Stories From The Grocery Store Line
Mrs. Geek was at a grocery store this morning and came back with this story:
A mother and her adult daughter (with children) were in line in front of Mrs. Geek. when the total of $158 came up. the daughter swiped her ATM, but it wouldn’t process the transaction. Daughter went over to the nearby ATM to just withdraw the cash. She seemed to be taking a long time, so her Mother pulled out a card and said that she would just get the money from daughter when she got back.
As the transaction was wrapping up, daughter returned from the ATM, looking flustered… “It says there isn’t enough in there, I guess we have to put this back.” she said, looking at the food. “No, I have paid for it, but you have to pay me back soon. That was the Christmas money that I just spent.”
Mrs. Geek said that this perfectly framed the issues with the economy for her.
Tags: Bush's Fubar Economy, The Economy
Indeed, instances of people not being aware of their financial resources and spending beyond one’s means could be the catalyst to frame the economic issues for some. I’m fortunate that I never let that happen. Never had a credit card until I was in my thirties. Still don’t have a debit card. Used credit cards only for convenience, and haven’t ever paid a cent of interest on one. Wrote a check in full for my last truck. Pay for most things in cash, and never over spent my resources. I guess it’ll get my attention when the looting begins.
Yep, let the children starve, M, that’ll teach ’em!
Where does my post say, or imply, that? I love kids. However, you seem to be a bitter little man. I’d certainly let you starve.
what I take from this story is that the rich must not be that well off. If they rich were better off with keeping permanent the great tax breaks they have, these people would have felt the effects of trickle down economics…
simple really
more tax breaks for the rich. The real Americans
If state gov’t in the past 8 years had brought the jobs to Delaware that were promised, perhaps these folks would have a better shot. If the greedy city and county wouldn’t have raised taxes the way they did and mismanaged money, most people wouldn’t be relying on their parents to pay for their kids and grandkids. Oh and where’s the babydaddy? If they hadn’t gotten that plasma tv, run up $500 cell phone bills, and actually wrote a BUDGET (there’s a new concept) perhaps this wouldn’t be happening. Roof over your head, food and heat – that’s the priorities, everything else is secondary. The food pantries are close to empty because we keep feeding people instead of making them self-sufficient. I’ve had to rebudget everything, cut back and knuckle down, but food is a priority especially with children.
Gran and Mis are good examples of a kind of conservatism that locates the blame for bad economic news on the individual while attributing all positive economic news to governmental intervention – usually tax breaks.
It is a mania really.
racist alert !!!!!!
Oh and where’s the babydaddy?
wow, true colors come right out sometimes don’t they…
So jason, I can’t totally agree with you that this is conservatism. It is racism
You know what, that pisses me off. You can call me a conservative or moderate, but I AM NOT A RACIST. I was using the lingo of the younger generation of this time… Case in point… This is from the cover of the TV Weekly from Sept. 08 talking about a white chick on a TV show…Please you are so quick to scream racism.
Breaking News: We Know Who Kelly’s Baby Daddy Is!
September 11th, 2008
Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s the deal. This TV Addict really doesn’t have a clue as to the identity of Kelly’s Baby Daddy. But it did give me an opportunity to have a little fun with Photoshop [see US WEEKLY homage above] and more importantly, caught your attention long enough to throw out a little Beverly Hills Baby Daddy theory of my own. One that I immediately formulated upon learning on Tuesday’s episode of 90210 that Kelly’s mysterious Baby Daddy was as a result of an impromptu hook-up with a guy she, “had a lot of history together [with] in high school.”
Cut to forty-eight hours later and fifteen to twenty Red Bulls, this TV Addict thinks he has the answer. Which curly haired original series actor is just about desperate enough to take a break from his burgeoning career as a reality television star to return to the show that made him famous?
For the answer…
Steve Sanders. The Mullet Doesn’t Lie!
September 11th, 2008 at 10:19 am
.
I just asked my 12 year old daughter who says “babymama” she said a black person from the ghetto…
so no you aren’t using the lingo of the younger generation of this time you are using a black slang in a deragotory way when you associate it with someone not able to pay their bills and using their money unwisely to buy a TV.
