My original headline mentioned Kroger as this was where the incident occurred, but this is not limited to Kroger, nor to any one chain/store – I have a reader who drives about… well, quite a few miles, let’s say… to shop at the Lisle Jewel because of the way she was treated at the Jewel locations nearer her home. Yes, there are food stamp cheats, and just as many people involved in welfare fraud, but you know what? The vast majority of recipients hate being on public assistance and try very, very hard to get off. There will always be a “hat in hand” stigma attached to begging at those government offices, since one person is asking and the other person is giving.
Cindy Nerger of Warner Robins, Ga., said she and her husband aren’t proud when they use their food stamp debit card to buy groceries.
“I felt shy when I used them and my husband does, too,” Nerger, 28, told The Huffington Post. “I would try to hide the card.”
But Nerger said she never expected to be deliberately humiliated. That’s what she said happened last week after she argued with a manager over her bill at a Kroger grocery store. The cashier told her she owed $10, which Nerger said could not be possible because she knew food stamps covered the items in her cart. A manager eventually let her go, but not before giving Nerger a piece of his mind.
“He finally just said, ‘Okay, just give it to her.’ I said, ‘See, I told you it was covered by food stamps,’ and he said, ‘Excuse me for working for a living and not relying on food stamps!'”