Taking Advantage of the System?

aerial

I would like your opinion on this. I work at a grocery store. We have an employee that makes Eighty Five Thousand Dollars annually (management). This person has been using a food stamp card to make purchases. A casher showed me a receipt where she bought over $600 worth of shrimp the other day. The cashier told higher management but he says there is nothing he can do about what she does outside of work.
I feel this is one of the many reasons America is in such a mess.

Should she be reported? What would you do?

By the way, we see this all the time from customers. Last week I was behind a person buying two live lobsters. Total was $43. He paid with food stamps.

marcos

Well, you can't tell people how to spend their food stamps, that's a whole educational thing.

But you should definitely report the person who makes $85,000 a year and uses food stamps. That is your civic duty. Since the person is in food management it's possible they are stealing from the store as well. Probably taking off the top from the food stamp intake would be my guess.

CH156378

$600 worth of shrimp!

CH156378

maybe your store can stop accepting food stamps. might have to lay a few workers off though.

Go Beavers

aerial wrote:

I would like your opinion on this. I work at a grocery store. We have an employee that makes Eighty Five Thousand Dollars annually (management). This person has been using a food stamp card to make purchases. A casher showed me a receipt where she bought over $600 worth of shrimp the other day. The cashier told higher management but he says there is nothing he can do about what she does outside of work.
I feel this is one of the many reasons America is in such a mess.

Should she be reported? What would you do?

By the way, we see this all the time from customers. Last week I was behind a person buying two live lobsters. Total was $43. He paid with food stamps.

There's a good chance it's someone else's card since it takes about 10 seconds to verify most people's income. You could call the fraud hotline in your state and let them know, but it'll probably be lower on the priority list. You would need a whole pack of kids to get that $ amount of food stamps.

Smellyman

I wouldn't put much faith in a second hand story of this account.

brianlux

Abuse of the system sucks and is unfortunate. If you decide to report the person,be careful and C.Y.A. They might be the type to retaliate in some way.

aerial

Go Beavers wrote:

aerial wrote:

I would like your opinion on this. I work at a grocery store. We have an employee that makes Eighty Five Thousand Dollars annually (management). This person has been using a food stamp card to make purchases. A casher showed me a receipt where she bought over $600 worth of shrimp the other day. The cashier told higher management but he says there is nothing he can do about what she does outside of work.
I feel this is one of the many reasons America is in such a mess.

Should she be reported? What would you do?

By the way, we see this all the time from customers. Last week I was behind a person buying two live lobsters. Total was $43. He paid with food stamps.

There's a good chance it's someone else's card since it takes about 10 seconds to verify most people's income. You could call the fraud hotline in your state and let them know, but it'll probably be lower on the priority list. You would need a whole pack of kids to get that $ amount of food stamps.

She has no kids at all. She also lives in an Oceanfront Home!
I was thinking it could be a family member’s card. Then again, you would think she could help the family member out with the salary she is making.
She did buy food for lunch with the card and ate it at the store.
I will report it to the hotline. I do not want to get caught because I cannot lose my job and I do not want to deal with any retribution from her.

aerial

Smellyman wrote:

I wouldn't put much faith in a second hand story of this account.

More than one cashier has told me about her purchases or I would not.

sparky_fry

in my experience you have no idea whats going on in other peoples lives behind closed doors and just because someone is making a lot of money doesn't mean they're not in overwhelming debt and just trying to get by. Who knows why she bought that many shrimp but unless your a whale in the ocean its probably not all for yourself. it just seems like gossip that has gotten out of control imo

or maybe i just always assume the best :?

peacefrompaul

aerial wrote:

I would like your opinion on this. I work at a grocery store. We have an employee that makes Eighty Five Thousand Dollars annually (management). This person has been using a food stamp card to make purchases. A casher showed me a receipt where she bought over $600 worth of shrimp the other day. The cashier told higher management but he says there is nothing he can do about what she does outside of work.
I feel this is one of the many reasons America is in such a mess.

Should she be reported? What would you do?

By the way, we see this all the time from customers. Last week I was behind a person buying two live lobsters. Total was $43. He paid with food stamps.