I do like though how you had to go looking for a WHITE example to defend yourself
Grrr . . . . I’m pissed for two reasons.
First, because Miscreant and Graniaclewbay read so much of their political views into a story that was heart wrenching.
Right there is the difference between liberals and conservatives, liberals have empathy for people struggling and conservatives do not.
Second, because y’all actually responded to their odious comments.
Sorry, Don, but it was you who assumed that Graniaclewbay assumed that the people in line ahead of Mrs Geek were black; he said no such thing. He gave you a perfect example of the term being used in reference to a white celebrity.
Here’s another, from the Huffington Post: Levi Johnston: Bristol Palin’s Baby Daddy. A google search for “Palin””baby daddy” returned about 131,000 hits; a google search for “Spears””baby daddy” returned 295,000 hits.
It’s pretty clear that the term “baby daddy” as it is being used currently does not refer solely to blacks.
The obvious question is: why do you immediately think of blacks when questions of absent paternity are raised?
dang…good point skydad
Jason wrote:
And who was it who assumed that because one young lady didn’t have sufficient funds in her checking account to buy her groceries that it was indicative of the economy? I thought it was liberals who were good at claiming that the plural of anecdote is not data. 🙂
Now, Mrs Geek could have been saying that our entire federal budget — if we can use the term budget in this instance without laughing — is represented by spending the Christmas money, and I wouldn’t disagree with that at all. But the idea that this says something about the economy in general is lacking.
good point dana, probably a welfare queen situation.
Only if she’s black, donhusseinsquishyviti! 😉
Nemski wrote:
Yet, oddly enough, it is conservatives who were fighting for lower taxes and against our next president’s promises of greatly increased government spending. Those are things which will take more money from the poor, nemski, not less.
I wrote about Senator Obama’s statements concerning coal-fired power plants. The junior Senator from Illinois said:
Mr Obama never considered that such would greatly increase rates for electric power, and it isn’t just the wealthy who have electric bills.
The real difference between conservatives and liberals? Both have sympathy for the poor, but liberals have simplistic, unthinking sympathy, while conservatives actually consider the effects of policies.
Guess compassionate conservatism is dead as well.
What Miscreant and Graniaclewbay are assuming is the level of this persons discretionary income. They immediately assume that the people who don’t have enough in their ATMs are guilty of extravagant purchases.
When I look at our electric, oil, water, and food bills I face a total that’s close to 400.00 higher a month. That’s a big number. And just for laughs… our water heater died this morning. Do the math. 1 crisis and this month our totals will soar to almost 700.00.
Donviti wrote:
No, an unknown situation. I suppose that this could be a welfare situation, though the woman was trying to pay with a debit card rather than a food stamps card. But it’s also possible that they could have over-spent a decent income on something else, or that she had a husband who had forgotten to deposit his paycheck, or that she had lost track of her spending or had made a math error in balancing her accounts or just a whole host of things. She could even have been a victim of identity theft and had her accounts raided.
Dana,
Those ARE NOT things that will make more money for the poor. Oh, wait. If, by more money, you mean an additional 5-10 bucks in their paycheck, OK. But what of the loss of SERVICES? When tax cuts are implemented, we have to pay for them somehow. And, in the Bush Administration, we’re seeing the fruits of that labor by having a bevy of services cut for the poor and working poor. So, how does that save them money in the long run?
Also, think outside the box, Dana. For instance, the more tax cuts we give, the less we’re able to spend on roads and infrastructure. That single, working-hard mother of two who just bought a cheap used car for $1500 just busted a tire and caused damage from running over a pothole that couldn’t be repaired because the government didn’t give a damn because there was no money to fix it. So, the mother has to spend potentially hundreds of dollar to repair a car that probably isn’t even worth it.
Think outside that box, Dana. I know you conservatives can do it!
Dana let’s get something straight. Over the last 28 years, we’ve had 20 years of Republican leadership in the White House and only 8 years of Democratic leadership.
