Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Food Stamp Store

 A great way to capitalize on food stamps
  (+1, -8)(+1, -8)
(+1, -8) 		  [vote for,
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Here's my idea for a store that accepts only food stamps. The problem with food stamps today is that the user cannot purchase alcohol or cigarettes with them, which is a defninite downer. At my proposed store, the food stamp user would pay marked up prices for normal food items and receieve a coupon for a pack of cigarettes or a 6 pack of beer. For example: An average gallon of milk in my area costs around $2.50, in the new store it would cost around $8.00. Both parties would receive what they wanted, food stamp users would get their alcohol and cigarettes and the store owner would receive lots of money. My only problem with this idea at this point in time is that it sounds too good to be legal.
—talamunda, Jul 18 2001

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       Please explain further for a non-USian; are food stamps denominated in terms of monetary value or of goods which may be purchased? In other words, is a stamp worth 'a gallon of milk' or '$2.50'?
—angel, Jul 18 2001
   

       Having 'practically grown up' in and around the Grocery business (My step-grandfather had 3 supermarkets), and managed stores at every feasible level outside of the family, I can honestly say this idea is idiotic. If you have ever handled over a hundred thousand US dollars in welfare checks in a single day, and seen food stamps in 1, 5 and 10 dollar increments being used by kids and adults to purchase a 5 cent peice of gum, and the 95 cents in coinage and its coined cousins from other like purchases brought back in to purchase the 'luxury items' (vices, really), then you would have a faint idea of why I left the business so long ago. There is no joy like that of the woman who responds to my friendly 'what's goin' on?' by responding "Welfare!" with a big fat smile on her face as she places a twelve pack of beer on the counter.
Let 'em eat fishbones instead.
I'm donating the first fishy.
—thumbwax, Jul 18 2001
   

       Thanks for that, [wax]. Second fishy from me.
—angel, Jul 18 2001
   

       I also remember when some cod forfeited their coconuts, which amused the fireflies on aisle 7.
—thumbwax, Jul 18 2001
   

       This defeats the whole point of food stamps. Perhaps the stamps should be changed to vouchers that can be exchanged for specific food. (as per angel's idea...) Here fishy fishy...
—CasaLoco, Jul 18 2001
   

       It wasn't intended as an idea, [CasaLoco]; I simply needed to know for which reason this was a stupid idea. Having said which, it always used to tick me off when, having started work at 4:30 am, I took a bus-load of wasters to sign on for their dole (welfare), then took them to the club to booze it all away again while I was still working. The following week, I'd take the same people home from the evening session before finishing work at 11:35 pm. I'd *really* like to have some control over how people spend *my* tax money.
—angel, Jul 18 2001
   

       //I'd *really* like to have some control over how people spend *my* tax money.//   

       My bigger complaint is that the system is deliberately set up to discourage welfare recipients from working even on a part-time basis. As it is, a welfare recipient who gets a $50/week part-time job often stands to lose about as much, if not more, in benefits as would be received in net pay.
—supercat, Jul 19 2001
   

       Hold up there guys. I'm not saying that I like the idea that people can do whatever they want with their food stamp money. Morally, my idea is wrong but I think that it could make some money.
—talamunda, Jul 19 2001
   

       Damn' right! I understand that, in US, college kids make a few bucks outside of term time by packing bags at the supermarket. The pay's not much but, hey, it's better than nothing. This doesn't happen in UK because such kids register as unemployed and therefore only have to get out of bed one day a fortnight.
—angel, Jul 19 2001
   

       What an insensitive piece of tripe! It amazes me how compassionless and insensitive some people can be. Making unfortunate people pay higher prices so that they can have the privacy to not have people stare while they use food stamps or making them pay high prices to try to disguise the true sale of prohibited items is reprehensible. Plus, I don't think our legislators would be fooled by your terribly simple minded disguise of selling prohibited items. This type of fraud is a crime. Plus, you are, in the end, depriving innocent children of food so that their parents can pay your exorbitant prices for alcohol and cigarettes. Man, your Karma may need spring cleaning after that idea.
—heatherbell, Aug 12 2002
   

       welfare should stay....there are people who try to work but cant. and if they don't then they starve.   

       but if you want to make sure they use the money for necessities and not luxuries, might i suggest that instead of giving them curency as change give them another form of a stamp of the change value...they would get their change but could not use it to get luxuries.
—fluffynuggets, Oct 31 2003
   

       //but if you want to make sure they use the money for necessities and not luxuries, might i suggest that instead of giving them curency as change give them another form of a stamp of the change value...they would get their change but could not use it to get luxuries.//   

       The very concept of food stamps is fundamentally flawed in that, no matter what one does to prevent it, people who don't want as many groceries for themselves as the government would provide will find means of converting the unwanted groceries to cash. Even if the government were to actually deliver bags full of groceries to the doors of welfare recipients, they'd still sell unwanted foodstuffs unless some government agent was standing over them to make sure they actually ate all the foodstuffs they were given.
—supercat, Oct 31 2003
   


 

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