The raise they got in their food stamp money was part of a stimulus package. It was temporary. Guess they’ll have to give up a couple trips to the casinos....where they accept their little charge cards.
True Story.
I took a "Beginners" class on computers at the local Adult School, because I was curious what I had missed, since I never got computer training except from learning on the job, 50 years ago, when personal computers were in the realm of fantasy.
One can imagine the characters that showed up for that class...Among them was a member of a protected class. In his forties or 50's, hard to tell. The first thing I learned is that he couldn't see the computer screen, because he couldn't afford glasses. He was unemployed and his unemployment had run out. His wife volunteered at a church and was on permanent disability. He was working on also joining the "permanent disabled" class. I would guess from memory, that he missed one third of the first ten classes.
Fast forward to a couple of months later when he had been absent for the previous class and he candidly told his adventures the previous weekend.
He and his wife had gone to a casino about 100 miles away, and could "only" afford $900 for the casino trip. Mind you, in addition to not being able to afford glasses, he couldn't afford to get his computer fixed. Not surprisingly, for after more than a month of twice a week 2hrs+ classes, he still needed help to log on to the computer.
To conclude his story, stranded with no gas money to get home, they had to call a friend to wire them some money so they could get home. Oh, incidentally, he also couldn't afford to properly maintain his car.
Sic Transit Gloria Americani...
I could also relate my exciting adventures with the other protected class (I am fluent in both Spanish and French) during the same period, but that's a tale for another thread...