Woman A Leading Authority On What Shouldn’t Be In Poor People’s Grocery Carts

[alcibiades_mystery]

NORTHAMPTON, MA—With her remarkable ability to determine exactly how others should be allocating their limited resources for food, local woman Carol Gaither is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on what poor people should and should not have in their grocery carts, sources said Thursday.

As verified by multiple eyewitness reports from supermarkets across the Northampton area, the real estate agent and mother of three is capable of scanning the contents of any low-income person’s basket and rapidly identifying those items which people like that don’t need to be buying, based on the products’ nutrition and cost. Additionally, Gaither, 48, is widely regarded as a leading expert in determining which groceries they would purchase instead if they had any common sense or restraint.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/woman-a-leading-authority-on-what-shouldnt-be-in-p,35922/

-----SNIP----



Hell, too many of these types of folks even on a Democratic message board!

A nice little smackdown.

[Sheepshank]

1. gotta love a busy body

who creates a self serving position of "Authority" on a subject...and then gets it validated by the media.

Hey...sometimes, instead of beans and rice someone might want cake, for a change. To try and judge the poor persons way of making life a little tolerable, is pretty low imho

[ret5hd]

2. uhhhhmmm...you've heard of "the onion" before, right?

[etherealtruth]

8. It might be that there have been folk making the same judgements about the poor ....

... right here on DU

[blkmusclmachine]

9. +1. A lot of Third Way types on DU. They're the ones who always pushed "11-dimensional chess."

And a clear example of how the Democratic Big Tent is TOO DAMN BIG.

[etherealtruth]

10. Yep n/t

[VanillaRhapsody]

28. yeah....Manny.

[Auntie Bush]

48. Says who? I think you are confused or grouping a lot of people together.

[Whisp]

37. oh yes indeedy there are.

I get a special kind of kick listening to them and pointing and laughing.

[RKP5637]

79. Yep, I see them all the time. Take away money, people become humble. Give them

a bit of money and many become authoritarians espousing how others should live. I've known executives , for example, who were arrogant assholes, after some severe corporate downturns, they then became humble ... no doubt on the next upswing they will be arrogant assholes again.

[Warpy]

85. If she wasn't such a frequent poster on DU

I'd say the Onion was satire. Unfortunately, I've read her postings all too often here to take this article as anything but hard news.

[The Magistrate]

3. It's Funny 'Cause It's True, Sir

[smokey nj]

4. Love this!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. The Onions nails it again.

[Journeyman]

6. "Indeed, sources confirmed that she is also nothing short of a savant on . . .

"Indeed, sources confirmed that she is also nothing short of a savant on . . . what on earth would motivate someone to go out in public like that."

[etherealtruth]

7. We see it here far more than one would imagine

“Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.”

[lunasun]

12. +1

[anneboleyn]

41. Yes we do, and it is very sad, and shows how deep anti-poverty sentiment runs in our society

[freshwest]

61. Thanks for the Herman Melville quote. There are several. I can only remember Dickens. n/t

[etherealtruth]

67. Oh shoot, I just saw that ....

I used quotation marks but did not attribute it to Melville. Thank you for giving him credit (in my defence I logged on at my right wing place of work and wanted to post this quickly)

Thank you!

[freshwest]

86. No defense needed. Anyone who read it knew who it was. Loved seeing it used here. nt

[Scuba]

11. I know Carol. Several Carols.

[MissMillie]

13. I have a confession to make

While I never even notice how anyone pays for groceries, I do admit that I often say to myself "why would anybody go out in public wearing (fill in the blank)."

And then almost immediately I ask myself "who am I to judge?"

[Demobrat]

26. I live in San Francisco

If I asked myself that question I'd never have time for anything else.

[FailureToCommunicate]

36. ...

[mackerel]

46. lol so true! especially on market street.

[3catwoman3]

53. When I happened upon the "People of Walmart"...

...site I saw people wearing things I would not wear to walk to my mailbox because I would be afraid someone would see me.

[Demobrat]

60. Yes, so did I.

But then I've been told my clothes are boring.

[nolabear]

14. A relative and I have this conversation all the time.

She: "I just don't see why they've got steak in their cart when I can't afford steak."

Me: "So you think they should only be allowed to eat certain food."

She: "No, but they shouldn't be eating steak."

Me: "So you think they should only be allowed to eat certain food."

She: "I'm not saying that! But they shouldn't be spending my tax dollars on steak."

Me: "So you think they should only be allowed to eat certain food."

[nolabear]

40. Dang. I missed my own troll. Was it cute?

[Kali]

51. pretty much the idiot from the article

[Rhiannon12866]

57. Nothing to see, really...

Someone who reappears here on a regular basis...