To say that the Republicans outrageously grew the federal deficit and tanked the economy during their 20 years would not be a stretch.
To say that the economy grew and the federal deficit became a surplus during the 8 Democratic years, is the gospel truth.
Don’t try and spin it. The Republicans have lost the “fiscal responsibility” moniker they carried for so many years. The Democrats own that.
For the record, the grocery line was in Elkton, MD, not anywhere in Delaware. The Mother/daughter were white. Not that either are pertinent to my post.
The point I took from your post, LG, was that your wife could relate. My weekly grocery bill is at least 50.00 higher than it was a year ago. That’s easily 200.00 more a month for the same purchases.
Mrs. LG’s story hit a nerve within us all. Well, maybe not all of us.
And here’s real data on how poorly the average American has done in 8 years of BushCo.
The wage stagnation is quite real while costs have done nothing but go up. And that result is on purpose — the conservative project is to transfer as much tax burden to working folks as possible. And that is clearly not working.
The results of the Bush Economy has hurt real people and it seems that some compassion is called for (it is Sunday, folks) rather than more failed ideology on taxes.
Mr Matthews wrote:
One of the problems some people have is that they cannot put themselves in the place of people not like themselves; egocentrism is the proper term. When you ask what good $10 in someone’s paycheck is, that’s an effective raise of 25¢ an hour. It’s also four gallons of mill, perhaps it’s a meal for the whole family once a week, if someone lives close to where he works, it could be gas to and from work for a week, it could be a lot of things. Considering the start to this thread, maybe that $10 was the amount needed by the woman in like at the grocery store to make the $158 total she needed. $10 a week is $520 a year; that’s real money.
Long-term considerations tend to get left out of the calculations of people living from paycheck to paycheck. When they need it now, the idea of a long-term benefit somewhere down the road can be of less importance.
I grew up poor, Mr Matthews, and I mean poor poor! I remember what it was like to have to juggle bills, and what $10 could actually mean.
Umm Dana, you obviously haven’t bought milk lately. $10 won’t buy 4 gallons of milk anymore. Not even close.
You’re missing the point, Dana. $10 is all well and good, but when the exchange is a cut in Head Start programs or in CHIP or Medicaid coverage, it’s a net LOSS for people who end up paying more. When you cut taxes, services are cut. Therefore, a single mother may have to pay $100 more in medical bills. Or $200 more in child care costs. Which eliminates the $10 per week tax cut.
Pandora wrote:
Then I hope you can have some compassion for those people who make less than you, and for whom that water heater will mean either cold showers or other bills not paid.
As y’all advocate for higher taxes — and we know that taxes will increase for everybody — think about that extra money that will come from the pockets of people who cannot afford it.
Somewhere, some family just barely getting by woke up to a dead water heater this morning; water heaters fail for the rich, the middle class and the poor alike. I’ve seen too many cases — and have been one of those cases before — where the unexpected expense, a bad alternator, a water heater, worn out brakes, a blown head gasket, the roof starts to leak, and things become a real crisis. Government services won’t buy you a new water heater.
Pandora,
Don’t you realize Dana’s one of them thar rich Republicans? He has “the help” purchase the milk for him!
Pandora wrote:
Actually, I have, but I don’t pay much attention to the price.
Dana, you fool. We’re not advocating higher taxes for people who can’t afford them. We’re advocating higher taxes for people making millions. What about that don’t you get?
Dana doesn’t pay attention to the price? Ha! Well aren’t you just a special one? Must be nice to have that luxury.
Dana, if you don’t pay attention to the price of milk, that says a lot.
Dana’s one of the top ten percent of earners, as measured by AGI, but just barely.
But Dana doesn’t have “the help” to do those things; he is the help! He’s definitely working class!
It could have been worse – they could have been paying with credit cards.
As y’all advocate for higher taxes — and we know that taxes will increase for everybody — think about that extra money that will come from the pockets of people who cannot afford it.
