tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post5441502443893381450..comments2023-10-21T03:54:12.029-04:00Comments on A Gift Universe: Public vs. private charitySheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-82002343688361162762016-01-27T21:48:47.250-05:002016-01-27T21:48:47.250-05:00Oh, of course! I don't think I've ever do...Oh, of course! I don't think I've ever done that on purpose, but kids have busted into the food in the cart when I wasn't looking more than once. Browse produce prices, turn around, kid's noshing on a tortilla. Oh well!<br /><br />I once read a gardening book (The Locavore's Dilemma, I think) which said the reason kids have premarital sex is because we let them eat tomatoes in the wintertime. How are you supposed to learn "to everything, there is a season" when you've never had to wait for tomatoes to get ripe in your life?<br /><br />For a couple years I didn't buy tomatoes at all because I had read that many tomatoes in America are harvested in conditions that amount to slavery, but apparently that's not true much anymore and I think Aldi tomatoes are fine. So there. Also their Moser Roth chocolate brand is child-slavery-free, I checked. So at least you can shop without *that* kind of guilt.<br /><br />Anyway, when I didn't buy tomatoes and waited for them to get ripe .... they really were worth the wait. However, I am not sure it was exactly comparable to abstinence.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-39023826628953118712016-01-27T18:59:50.960-05:002016-01-27T18:59:50.960-05:00I do make a point of only pulling that trick with ...I do make a point of only pulling that trick with food that is sold by quantity rather than weight--the cookie packet rings up the same whether it's been opened or not, but there's no way to properly pay for half-eaten bananas unless you do a pre- and post-feed weight of the toddler. :)The Sojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559244806125834569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-41305954185904282332016-01-27T18:55:11.480-05:002016-01-27T18:55:11.480-05:00J ate several chocolate sandwich cookies while we ...J ate several chocolate sandwich cookies while we were shopping at Aldi today. Because the other choice was screaming. We did pay for them, like good citizens. And I don't think my past self is judging me too hard for that one.<br /><br />(Every time I do that, though, I remember a gem from Facebook in which somebody compared eating food before you pay for it to premarital sex, in terms of the moral gravity.)The Sojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559244806125834569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-71353762099941249022016-01-26T21:58:45.871-05:002016-01-26T21:58:45.871-05:00If it weren't excessively ironic considering m...If it weren't excessively ironic considering my heretical beliefs, I'd say that there is a special circle in hell for people who judge other people in the grocery line for not looking poor enough to be on assistance. But anyway I'm sure karma will bite them in the butt one way or another. It certainly taught me not to judge parents who buy their whiny kids treats while they wait in line.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-43865159409266377182016-01-24T10:08:42.018-05:002016-01-24T10:08:42.018-05:00Seriously, though, I think about this every time I...Seriously, though, I think about this every time I see those memes going around about how this person can afford tattoos, so why are they on Medicaid? Or this person has a smartphone, why do they need food stamps?<br /><br />I have a Vera Bradley purse. And a matching wallet. Inside the wallet I have a WIC card and my son's Medicaid card.<br /><br />Because guess what? My mom can say, "Oh, your old purse is falling apart? Let me hop on eBay and get you a new-with-tags bag at a steep discount so it will serve your needs, last a long time, AND look pretty to boot. Merry Christmas." <br /><br />She isn't going to say, "Let me buy you a cartload of groceries every month for the next 5 years." She isn't going to say, "Let me pay potentially several hundred dollars a month in premiums and copays for the next 18 years." And neither is anybody else except Uncle Sam. So, yeah. Just try to talk smack about me and my new purse and my government assistance.The Sojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559244806125834569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-26292722637672661152016-01-23T21:38:55.970-05:002016-01-23T21:38:55.970-05:00Thank you for your tax dollars! ;) Perhaps someday...Thank you for your tax dollars! ;) Perhaps someday we will be solvent enough to repay our debt to society.The Sojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559244806125834569noreply@blogger.com