[barbtries]

84. lol

you got her. eventually she may even see the meanness of her position.

[dgauss]

15. Big K&R for this one!

[TNNurse]

16. Sometimes the Onion

Is way too close for comfort. Or are they accurate???

[xchrom]

17. !

[knightmaar]

18. When you can't make ends meet because ...

... your SUV breaks down on a routine trip to the beauty salon.

Well, yeah, I'm judging you.

But when a poor guy buys a can of Pringles at Walmart, I tend to have a bit more sympathy. I mean, anybody can get the Fever for the Flavour.

[Leith]

23. It Isn't the Pringles That Concern Me

It's that he's shopping at Walmart.

I go to a couple different grocery stores even though they are farther from my home than 2 Walmarts (yeah, weird, eh? That the 2 closest grocery stores are both Walmart). The prices are just as low.

Last week, there was a woman in line ahead of me who had to remove some items from what she was buying. I would have given her a few bucks, but it was about $40 worth of meat. I'm unemployed and I can't quite afford that much charity. I felt bad for her, though.

[ColesCountyDem]

20. I met 'Carol' today, at Kroger's.

One of the very first places I go at Kroger's is the 'manager's special' section of the meat counter. I do so because it allows me the opportunity to incorporate some 'better cuts' of meat into my diet, often at greatly reduced prices. Today was a day that I 'struck gold': I found-- get ready for it-- an entire beef tenderloin for $2.99/lb.! Ground chuck, by comparison, was $3.19/lb. . Who in their right mind is going to pass up filet mignon, if it's priced less than ground chuck? Fast forward to the checkout lane...

My cashier is scanning my groceries and says to me, "Wow-- good catch!", because she knows how much beef tenderloin normally costs and can see how much I'm paying for it. 'Carol' is right behind me, and when I go to swipe my Link card to pay for my groceries, says (in a stage whisper), "Must be nice to be able to afford filet mignon with food stamps! I wish I could afford to feed MY family that well."

If I'd bought a 5-pound roll of ground chuck, she'd never have said a word.

[Auggie]

22. I would have told her to f*** herself

Sorry you had to put up with that

[ColesCountyDem]

25. It irritates me, but I'm accustomed to it, sadly.

Thank you!

[anneboleyn]

45. These people make me sick. When did this piggish attitude become the norm?

All too often we hear about random assholes ("Carols&quot at the grocery store criticizing strangers' food purchases the second the self-appointed critics spot a card used for food stamps. Hell I don't even notice what card people are using unless a person does something unusual, like writing a check instead of swiping a card (I don't care of course -- it is just noticeable these days as so many use cards). These Carols must be watching every shopper like a hawk to spot the people living off of "her" tax dollars.

[ColesCountyDem]

65. The whole "my tax dollars" thing gets under my skin.

I've worked since I was eight years-old, when I started mowing yards, filling old folks' stokers with coal and taking out the' clinkers', etc., and I began paying in to Social Security at 14; according to Social Security, I've paid in for 161 quarters. I've also paid income tax every year, and between the federal and state governments, seldom have I gotten a net refund.

The automatic assumption that I'm some sort of a parasite, living the high life on other people's hard-earned tax dollars REALLY chaps my *ss!

/rant off

[tea and oranges]

76. 35 Years Ago I Had Food Stamps

Single mom, deadbeat dad, trying to go to college. I finally got into street (store?) theater when I checked out. I'd pick items up off the belt, talk to them, about them, hug them, croon over them, in ways that made the line in back of me laugh. It was preemptive, perhaps educational, but I was sick of the Carol's & the ugly sheez coming outta their mouths.

Reagan was a huge proponent of hating the poor, especially if they were women of color. He was so effin jolly in his hatred it was contagious.

Whenever we're directed to disdain the poor, watch out! Cuz powers that be are robbing us blind!

[arikara]

50. I think its barbaric

to make people use obvious cards when they need help. That is just wrong. We might not do a lot of things quite right here in Canada, but at least people have the dignity of paying for groceries with their own card.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

56. I don't know that many of the cards are "obvious"

I've seen some of the ones used around here. They look like any other number of credit or debit cards. The problem is people who make it a point to actually find out what they look like and nose into other's business!

If someone started looking at what card I used to buy groceries, I'd ask them if they were trying to steal my card number or pin. Very fucking nosy and borderline suspicious to watch what other people use to pay.

[OwnedByCats]

63. Exactly

It's not like the days of using actual food stamps where it was plainly obvious. Now you get a card that could just be any old credit or debit card, but people who know what they look like would need to strain to see if in fact you are using one. Like it's anyone's business!