Advocating for government being paid for is not the same as advocating for higher taxes, but that kind of honesty we already know not to expect from you, Dana. There will be higher taxes — and it will come from your state, your city or county. They have to pay for their government, unlike the Feds. Costs increase for government the same way they increase for the rest of us. And (minimally) lower taxes certainly hasn’t helped a poor person replace a water heater, either.
Mr Matthews wrote:
Oh, I know what our incoming president has promised, but I’m not fool enough to believe it! He will do absolutely nothing about taxes, other than the easy thing, which is to let the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire, and that will mean higher taxes for everybody, rich and poor alike.
He can’t keep his promises, even if he wanted to. The deficit was a whopping $455 billion in FY 2008, and that was before the $700 billion financial bailout. Our next president has a trillion dollar deficit looking him dead in the eye, and he can’t cut taxes for anybody.
“What Miscreant and Graniaclewbay are assuming is the level of this persons discretionary income. They immediately assume that the people who don’t have enough in their ATMs are guilty of extravagant purchases.”
Certainly no more than Ms. Geek “assumed” the grocery line situation was a microcosm of today’s economic situation. So far, some of you useful idiots have interpreted my post as indifference towards children, and being for tax breaks for the rich. I’ll break it down in real easy concepts for those who lack imagination, simple reading comprehension skills, and are too fixated on assigning blame they let their biases consume them.
– Spending money you don’t have is bad. It’s part of the reason for the present economic situation.
-Taking responsibility for your own finances is good. I did, and now I don’t have to raid the Christmas money to buy groceries. If I were in that situation, I’d consider cutting back on holiday spending.
– I don’t believe in tax breaks for the rich, or bail-outs for corporations or industry (sorry for the 4 syllable word). We learn by our mistakes. My Grandparents taught me that. As Dana put it, they were wise enough to see the consequences of bad policy.
– I love children, but am only slightly compassionate towards adults who don’t take their fiscal responsibilities seriously. Percentage-wise of our annual salaries, I gave nearly twice as much to charitable causes as our President-elect. (Oh shit, that probably makes me racist)
– I’m not rich by anyone’s standards. I pay attention to the price of milk, and everything else, and shop with coupons.
I like this one from Dana,
One of the problems some people have is that they cannot put themselves in the place of people not like themselves; egocentrism is the proper term.
Pretty much sounds like you described yourself
– I love children, but am only slightly compassionate towards adults who don’t take their fiscal responsibilities seriously.
I love black people, I have a picture of myself with one….see (pointing to black guy in picture)
how cute you are excrement, your compassion over the past few months has obviously been right there on the surface for us all to see.
How could we have missed it…
I found some of your compassion…
I saw part of Biden’s speech today. It was formulaic, embarrassing,repetitive, nauseating, and pathetic.
Same old disingenuous, hair-plugged shit… different day. Let’s start a pool on how long it will take before he steps on his tiny dick (again).
Carry on with your ovine behavior, asshats.
This is what I read into the story:
1) Someone wasn’t taught how to keep track of their finances.
2) It’s genetic, since the mother had to use Christmas money because there were no other funds.
3) The mother is enabling her daughters’ financial recklessness by not allowing her to subtract some lesser needed items.
4) This is every day in Walmart. My wife tells me stories like this all of the time.
5) It is indicative of a larger issue of a lack of financial management education in at least the two most recent generations in this country. Simple check book balancing skills, budget building, prioritizing.. all can be taught in one class in high school. One state has recently required that class be passed for high school graduation, I think it was Oregon.
Time to change your shorts again , DonWhatTheFuckEver? Not that it’s remotely relevant to anything in this thread, but thanks for looking up my assessment of Biden’s speech. I had forgotten how much fun I had.
Back on topic: I suppose the grocery store scenario could be analogous to the current bail-out situation. The girl overspent her budget (should she have one) by not paying attention to her actual resources. Although the girl wanted to do the right thing by re-evaluating her expenditures (maybe she didn’t need those Twinkies, or that Captain Crunch), Out of compassion or for the sake of expediency, Mom came to the rescue with a temporary loan. Although she was clear on the terms, she didn’t get anything in writing.
That’s the kind of compassion I would expect from family, not the government.
