riverdiver

quote:

---

He could have posted from his phone

---

Sure, he could have.

He doesn’t have a job. Hasn’t had a job. Is entirely dependent on a bit less than $300 SNAP money monthly for food. Lives in a crappy area with no job prospects.

Yet he has a cellphone with internet access, found this site, made a login and signed in, made up a bogus story, and from reading the replies has obviously found a few people stupid enough to believe anything he says.

quote:

---

I'm a combat veteran with several health issues. I was illegally discharged from the military, which ruined my life. I've had some heart attacks and other health problems. I have a family member that I help. When I'm not around things go downhill. When I had a job here, just being at work was enough time for things to gradually decline. The job market in my location is awful. When I left to work elsewhere I was homeless, but I had a job. This person went back into the hospital so I came back. I've applied for over 200 jobs, most of them federal since I have a lot of federal time. Trump froze hiring and all of those jobs disappeared. Not a single call or contact. I have a master's degree, I've been published, and have applied for pretty much everything from being a veteran's service officer with the county to being a janitor. The only interview I got was for the janitor position and I didn't get hired, despite being told the interview went well. I would have gladly taken that job. When I leave this area I get calls, interviews, and offers. Here, I get nothing. I want a job. Being on SNAP feels like being a failure at life. It's demoralizing. Health issues obviously make things worse. I rarely talk to my friends and I never see them. I don't want them to see how my life has turned out. It's embarrassing. And, I don't want to put my problems on them. They have their own lives to deal with. I admit to feeling demoralized. I go stretches without even attempting to look for work. I admit that. The days all bleed together. Because of the job market here and my desire to take control of this myself, I've been writing some books to self-publish and I recently discovered the print on demand thing. I have three books written for self-publish. I have to edit then I can publish. The print on demand idea is sort of like a journal design, so the content is lower. This is the most difficult stretch of my life, without question. From the discharge until now. There are no bright spots. It's just failure. SNAP is close to $300 per month for an individual but it can be lowered if you have some money coming in. In my area, I believe you are required to start reporting your income once it surpasses $1600/month, so they can adjust SNAP amounts. I don't know if it varies by state. You can't buy hot, prepared food. So, no hot rotisserie chicken, but if it's in the cooler, it can be purchased. Generally, things with a nutrition label can be purchased but not a supplement label. You can get Red Bull but not 5hr Energy, for example, even though 5hr Energy is arguably a healthier choice. Can't get booze (I don't drink) or tobacco products (I don't do that either). $300 is enough for one person if you don't go for high quality. I shop BOGO as much as possible. Some items like milk are never BOGO. I purchase zero sugar soda. I will purchase things like frozen pizza. I don't purchase candy that much. I did buy some last month thinking about Halloween but I've only seen one kid in this neighborhood so I ended up eating the candy. No one knocked on Halloween. It was a dumb purchase. I feel I need to maximize the calories per dollar ratio. That does lead me to buy things like the frozen pizza on BOGO. Last month a chip company had buy 2 get 3 for free. I got 5 bags. I bought them because of the economics. Something I've noticed is that carbs are much cheaper per calorie. The problem of course is that they are not good calories. The bottom line is that I need to have the discipline to not buy those chips, buy better food and get fewer calories. My eating is definitely worse on SNAP than before. In principle I don't support constraints on what can be purchased. I don't want the govt getting in the business of micromanaging your life based on "this is good for you". We all know what road that eventually takes and it will go beyond just SNAP. Some areas allow you to use SNAP for restaurant food. That seems absolutely foolish, but I understand the logic for people that are homeless. They can walk up to Taco Bell at hours when a grocery store is closed. Sometimes people talk about fraud or selling items purchased with SNAP. I've never encountered this but I'm sure it happens. I am very grateful for SNAP. I have to be honest. My life seems ruined and I feel I have no good choices. Job market here is terrible. If I leave I know things will deteriorate for this family member and I can't have that on my conscience. However, not working makes me feel worthless and I increase my odds of work if I leave, plus I would have money to contribute. I feel as though I can't win no matter what I do. In the end, what I foresee is a life on the streets, homeless, and before various factors get me, my only way to get food will be something like SNAP. I do believe there is only one gear in life, and that is forward. But, my forward progress seems to be awfully slow and like I said, I'm demoralized. I need a job and a purpose in life. I need something that I can look at each day and feel a sense of accomplishment. At the same time, pursuing that has gotten to feel utterly futile. With H1B, AI, etc, I don't feel good about future job prospects. I'm hoping the book thing provides a ray of hope. I want to turn things around and then frame my EBT card as a reminder of where things can go. I never thought my life would be where it is, but here I am. What motivates me is the desire to live normally once again. There is a BBQ place about 1/2 mile from here. I can smell it during the day. That is motivating - the idea that if I can just get back to normal I can go somewhere like that and live like a normal person.

---

Lots of questions.
1) You’re an “combat veteran, Illegally discharged from the military”? How so? What did the VA tell you when you contacted them? What branch of the military? Where/when did you serve?

2) You’ve had “some heart attacks”. How many? How do you know you had “some heart attacks”? What medicines are you on?

3) You have to be constantly with your “family member” 24/7, you can’t leave to go to work, or things “go downhill?” What does that mean?

4) You have a Masters? In what? From where? You’ve been published? Post a link, show us some examples. Do you use paragraphs in your normal written work?

5) You’ve applied for “over 200 jobs”, and can’t even get a janitor position? Nope, don’t believe it.

