeling of shame that they know will go along with it, knowing that people may look at them with some degree of pity or disgust when they pull out their EBT card. They've probably left it to the last possible minute, because no one wants to admit they they need help, that they need money, that they can't survive in this American Dream, Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps society.
My experience was such:
-During the online application, every other page that popped up was some horrible advertisement that was attempting to get my email address and phone number so that they could sell me 'free' things and give me 'free' money. Some of them were unavoidable. Which means my cell phone has been blowing up with telemarketers and I am overloaded with spam email. Within two days, I have honestly begun to feel hunted by telemarketers, and I definitely feel betrayed by my government for selling me out to pushy salesmen.
- The final page of the application is supposedly a list of the things I need to send to the department to finalize my application. I can only assume what those things might be because even on my own very up-to-date computer and with my somewhat good knowledge of technology, I can't get them to load. I can't get my confirmation number because it's on an invisible web page, and I'm sure they want to see a copy of my paychecks, but the contact information was all on that invisible page as well. So.... No clue to go from here. (I, personally am lucky that I have the time to track down someone to tell me the next steps via email or phone call. Mom with 3 kids probably isn't as lucky.)
-A day after my application, I received a phone message from someone about my interview for food stamps. They left no name, but they did leave the sate wide 1800 number. I'm pretty glad someone's reached out to me because the webpage was a disaster and I'm glad to know my application got in at all. And now I should have a contact number so I can get all the final information I need, right?
- I called that 1800 number, gave them all of my info, including a soc number and they told me they had no record of an application. The local office must not have 'scanned in' my online application yet! So there was just NO WAY they could point me towards the right department, let alone to the nameless individual who had called me. Sorry. Have a nice day. Buh-bye.
-I decided to, what the heck, use the internet a little more and get the phone number of the local county office. Maybe they would be able to help me! So I give them a call..... Same story. I'm not in thier system. I haven't been scanned in yet (what the hell) they have no idea of who might have called me! But they'll leave a message with someone somewhere..... Hopefully they'll get back to me next week about the whole thing. (NEXT WEEK??? ....... ..... ... )
- sure enough, next week I get a call from the same nameless caller. I've been hounded by telemarketers for the last week, so I've been screening my calls and get a voice mail. She's going to be in training all day, so I can call back but she might not get to me.... and she leaves the 1800 number again.
- Rinse and repeat. The 1800 number has NO RECORD OF ME. I MUST NOT EXIST. THEY HAVE MY SOCIAL BUT I MUST NOT EXIST.....
It's been two weeks, and I'm no closer to getting Food stamps. And I'm sure that once I actually reach the person who has the control over my application and interview, it will be another few months before I get results.
Whatever. I'm not starving. And, luckily, I have a very nice boyfriend that will feed me when I AM starving. It might be just ramen all day long, but I'll live.
But look. I'm just so angry at the whole thing. Not for me. I'm fine, but seriously. It is the PEOPLE IN NEED that rely on these services, and we are making them jump through unnecessary hoops so that they can feed themselves and their family. And if I WERE desperate, in need, looking for any help I could get, this would feel like one epic road block after the other. It would feel like walls were just lurching out of the earth, stopping me in my tracks as often as possible.
This system sucks. And then, to top it all off, once a person does get food stamps, they are judged by every other cashier. And everyone around them has opinions about what they should and shouldn't be buying.
Hell, after all the trouble they go through to GET food stamps, I sure as heck don't begrudge them a few bags of chips and some chocolate.
So that's my angry rant. I don't think it's going to affect the world in any way, but I just think it's really important for people who don't have these experiences to understand the horribleness of the process. Maybe, knowing what it looks like, we can all judge a little less.
And maybe, most importantly, we can stop shaming people who ask for help.
I finally wrote down a list of all the money I make compared to the money I spend and I realized that while I was still going to desperately look for that extra income, I might need some help.
So I took to the internet and applied for more jobs and also food stamps to just help.
This was my experience of the process, as a privileged, educated, white, middle class indiviual with no children. But just for the sake of stepping into the shoes of others, let's pretend it wasn't me.
Let's pretend it was a mother of three who lost her job a few months ago. She has little to no savings and will only be able to buy two weeks worth of groceries before she's out of money.
