Also, I'm wondering how many of us have ever been really poor. Like not "Oh shit, I'm out of money and I only have ramen left!" but like BPO living in a tent poor. Or like the times when I was a kid when the food stamps ran out before the month did and we didn't eat lunch on the weekend because we had just enough food for dinners - which was a LOT of rice. Or sometimes lunch was ketchup bread. Because I get integrity, but it only goes as far as my children's stomachs, and not a fucking inch farther. It's pretty easy to judge people from our perches ensconced in suburbia, but Jesus, people.
I agree with holding Walmart financially responsible. Someone has to pay, and the people receiving benefits probably can't.
Wouldn't the ebt card track who spent what? And if they are stocking up on ptocessed food...wouldn't it last? Why couldn't the govt take it out of their next allocation? Its not like food only lasts for a week.
Also, I'm wondering how many of us have ever been really poor. Like not "Oh shit, I'm out of money and I only have ramen left!" but like BPO living in a tent poor. Or like the times when I was a kid when the food stamps ran out before the month did and we didn't eat lunch on the weekend because we had just enough food for dinners - which was a LOT of rice. Or sometimes lunch was ketchup bread. Because I get integrity, but it only goes as far as my children's stomachs, and not a fucking inch farther. It's pretty easy to judge people from our perches ensconced in suburbia, but Jesus, people.
**Claps**
I can't see how anyone who hasn't been in a food stamps situation can judge those who are for getting whatever they could while given the opportunity.
If I were frightened that my children would have no food soon due to the governmental uncertainty, I would most definitely take advantage of whatever opportunities came my way. I would not feel great about it or proud of myself, but I would feel a sense of security for the coming weeks.
Walmart purposely ignored regulations put into place to prevent things like this from happening, and NOT altruistically.
Given the instability of the US government lately, I can see willful ignorance about the glitch combined with fear that this is the first step of EBT getting shut off completely for reasons that have nothing to do with your eligibility.
I didn't read all the replies (maybe the first half) but... Meh. I can't get worked up over this. Poor people have been stealing food since the beginning of time.
I'm having a hard time with this. Like a PP said, it's your personal integrity, and I do believe that my integrity is important and not worth selling. Then on the other hand, my personal integrity would go straight in the shitter if I was already nervous about the shutdown affecting my EBT benefits/WIC benefits, and the possibility of my kids going hungry. If I could stockpile some hamburger and chicken nuggets to get them through lean times, I'm betting I'd stick two fingers up to the government AND Wal*Mart.
I would rob Mother Theresa if it was between her and my kids. So there's that.
I'm here. Yes it is wrong, but so is not being able to feed your kids. I do not understand stealing $700 worth of food but then again I've never actually gone hungry or been put in a position where I was unable to feed my family either.
Imagine all the food that had to be thrown away. All the out of temp cold and frozen food left behind in the carts. Not to mention the stuff that was damaged.
Imagine all the food that had to be thrown away. All the out of temp cold and frozen food left behind in the carts. Not to mention the stuff that was damaged.
Ugh.
They were stealing.
cold stuffs can stay out for hours. And if anything was damaged out, WM got paid for it anyway.
I didn't read all the replies (maybe the first half) but... Meh. I can't get worked up over this. Poor people have been stealing food since the beginning of time.
Yeah this situation didn't help the ole foodstamp stereotype. That is for sure.
Didn't help? Lord, it FED RIGHT INTO IT. Cheater and thieves- ready and organized to game the system ... passive, innocent and confused retailers getting a pass on their self-serving role in the system.
I can't see a poll, but I seriously couldn't give a bigger fuck. For a company to get ripped off by a few consumers is laughable. Since this company rips EVERYONE off. And I don't think Alice Walton and her sil give two fucks either.
But I'm ok with poor people stealing from Wal-Mart. LOL.
This is it. The absolute bottom line. I'm sitting here.
I can't get all upset about people stealing FOOD from a mega-corporation, who allowed them to "steal" the food, and who is now going to cover the costs. Nope.
At the end of the day it's about integrity, you know right from wrong, you either do the right thing when no one is looking or you don't. If you KNOW there is a glitch and you take advantage of it, it's wrong. Justify away all you want. I'm not speculating on Walmart's motives and why they didn't just cap a limit at $50 or not take EBT until it was fixed. But I know that if I have $200 on my card and there is a glitch and I can now get as much as I want and I do that, it's messed up and I'm doing the wrong thing. If I have every intention of paying it back, that's different, but did these people who decided to use the system glitch to get more than their allotted amount have the intention or belief they would pay it back, or that it was a free for all?
I get that it's food and we all need food to live, but it doesn't make it any less wrong.
Since corporations are people, this applies to Walmart, too. Lol.
Never said it didn't. It applies to every one every day. Walmart is on a lot of people's hate lists for their business practices, the way they treat their employees and a multitude of other things. Which given the fact that they do have such a profit margin, why can't they instead do the right thing by their employees? I'm by no means saying oh poor Walmart, I'm just saying you can't justify away a lack of integrity because "well the other guy opened themselves up to it happening" i.e. Walmart not shutting down EBT until the glitch was fixed. Saying stuff like that just means that no one has to have personal responsibility for their actions. But taking advantage of Walmart's lack of following procedure and getting hundred's more than you are allotted is still stealing and it's still wrong.
but a part of me wonders if it wasn't Walmart that had made the mistake or error and didn't shut down or limit EBT and it was a mom/pop owened grocery store (like one in my home town staffed 99% by high school kids) instead, if people would be more outraged that the owners of the grocery store had been stolen from?
...I'm by no means saying oh poor Walmart, I'm just saying you can't justify away a lack of integrity because "well the other guy opened themselves up to it happening" i.e. Walmart not shutting down EBT until the glitch was fixed. Saying stuff like that just means that no one has to have personal responsibility for their actions. But taking advantage of Walmart's lack of following procedure and getting hundred's more than you are allotted is still stealing and it's still wrong.
but a part of me wonders if it wasn't Walmart that had made the mistake or error and didn't shut down or limit EBT and it was a mom/pop owened grocery store (like one in my home town staffed 99% by high school kids) instead, if people would be more outraged that the owners of the grocery store had been stolen from?
I would think that a Mom and Pop wouldn't be able to, and wouldn't, absorb the cost and would shut it down quickly. WalMart has a corporate structure and guidelines that are supposed to be followed, as does Mom&Pop so I'd probably feel worse for M&P having to absorb any losses, but ultimately, if they had let it continue knowing the system was down all in the hope of reimbursement or for whatever reason instead of putting a stop to it immediately, I'd hold them just as responsible. There are systems in place. They didn't follow them. The end.
So yes it's stealing and personal responsibility (and I'm 100% saying it's stealing and wrong and taking advantage) and all that, but also, corporate responsibility on the back end. They knew the system was malfunctioning. They had the ability and authority to say no or to limit transactions. Instead, they said yes, here you go, have at it. IMO, at that point, it went from stealing from WalMart to WalMart giving them the go-ahead and gifting it to them.
ETA: As a family member who worked at family-owned M&P businesses, including grocery and gas station/convenience stores, if we had a run on anything, we would have been instructed or had authority to shut down immediately. We couldn't and wouldn't absorb losses from runs. The managers keep a very close eye on what's going on in small businesses when they're on-site and if they're off-site the manager on-site has authority to call or to act in the manager's or owner's stead. It wouldn't have gone on "for a few hours" but rather a fraction of one. Any and every WM store manager should have been doing the same.