Patrick Gibson, a soldier in the United States Army so he knows a thing or two about paying his dues.
Not long ago, he stopped at his local Walmart store to purchase a few food items and diapers for his family with the little bit of money left over from his paycheck.
He couldn’t help but notice the two full carts of food the couple in front of him were purchasing as he waited in line at the unnamed Walmart. He realized there was something very wrong when he observed how they paid for their purchases and what they did with them.
He then took to social media to vent his frustrations.
Patrick snapped a photo and uploaded the picture of his own shop to Facebook, putting it side by side with the cart belonging to the couple in front of him.
He wrote, “The picture you see on the left is the amount of groceries including diapers that I was able to afford this pay period for my family,” which consist of his wife, son, daughter, and himself.”
Patrick explained that he paid in cash and that he works really hard to make a living and provide for his family.
”The picture on the right is of the purchase in front of me in line. If you can’t tell in the picture there are 2 full buggies of groceries including such items like steak and some other very nice choices of food.”
But, the problem wasn’t just what was in the cart.
“Here’s the kicker. This purchase was made in food stamps.”
But it wasn’t just that the pair used an EBT card to cover a $800 food bill that irritated this parent. Gibson claims he wouldn’t have had an issue if the customer hadn’t moved their big fold of cash out of the way to get to the EBT card.
To make matters worse, the couple appeared perfectly capable of physical labor, as Gibson observed them loading their bounty into their carts before he spotted them in the parking lot, putting the heavy grocery bags into the back of a brand new Hyundai Genesis, a vehicle Gibson claims is worth $15,000 to $20,000 more than his own.
“I just thought I would take the time to tell this person/family that you are very welcome from all of us hard working/struggling to buy food Americans that have to foot the bill for your fancy steak feast while I skip breakfast and lunch every day (so) that way my wife and children have food to eat every day because $50-$75 dollars doesn’t go very far,” Gibson said, hoping the couple would see his Facebook-post.
“So, you enjoy your $800 free grocery purchase.”
Many people responded to Gibson’s post by agreeing with him.
Here’s some comments:
“I completely agree with you, Patrick.”
“There are a lot of people who really need it, but as you said, there are a lot of people who abuse the system and a lot of people who need them but can’t get them, especially you and your family,”
Many expressed agreement that food stamps and welfare should only help support the bare necessities for those going through hard times. The programs were never meant to be a lifestyle for those who prefer not to work.
However, other people criticised the post, claiming that Gibson was being too harsh on the family since he couldn’t possibly know their whole story.
“Do you know their backstory?” Don’t pass judgment on someone just because you’re furious. How do you tell if that individual works and their spouse does not work due to family issues? That all of the money in their pockets is for bills, and that the new automobile was a gift? “How do you know that isn’t true?” one individual inquired.
Patrick Gibson then responded:
“Let’s just call it what it is. We can all sit around and believe in sunshine and rainbows saying the old don’t judge a book by its cover crap, but the reality of it is that so so so many people are abusing the system that was put in place for struggling families. If we can’t even acknowledge that there is a problem, then how can it ever be corrected. And a brand new car as a gift? Really? If they have friends or family with money like that, then its a shame they still need $800 a month in food stamps.”