Or maybe it was an elderly man who's social security sure as heck isn't covering shit. He doesn't know how to use a computer, so he relies on phone calls. We will see above how well that works.
Maybe it's a regular young adult.... went to college, got the degree and the crippling debt that goes with it, can't rely on mom and dad for money because they're just barely making it anyway. and despite the degree, the only place that will hire him/her without 'experience in the field' is the fast food place down the street, and even they were hesitant (why hire someone with a degree, they'll only be around until they get a better job!)
It could be anyone. Let's also keep in mind that in this society, asking for help is seen as a shameful act. Many of these individuals has probably just barely talked themselves into applying, accepting the feeling of shame that they know will go along with it, knowing that people may look at them with some degree of pity or disgust when they pull out their EBT card. They've probably left it to the last possible minute, because no one wants to admit they they need help, that they need money, that they can't survive in this American Dream, Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps society.
My experience was such:
-During the online application, every other page that popped up was some horrible advertisement that was attempting to get my email address and phone number so that they could sell me 'free' things and give me 'free' money. Some of them were unavoidable. Which means my cell phone has been blowing up with telemarketers and I am overloaded with spam email. Within two days, I have honestly begun to feel hunted by telemarketers, and I definitely feel betrayed by my government for selling me out to pushy salesmen.
- The final page of the application is supposedly a list of the things I need to send to the department to finalize my application. I can only assume what those things might be because even on my own very up-to-date computer and with my somewhat good knowledge of technology, I can't get them to load. I can't get my confirmation number because it's on an invisible web page, and I'm sure they want to see a copy of my paychecks, but the contact information was all on that invisible page as well. So.... No clue to go from here. (I, personally am lucky that I have the time to track down someone to tell me the next steps via email or phone call. Mom with 3 kids probably isn't as lucky.)
-A day after my application, I received a phone message from someone about my interview for food stamps. They left no name, but they did leave the sate wide 1800 number. I'm pretty glad someone's reached out to me because the webpage was a disaster and I'm glad to know my application got in at all. And now I should have a contact number so I can get all the final information I need, right?
- I called that 1800 number, gave them all of my info, including a soc number and they told me they had no record of an application. The local office must not have 'scanned in' my online application yet! So there was just NO WAY they could point me towards the right department, let alone to the nameless individual who had called me. Sorry. Have a nice day. Buh-bye.
-I decided to, what the heck, use the internet a little more and get the phone number of the local county office. Maybe they would be able to help me! So I give them a call..... Same story. I'm not in thier system. I haven't been scanned in yet (what the hell) they have no idea of who might have called me! But they'll leave a message with someone somewhere..... Hopefully they'll get back to me next week about the whole thing. (NEXT WEEK??? ....... ..... ... )
- sure enough, next week I get a call from the same nameless caller. I've been hounded by telemarketers for the last week, so I've been screening my calls and get a voice mail. She's going to be in training all day, so I can call back but she might not get to me.... and she leaves the 1800 number again.
- Rinse and repeat. The 1800 number has NO RECORD OF ME. I MUST NOT EXIST. THEY HAVE MY SOCIAL BUT I MUST NOT EXIST.....
It's been two weeks, and I'm no closer to getting Food stamps. And I'm sure that once I actually reach the person who has the control over my application and interview, it will be another few months before I get results.
Whatever. I'm not starving. And, luckily, I have a very nice boyfriend that will feed me when I AM starving. It might be just ramen all day long, but I'll live.
But look. I'm just so angry at the whole thing. Not for me. I'm fine, but seriously. It is the PEOPLE IN NEED that rely on these services, and we are making them jump through unnecessary hoops so that they can feed themselves and their family. And if I WERE desperate, in need, looking for any help I could get, this would feel like one epic road block after the other. It would feel like walls were just lurching out of the earth, stopping me in my tracks as often as possible.
This system sucks. And then, to top it all off, once a person does get food stamps, they are judged by every other cashier. And everyone around them has opinions about what they should and shouldn't be buying.
Hell, after all the trouble they go through to GET food stamps, I sure as heck don't begrudge them a few bags of chips and some chocolate.
So that's my angry rant. I don't think it's going to affect the world in any way, but I just think it's really important for people who don't have these experiences to understand the horribleness of the process. Maybe, knowing what it looks like, we can all judge a little less.
And maybe, most importantly, we can stop shaming people who ask for help.
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