I grew up on food stamps.
I also grew up on literature such as Little Women, The Five Little Peppers and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn that viewed people who were poor with compassion.
So I still remember the high school “current events” discussion about “food stamps people” and my horror/mortification hearing that my classmates’ moms routinely checked the carts of people using stamps, disgusted whenever they saw sweet rolls.
We probably bought sweet rolls from time to time.
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I’ve worked my entire adult life and have never had to use food stamps since, thank God, but I still remember that pain walking past kids in the hallway, wondering what they’d think if they knew I was a “food stamp person.”
A recent letter prompted that pain again, as the writer disparaged folks who buy iced coffee or energy drinks, assuming they are snatching more healthful food from their children’s mouths.
Maybe so — or maybe they’re part of the working poor whose wages are so low that they’re entitled to stamps and that iced coffee or energy drink is a boost they need to make it through their minimum-wage workday.
Or maybe they and their family have eaten healthy all week and they’re splurging just once.
Who knows?
It’s admirable that the writer, when on SNAP benefits, lived frugally and always made wise choices.
But I wonder — do we hold people down on their luck to a different standard than those of us doing better? Do we know that the person paying cash for their sweet rolls or Starbucks are feeding their kids fruit and vegetables?
Maybe it would be kinder not to make snap judgments.
Diane O’Neill, Lake View
Thunberg vs. Trump
Greta Thunberg was awarded Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” award, and President Donald Trump is all over the social media berating her.
So, who is the juvenile in this equation and who is an international hero? Come on, the answer is not that difficult.
Bob Ory, Elgin