Please report that right away. With that income you should not have a food stamp card. That's pretty sad...

As for the Lobster thing... There's NOTHING you can do about that. That's their choice to use 43 dollars of food stamps on Lobsters.

Thorns2010

Reminds me of a similar situation I was in a while back. Long story short my boss was paying his wife hours she wasn't working. It really was a bad place for me to have got stuck in, but I did what I thought was best and went above him and talked to the regional manager.

Granted this isn't exactly the same, because it doesn't seem to be scamming the store persay, but more like scamming the government. But, if you do not feel comfortable talking/asking this person directly, and you believe that you would be reprimanded by this person if you asked them, then by all means call the hotline and report anonymously.

Just make sure that you are 100% correct on this. I don't know how food stamps work, but do they have any sort of tracking number??? Or user number??? If so, figure that out before reporting??

peacefrompaul

sparky_fry wrote:

in my experience you have no idea whats going on in other peoples lives behind closed doors and just because someone is making a lot of money doesn't mean they're not in overwhelming debt and just trying to get by. Who knows why she bought that many shrimp but unless your a whale in the ocean its probably not all for yourself. it just seems like gossip that has gotten out of control imo

or maybe i just always assume the best :?

The program is based on income. Tough shit if that person is in debt. Correct me if I'm wrong.

peacefrompaul

Thorns2010 wrote:

but do they have any sort of tracking number??? Or user number??? If so, figure that out before reporting??

Yes they do

blueandwhite

Is there really any harm in reporting a suspected abuse of the welfare system? If this manager is using food stamps and she earns anything close to the $85,000 you're suggesting there may be some serious fraud happening here. Just try not to get in the line of fire. I'd hate for you to lose your job because somebody else is playing the system.

markin ball

Yes, report.

That being said, I can't believe this manager, would have the gall to use food stamps at the store she works at where people know her salary. Either stupid dumb or just very arrogant.

Smellyman

markin ball wrote:

Yes, report.

That being said, I can't believe this manager, would have the gall to use food stamps at the store she works at where people know her salary. Either stupid dumb or just very arrogant.

more likely. Not true

Jeanwah

What is your position at the store, Aerial? Do you really want to get yourself involved, pending that your position is not directly related to the cashier position when this manager is making this purchase? I mean, if anyone should say anything, it should be the cashier accepting her form of payment in food stamps! You're hearing it from hearsay, so instead of you being the lone wolf in reporting her, I'd talk among the other cashiers who have specifically saw this activity and as a group, approach management about her activities. This would really bother me too, but keep in mind your position in the workplace and how to approach this touchy situation with tact and thoughtful preparation in reporting her. Otherwise, it could backfire.

Stardog3..

Jeanwah wrote:

What is your position at the store, Aerial? Do you really want to get yourself involved, pending that your position is not directly related to the cashier position when this manager is making this purchase? I mean, if anyone should say anything, it should be the cashier accepting her form of payment in food stamps! You're hearing it from hearsay, so instead of you being the lone wolf in reporting her, I'd talk among the other cashiers who have specifically saw this activity and as a group, approach management about her activities. This would really bother me too, but keep in mind your position in the workplace and how to approach this touchy situation with tact and thoughtful preparation in reporting her. Otherwise, it could backfire.

I just read through this and I agree with this statement. Because if you go to somebody and report this, and they ask you when this happened and say it didn't happen to you directly but other people told you and then those cashiers don't want to get involved/don't step up and say something....this may not be a good thing to do blindly without discussing it with the people who told you and going as a group. Unless you are willing to possibly risk losing your job.

aerial

The cashier that rang up the $600’s worth of shrimp has gone to the manager above the food stamp manager. This manager says there is nothing he can do about what she does out of work. Yet she was at work. In addition, people have been fire for things they have done outside of work.



Markin Ball, I thought the same thing. What nerve, to do it at the store were she work’s.
The cashier is going to give me the receipt and there is a number on it so I am going to report it anonymously.

Jeanwah

aerial wrote:

The cashier that rang up the $600’s worth of shrimp has gone to the manager above the food stamp manager. This manager says there is nothing he can do about what she does out of work. Yet she was at work. In addition, people have been fire for things they have done outside of work.