6) What city/state do you live in?

7) You’ve had “some heart attacks”, yet you choose to consume Red Bull, soda, frozen pizza, and bags of chips. You live in a crappy area, but you bought Halloween candy. Then ate it all because no kids showed up to the hovel you live in. Sounds like your lifelong habit of making bad decisions hasn’t slowed.

8) You admit your discipline in buying groceries is worse with free SNAP money, you buy crappy junk. Yet you don’t think the govt should limit what crappy junk you waste money on.

9) “$300 is enough for one person/month if you don’t go high quality”. SNAP isn’t supposed to feed one person 3 meals/day/month. The “S” stands for “Supplemental”.

10) You’re “motivated by smelling the BBQ restaurant 1/2 mile away? Have you asked them for a job?

11) How did you obtain internet access, and how did you find this site?

12) Your story is remarkably similar to one I just saw on X a couple of days ago, but it was a woman with a Masters and multiple other degrees, who’d been published, had never made more than $20,000 yearly, and blames MAGA because she can’t find a job. Switch a couple of minor details and the stories are almost interchangeable.

quote:

---

Every night for years the lakefront has been taken over by large groups of hispanics. Bottles of beer and trash is often left. It’s been an issue. Last night 30 officers and a helicopter closed it off. The chief of police is reporting 15 were taken by ICE last night. My issue was more the litter and how the area was basically taken over and you can't really fish the pier anymore.

---

So you don’t have an issue with the area being taken over for years by illegals, your issues are garbage they left and the sombrero wearing illegals affecting your fishing?

quote:

---

I have done plenty of charitable events through my businesses throughout the years and will be doing food and canned good drives again this year at all my locations. My Dad and I sponsor three families every year though his KC chapter for Christmas. I just purchased $300 worth of groceries for two of my employees that are on WIC to make sure there babies are OK even though I can’t even afford to pay myself through that business and havent in over a year.

---

Trying to understand, you own multiple businesses, have canned food drives ant all of your locations, and one business you haven’t drawn a check from in over a year?

Congrats on your success. Charity is noble. Thumping your chest pointing out what you do isn’t.

quote:

---

If we agree that the pipe bomb was laid by Dem/Deep State operators, do you think their was any intention on the bomb actually exploding or was it purely for intimidation or setup reasons?

---

Back a couple of years ago some pics of the “pipe bomb” and pics of FBI did training bombs were released. They were shockingly similar.

And they had one hour egg timers attached. They were placed the night before, they couldn’t have exploded that afternoon even if they were real.

Capitol police spot the “bombs”. They notify other LEO’s, (maybe SS) who continue sitting in their car finishing their lunch. They get out after a couple of minutes, look at it, allow school children to walk by it? Come on.

And to top it off when the bomb squad came 3 cameras controlled by Cap Police just randomly turned away from the scene.

The more that comes out the more this stinks.

quote:

---

Not really, when you recognize that most people screaming about "can't afford coverage, I need YOU to pay for MINE" are standing behind their bass boat, or muscle car while screaming it.

---

Nonsense. I have insurance. It’s expensive, but I’m thankful I have it.
My wife started developing multiple medical issues over three years ago, one diagnosis after another, multiple surgeries. We’re waiting on biopsy results to come back to see if she has new cancer. She’d previously been healthy before her issues started.

She lost her job, she’s unable to work. Financially it’s been a kick in the arse, but I thank God every day I have her covered with health insurance.

I don’t have a bass boat (would love one), a muscle car, or an $80,000 truck.

I consider myself to be very lucky, and I’m perceptive enough to realize a lot of people aren’t.

quote:

---

That's not month's worth of food. Not for 2 people, let alone a 'family'. So there's that.

---

It’s a donated box from a food pantry.

Food pantries don’t exist to give everyone who comes in enough food at one time to feed 1, 2, or 6 people three meals/day for a solid month,

quote:

---

AI generated pictures?

---

Frankly, they look staged. Especially the dramatic one of a group of agents struggling over control of a piece of railing.

How many of the “276+” federal agents were in on this?

quote:

---

Why not policy of "earn your own money and pay for your own healthcare?" I ask, because that policy makes the most sense.

---

Because when you have insurance through your employer, get diagnosed with an expensive ailment, you risk being fired to keep their rates lower.

Or if you’re working a job with no insurance planning to pay cash for your $40 Dr visit and find out you have a serious condition you’re out of luck.

With pre-existing conditions you can’t get insurance, and you’re jobless.

Then when you find out how much your chemo treatments, surgery, etc will cost you can’t afford to pay.

That all makes sense?

quote:

---

I checked about 40 random items not on my list. This may shock the very average people who post here, but you can easily do this online yourself weekly

---

You’re somewhere in the frozen tundra of Alaska, of course things will cost more.

I’m in a grocery store 2-3 times/week. There’s a Harris Teeter and a Publix across the street from each other. I shop sales at both places.

Some things are always cheaper/more expensive at one than the other.

Beef is more expensive across the board, other than ground 80/20 I haven’t bought beef in quite a while.

Bought a couple of 3 lb bulk packs of ground turkey for $9.99 each. $3.33/lb isn’t bad, I broke them down, bagged them into 1 lb packs, put them in the freezer.

Same with skinless boneless chicken breast, $2.99/lb on sale.

You have to shop smart. Plus at Teeter you get gas points, I’ll often have .20-.30 off per gallon.