Continue to soil your panties.
Hmm… Oregon. Wasn’t Oregon the state that drew circles around urban areas to limit suburban sprawl?
Handling finances is an important skill. However, in this economy, you can do everything right and still find yourself in trouble. As for the mother in the story… have you considered that she may be living on a fixed income and her 401k may have taken a big hit.
My parents have taken that hit, and they weren’t reckless or irresponsible. Where does the state of the economy figure into your theories? Is it all the individuals fault?
The point is that the economy is affecting everyone. We are all making choices that result in belt tightening. Degrees may vary from not enough money in an ATM to buying chicken rather than filet mignon, but everyone is making changes.
”
This is what I read into the story:
1) Someone wasn’t taught how to keep track of their finances.
2) It’s genetic, since the mother had to use Christmas money because there were no other funds.
3) The mother is enabling her daughters’ financial recklessness by not allowing her to subtract some lesser needed items.
4) This is every day in Walmart. My wife tells me stories like this all of the time.
5) It is indicative of a larger issue of a lack of financial management education in at least the two most recent generations in this country. Simple check book balancing skills, budget building, prioritizing.. all can be taught in one class in high school. One state has recently required that class be passed for high school graduation, I think it was Oregon.
Great assessment, Brian… but you’re starting to sound like a conservative, racist, child hater, who is devoid of all compassion.
White, Black, Green whatever, get off your asset comfortable, judgmental behinds and consider that those “working families” living at 100% of the federal poverty level in combined household income (in Delaware) are paying over 35% of their gross household income just in utility bills. Well over 60% of income for those under 100% of federal poverty level. Over 25% for those at 125%-150% of FPL. And money from RGGI auction credits will be gobbled up by the SEU while these families (seniors and children) are told to scramble for funds (LHEAP) that have already been exhausted. Shame on those people for expecting to have a TV for their children to watch or shoes for their feet or medication for their illnesses. They should turn off the heat and electric and live like our forefathers. Luxuriating in a home with lights and heat has to be relegated to it proper priority. Take off those blinders of self-righteousness and tell me how you balance a check book when food rent and mortgage (healthcare anyone?) combine to be more than 100% of income.
John Kowalko
He will do absolutely nothing about taxes, other than the easy thing, which is to let the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire,
That is exactly the right thing to do.
God Bless Senator Robert Byrd, who is responsible for the Senate “Byrd Rule” which is why the tax cuts could not be made permanent in the first place.
The cuts on capital gains and dividends expire Jan 1, 2009, before Obama takes the oath.
The income tax rate cuts expire Jan 1, 2011. During the midterm election campaigns, Democrats will have the delightful task of introducing and voting for middle class tax cuts one at a time, and daring the GOP to vote against tax cuts.
Time to change your shorts again , DonWhatTheFuckEver? Not that it’s remotely relevant to anything in this thread, but thanks for looking up my assessment of Biden’s speech. I had forgotten how much fun I had.
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dayyyyummm Missy! And you claimed to blush at some of my posts…
And money from RGGI auction credits will be gobbled up by the SEU
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Is there an assessment somewhere of what the SEU is “gobbling up” as you say vs what the SEU is expected to expend to families’ utility shortfalls?
Hmm… Oregon. Wasn’t Oregon the state that drew circles around urban areas to limit suburban sprawl?
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yeah, but with over a decade of the same kind of ferocious ‘property rights’ growth lobby pressure that we are facing in Delaware, the Portland ‘open land belt’ is fast receding.
The post thread is an interesting one. In the new Obama-doctrine, can’t we foresee a meeting of our ideological poles?
Americans must take both the responsibility to manage household finances (including financial industry agreeing to the reworking of tapped home equity loans or credit accounts) with the opportunity to find the resources needed to meet basic needs (the job-core aspect of his platform). We have to do better than welfare-to-work did but stay on that course towards self-sufficiency for all.
Pandora, what planet do you live on? I highly doubt the woman has a 401k if she can’t scrape together $158 for groceries.