Sounds like this manager refuses to take responsibility, which is all too common. I often wonder why and how certain managers even get a managerial job, if they refuse to take managerial responsibility. I see it everywhere. I really hope your anonymous report works Aerial.

stargirl69

What are food stamps and why would anyone need $600 worth of shrimps and are shrimps what we call prawns?

stardust1976

stargirl69 wrote:

What are food stamps and why would anyone need $600 worth of shrimps and are shrimps what we call prawns?

This is what I was wondering too! I THINK shrimp are the same as smaller prawns.

bootlegger10

stargirl69 wrote:

What are food stamps and why would anyone need $600 worth of shrimps and are shrimps what we call prawns?

Food stamps are part of government welfare for low income families.

I drove by a gas station the other day that had a sign that they accepted food stamps. That should be illegal. We give food stamps to people and then they go to gas stations and pay double what a supermarket would charge.

Jeanwah

stardust1976 wrote:

stargirl69 wrote:

What are food stamps and why would anyone need $600 worth of shrimps and are shrimps what we call prawns?

This is what I was wondering too! I THINK shrimp are the same as smaller prawns.

Yes, shrimp are small prawns.

_

aerial wrote:

I would like your opinion on this. I work at a grocery store. We have an employee that makes Eighty Five Thousand Dollars annually (management). This person has been using a food stamp card to make purchases. A casher showed me a receipt where she bought over $600 worth of shrimp the other day. The cashier told higher management but he says there is nothing he can do about what she does outside of work.
I feel this is one of the many reasons America is in such a mess.

Should she be reported? What would you do?

By the way, we see this all the time from customers. Last week I was behind a person buying two live lobsters. Total was $43. He paid with food stamps.

I think one of the reasons this country's in such a mess is because people think they know other people's business. But they don't.

What's the real issue here, anyway? That a person who makes $85,000/year & has no kids has food stamps? But you don't necessarily know with absolute certainty that any of these three things is actually true. There are true & untrue rumors about people's salaries at all work places. Even if her salary was publicly posted at some point, it could have changed. And even if she doesn't have kids, she could have acquired some dependents that you don't know about. And, more likely, she probably doesn't even have food stamps. For all you know, she has a paraplegic cousin with 10 kids who can't do her own grocery shopping so she has this manager pick up groceries for her when she goes to work. You said she bought her own lunch with the food stamps the other day, but maybe her cousin (or whoever the food stamps belong to) owed her. Or maybe she's stealing lunch from her cousin, which is between them.

Or is the problem that she bought $600 worth of shrimp & you don't think that's a good use of food stamps? But it's not for you to decide how people spend their food stamps. If you think there should be a ban or limit on buying shrimp, then take it up with the federal government.

Or is the problem that she's using the food stamps at work? But, as the other manager already said, how she legally pays for groceries at a public grocery store has nothing to do with her job.

So if you, personally, have actual proof that she has committed a crime, then by all means turn her in. But I'd first consider the possibility that y'all are just a bunch of busy-bodies who don't have enough work to do.

markin ball

stardust1976 wrote:

stargirl69 wrote:

What are food stamps and why would anyone need $600 worth of shrimps and are shrimps what we call prawns?

This is what I was wondering too! I THINK shrimp are the same as smaller prawns.

Australians aren't familiar with the term "throw another shrimp on the barbie"?

stargirl69

markin ball wrote:

Australians aren't familiar with the term "throw another shrimp on the barbie"?

I'm not Australian but I have a few friends who are and they tell me they have never used that phrase I guess like being Scottish I don't wear a kilt every day,only eat haggis and only drink whisky

bootlegger10 wrote:

Food stamps are part of government welfare for low income families. I drove by a gas station the other day that had a sign that they accepted food stamps. That should be illegal. We give food stamps to people and then they go to gas stations and pay double what a supermarket would charge.