I would be so pissed if I saw someone nosing at my card, credit/debit or SNAP card regardless. I never pay attention to how people pay, unless I catch in the corner of my eye that they're writing a check. I don't know why others find it necessary. I know it can be boring waiting in line, but they'd be better served reading magazine covers or playing with their smart phone!

[IronLionZion]

64. Damn, that was a good catch

hope there was nothing wrong with it. Beef prices have gotten ridiculous these days.

[ColesCountyDem]

66. It was perfectly good-- just a little brown, instead of bright red.

I cut a filet for supper last night, and it DEE-licious! Beef and pork prices are both ridiculously high, which is one reason I make a 'bee line' to the 'manager's special' section of the meat case. While I like chicken, turkey, fish and even ground beef/chuck, I'm an unabashed carnivore, and I do so enjoy a nice cut of beef or pork!

[heaven05]

72. I can stand the 'carol' types.

they have not walked in the shoes of those they judge. I hope your family enjoyed.

[ColesCountyDem]

75. Thank you!

There's just me, but I'll admit that I enjoyed it enormously.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

24. The Daily Show did a piece on this not too long ago.

I remember them showcasing Fox's fake-outrage that poor people were buying fish. Fish!

[MO_Moderate]

27. I knew this had to be the onion

The real Carol Gaither doesn't have the time to look into grocery carts. She is too busy trying to ban smoking, banning certain types of food, and dictating how much soda others can drink.

[Jamaal510]

89. Don't forget trying to ban happy meals.

I never was a fan of those ideas myself except for limiting smoking in public places. But as far as the proposed happy meal ban (in SF) goes, who is someone to basically step in and tell parents that they can't get any more happy meals for their kids, especially if the kid is perfectly fit and/or may not have fast food every day? Same thing with sodas. I think a big one every once in a while is OK as long as it's in moderation, along with regular exercise. At least soda is not as unhealthy as something like beer is.

[Demobrat]

29. I have an acquaintance who has been homeless

One time he started talking about this - about how poor people are judged for what they buy in the supermarket. The example he used was a panhandler buying smoked salmon. His comment I never forgot: "That smoked salmon may be the only thing that gets him through that day."

I don't think I have ever noticed how people pay for groceries. But if I did I sure wouldn't judge them for what they bought. That can of Pringles may be the only thing that gets them through that day.

[Aerows]

30. This was the best line

"sources confirmed that she is also nothing short of a savant on such matters as ... what on earth would motivate someone to go out in public like that"

[Spitfire of ATJ]

31. Why did I think of this?

[iandhr]

32. Ha ha ha ha

It sounds so close to reality.

[kcass1954]

33. She has to be a real person. She was posting on Alternet yesterday, using multiple identities, in a

thread about WIC.

[ladyVet]

34. Isn't it sad when The Onion's stories start being too real?

There are people like this here, for sure. God help you if you're poor, or fat, or female. Even worse if you're all three. Or if you have to drive a car to work, rather than take public transit. That's another big no-no.

I don't really care how people pay for their food, and I don't care what people think when they see how I pay for mine (SNAP). Of course, all they'll see is "real" food, very little processed foods. I'm fortunate in that I not only know how to cook, I have the facilities and equipment to cook from scratch. Well, except for that red Kitchenaide mixer I really, really need -- er, want. Just can't squeeze enough pennies out of the budget for it, and of course, I'd need all the attachments, so...

[eridani]

55. Maybe a Christmas present?

If you drop hints around, who knows what may happen? I love my red KitchenAid with all the attachments--it would save you a lot of time and increase your capacity to do different things.

We really need to spread the awareness that it really is a piece of excellent luck to have facilities and equipment--the Carols of the world just don't understand the limits of hotplates.

[tclambert]

35. It's the lady buying catfood. Cans and cans of cat food. With food stamps!

If she's that poor, she shouldn't have cats. Wait, my wife's whispering something in my ear. She doesn't have cats? Then who's she buying the catfood for? Oh. Well, never mind, then.

[JAbuchan08]

38. I'm pretty sure this is real.

Yes, I know it's from the Onion.

[niyad]

43. sadly, it is real, and sometimes, even here on du.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

39. Lolol!!

[fishwax]

42. outstanding! k/r

[niyad]

44. k and r

[mackerel]

47. i shop at Grocery Outlet. I never come across

People like this.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

49. I'm assuming this story is false because it's on The Onion, right? nt

[Lilma]

52. Correct

The Onion is pure satire.