Have you looked at your 401k lately? Are you living on it? Have you spoken to anyone who is?
BTW, 158.00 is a lot of money to some people. So is 4.00 for a gallon of milk.
65% of auction credit sales to go to SEU.
I believe, but am not definite that somewhere between 5% or 10% go to affordable utilities and I think it’s the 5% but you can check the legislation enabling RGGI passed last days of last session. I voted against.
John
Thanks John, I admit to knowing very little of that set of legislation but remember the very scary aspects reported by LG and yourself at the time.
I will look into it.
Wait till Obama wrecks the economy. In six months his approval numbers will be below 50%.
Change won’t put food on the table or oil in the furnace. The back pedaling and blame game by Obama will be record setting.
Unemployment will hit 8% and the budget gap will be a trillion $$$. The only change Obama will bring about is the change in your pocket because there won’t be any dollar bills.
bwah ha ha ha ha . . . you’re an idiot
anon wrote:
So, you do favor increased taxes for the poor! I’m glad you were that honest.
You and I both know that they won’t be able to do so, under Democratic Party pay/go rules, the ones they put in place. With a trillion dollar deficit looking them dead in the eye, they can’t pay for it.
Pandora wrote:
Well, we know that in at least one case, it was groceries for the family!
Food for liberal thought: if by some miracle the starship Enterprise appeared in orbit, and transported every bit of our military equipment and all of our troops back to the US from Iraq, doing it immediately and for free, we’d still be facing a nearly trillion dollar deficit, thanks to the financial systems bailout.
Now, tell me how the next president is going to cut anyone’s taxes?
The same way the last one did — by going in the hole for it.
The difference is that more money in middle class pockets gets spent, which is ultimately stimulative to the economy, unlike tax cuts to the richest of us.
But we get it Dana — you think that cutting taxes should be reserved for Republicans only.
Essential reading.
“Great assessment, Brian… but you’re starting to sound like a conservative, racist, child hater, who is devoid of all compassion.”
Here’s some of my personal history:
My parents kept finances clear of the eyes of the kids. I am sure there was a pride factor involved, and all I knew, and all I still know of my parents finances are the overall general feeling. “Times are tight” vs. “We’re doing ok.”
That being said, I never learned how to handle my own money as a teenager. I blew half my paycheck, and was forced to save the rest without knowing why. The day I turned 18, I blew the savings I had been forced to store up.
Zero lessons learned, and this was from a conservative red blooded republican upbringing. So, when I am finally on my own, in the military, where easy credit is accessed, the paychecks are regular, and temptations are endless… I ended up in about $15k of debt after 2 years on an E-3’s salary, like near minimum wage…
I spent the next four years digging out of that hole. I was tempted to reenlist just to get the bonus to pay off my debts. Lessons were learned the hard way.
Some kids never dig out of the hole, and never learn those lessons. Those kids become parents and pass on the bad habits to their kids.
Bad personal financial management is one of the reasons poverty is so hard to break free from. Look at how many pay day loan places, Rent-a-Centers, and “buy here-pay here” car sales/repo places there are near poorer areas. They are all businesses which thrive on bad financial decisions.
If you end the debt cycle, end the bad financial decision cycle… you help people take a step toward the path off the poverty cycle. It is a link in the chain of events.
I see education as the first step to a better lifestyle. Due to the credit card companies’ increased encroachment into the 18+ market for fresh blood and fresh clean credit histories for profit.. this education has to be taught in high school before the victims hit the marketplace.
That is why I think fiscal responsibility should be taught in high school. Give students the tools before they see what they need them for, not after when they’re two steps behind.
Now tell me how that is devoid of compassion…
Brian, I was just kidding.
I guess I was lucky I was primarily raised by my grandparents who survived the Great Depression, and were very resourceful.They never sat me down and taught me anything about finances, but I learned by watching what they did, and how they lived.
Oh. gotcha.
oh well, it was good to explain it for those who don’t get it.
That is why I think fiscal responsibility should be taught in high school.
Good luck with that in Delaware, where kids’ parents work for a bank that relies on 29% interest rates and late fees.