Oh I understand now,this person is employed in management at the store but has food stamps,yeah that doesn't seem right.
We don't have that system here,people get welfare in cash and it is their responsibility to make appropriate purchases,like food and essentials.
I think if we had this system here they would sell their food stamps for cash then buy whatever their addiction is,although many do that already with the cash they are given.I work in social work and daily see families with no food for their babies but the parent has their cigarettes and weed

stardust1976

markin ball wrote:

Australians aren't familiar with the term "throw another shrimp on the barbie"?

Actually, "throw another shrimp on the barbie" is a catchphrase used by Paul Hogan in an Australian tourism marketing campaign, marketed specifically to the Americans in the 1980's. Australians don't really use the term shrimp at all - we have various sizes of prawns, the smaller could be referred to as shrimp, but aren't normally. Because Americans use the word shrimp, I believe the Australian Tourism people decided that you all weren't bright enough to realise if he said 'throw another prawn on the barbie', he was referring to shrimp, or really any kind of crustacean. Hence the catchphrase that everyone in America knows, but no one in Australia says.

stargirl69

stardust1976 wrote:

markin ball wrote:

Australians aren't familiar with the term "throw another shrimp on the barbie"?

Actually, "throw another shrimp on the barbie" is a catchphrase used by Paul Hogan in an Australian tourism marketing campaign, marketed specifically to the Americans in the 1980's. Australians don't really use the term shrimp at all - we have various sizes of prawns, the smaller could be referred to as shrimp, but aren't normally. Because Americans use the word shrimp, I believe the Australian Tourism people decided that you all weren't bright enough to realise if he said 'throw another prawn on the barbie', he was referring to shrimp, or really any kind of crustacean. Hence the catchphrase that everyone in America knows, but no one in Australia says.

Brilliant ... I have never heard an Australian here say this either

aerial

_ wrote:

aerial wrote:

I would like your opinion on this. I work at a grocery store. We have an employee that makes Eighty Five Thousand Dollars annually (management). This person has been using a food stamp card to make purchases. A casher showed me a receipt where she bought over $600 worth of shrimp the other day. The cashier told higher management but he says there is nothing he can do about what she does outside of work.
I feel this is one of the many reasons America is in such a mess.

Should she be reported? What would you do?

By the way, we see this all the time from customers. Last week I was behind a person buying two live lobsters. Total was $43. He paid with food stamps.

I think one of the reasons this country's in such a mess is because people think they know other people's business. But they don't.

What's the real issue here, anyway? That a person who makes $85,000/year & has no kids has food stamps? But you don't necessarily know with absolute certainty that any of these three things is actually true. There are true & untrue rumors about people's salaries at all work places. Even if her salary was publicly posted at some point, it could have changed. And even if she doesn't have kids, she could have acquired some dependents that you don't know about. And, more likely, she probably doesn't even have food stamps. For all you know, she has a paraplegic cousin with 10 kids who can't do her own grocery shopping so she has this manager pick up groceries for her when she goes to work. You said she bought her own lunch with the food stamps the other day, but maybe her cousin (or whoever the food stamps belong to) owed her. Or maybe she's stealing lunch from her cousin, which is between them.

Or is the problem that she bought $600 worth of shrimp & you don't think that's a good use of food stamps? But it's not for you to decide how people spend their food stamps. If you think there should be a ban or limit on buying shrimp, then take it up with the federal government.

Or is the problem that she's using the food stamps at work? But, as the other manager already said, how she legally pays for groceries at a public grocery store has nothing to do with her job.

So if you, personally, have actual proof that she has committed a crime, then by all means turn her in. But I'd first consider the possibility that y'all are just a bunch of busy-bodies who don't have enough work to do.

I feel one of the reasons this country is in such a mess is because, of the
profuse amount of fraud to the government. The low-income people to the high income, along with our government officials.
Another problem is not punishing the lawbreakers when they are caught.
Also punishing the ones that bring fraud to light scares people. A good example would be your thinking, making me out to be the bad person when all I want to do is the right thing.
Everyone knows the salaries for each position. It is posted and in our handbooks. Management is what most employees are working HARD to get. There is a code of ethic we are more then happy to follow. We are proud of our work and our organization. In many ways, we are a one of a kind business. We are also in Forbes 100 best places to work. We have PLENTY of work to do.