Go read it and laugh or cry.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

83. I read the media and the stories on the media are shocking enough. Fiction is unnecessary for me to

be shocked.

[Scootaloo]

54. Depends on your perspective.

Is Carol Gaither a real person, and a real expert on such matters? No, it's a satire article, and this is a fictional character.

Are there really people who do what is described in the article? TONS of them.

My mother, for instance,she'll see someone buying a freezer pizza with an EBT, and will gripe under her breath about people buying junk food with "her money." Don't you know, she says, they could buy a sack of lentils and a keilbasa and be set for food for a month and a half?! And she speaks truth, i know, because I've eaten my mother's lentils-and-sausage for weeks at a time growing up, and I wpuld have stabbed a motherfucker for a slice of freezer pizza. even Red Baron.

[LeftyMom]

58. Your mother sounds like a lot of people on DU.

[smokey nj]

68. As the Magistrate posted up thread, it's funny 'cause it's true.

[Nevernose]

71. As Hemingway once said:

"I am a writer of fiction who tells the truth."

Erich Remarque and Tim O'Brien also said similar things about their war novels, that just because they were fictional didn't mean it didn't really happen.

[TheSarcastinator]

74. "the things they carried"

Holy Gawd is that an incredible story collection.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

82. Okay, that's what I was asking, if this is a fiction person and a fictional story. nt

[hedgehog]

87. Lots of people were raised to scrimp and squeeze the last penny when grocery shopping -

it may be a holdover from the Depression, I don't know.

My MIL was that way, and I never had a decent meal in her home. I could trim my grocery bill, but what's the point of having cash in the bank and a miserable meal 3 times a day, 7 days a week? Better to fill the house with fresh fruit, butter, olive oil, etc. As it happens, it turns out that the good food I've fed my kids and husband for 30 years is now the top of every nutritionist's recommended list!

[mackerel]

88. It's kinda of hard to make lentil soup with a microwave.

A friend of mine is on SSI & all she can afford to rent is a small trailer in a run down old trailer park. Somebody was kind enough to give her their old microwave. Without it she wouldn't be able to eat hot meals as the trailer was not furnished with a stove/oven.

[TheSarcastinator]

73. No: that means the story is accurrate in a very specific kind of way

Satire is more accurate than truth in many instances. This is one. There are millions of this type of person in every state of the union.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

81. What I mean is, that they invented this story. The Onion is fiction. Similarity to truth is what

they count on people enjoying, yes?

[Nevernose]

59. I've been told on DU that I shouldn't have been allowed

To buy cake mix for my daughter's first birthday cake. Beans and rice, damnit! People don't pay taxes so your kids can have birthday cakes! Et cetera.

[heaven05]

70. that doesn't surprise me

whatsoever.

[gollygee]

80. That sounds familiar

This reminded me of a discussion here about food stamps and cake and maybe that was the one.

People become real jerks as soon as food stamps get discussed.

[OwnedByCats]

62. It always bothers me

when people criticize what people buy with their EBT cards. Here is the thing: you can't win.

If someone has what that person would consider junk in their cart, they bitch that they shouldn't be allowed to buy those types of things.

If someone has good meat/produce in their cart, they bitch and say it must be nice to be able to afford it.

But here is another thing to consider if you see people buying stuff that may not be the most nutritional of things. Junk is expensive enough, good food is even worse. SNAP benefits aren't all that generous. It'll keep you from starving, but you cannot buy all nutritional food, which would mostly consist of meat and produce. Food prices keep going up, the SNAP benefits aren't keeping up with it very well. So should a person skip whole days without eating anything? Because that's what would happen if they were not allowed to buy just anything they wanted that is for consumption. Even employed people are having it tough when buying food. I fortunately don't need food stamps right now, but we sure can't afford to eat healthy all the time. It really does suck when you do have to get by part time on ramen noodles, canned stuff like ravioli or soup, or other ready made meals and you can't buy as much meat, fruit and veg as you would like. For example I'd rather make my own soups exclusively but the ingredients are just too much, so that leads to Campbell's being bought instead sometimes if I just cannot afford doing it myself.

Now maybe people with loads of kids are getting much more generous SNAP amounts, I don't know. I just know that between my own experience and of people I know (none of us have kids), the amounts qualified for were nowhere near high enough to buy only good food. And we live in a blue state - NY

I will admit I do however smh when I see someone in their pj's or some other strange attire running around the supermarket lol

[JustAnotherGen]

77. I thought it was going to name The GOOPster

AKA - Gwyneth Paltrow

[Zambero]

78. Notable exceptions with forgiveness granted

Any item processed by Koch industries. Load 'em up!!!