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Should I turn in my brother for food stamp fraud?

What should I do?

  • Turn in my brother and his sons.

    Votes: 2 4.8%

  • Turn in my brother, his sons, and store

    Votes: 4 9.5%

  • Turn in the store

    Votes: 20 47.6%

  • Do nothing at all.

    Votes: 16 38.1%
  • Total voters
    42
notquiteright said:
So let's take stock of all of this... your online name is SgtRock. You present an online persona of assertion, even aggressive chin-out stance. But when it comes time to USE that in the real world scenario you ask about doing the limp willie snitch routine? :doh

My brother lived in my grandmother's house after she went to 'the Home'. He never paid the bills, did a lot of drinking and a few drugs. Power turned off, my wife and I lost the half beef in the freezer. I calmly asked him about it, noticed the smoked stained walls and crappy remelt candles and then just beat his ass. Not a real beat down, he is my brother, but until he couldn't stand. I then drug him outside, told him he needed to find a new place to live.

Time to nut-up, family is family.
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Ouch! Bingo! Nailed it!
 
ChrisL said:
I've heard several instances of them doing that around here and busting small local stores.
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Generally only small stores do it. Large stores and chains tend to avoid huge fines and the imprisonment of their employees.
 
ChrisL said:
If they are religious people, refer them to a local pastor for counseling. At least he should be getting those kids into counseling. They lost their mom, and that's not easy for young boys to deal with all by themselves with an obviously inattentive father who is wallowing in his own misery from what it sounds like.
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I appreciate your compassion.

But I am compelled to ask. Here we have a person scamming the system to buy beer and cigarettes and you suggest that "if they are religious......" How did you get from scamming cigarettes and beer to them being religious and seeking pastoral or psychological counceling?

Don't get me wrong. That idea is as good as any. I am just wondering how you got from A to B. The OP didn't make me think the people involved were into religion at all.
 
Cardinal said:
Huh. I always figure that cops are too busy for this kind of stuff, but alrighty then.
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The department has a cadre of people, not cops themselves (if I understand correctly), to use for such operations. Sting operations against those who sell to underage customers is a constant exercise here and I think with all departments. The resources are already on hand and utilized for various stings. They just send a crew (including cops) to a particular place and, in a few minutes, the investigation is complete.

ABC liquors has internal stings, and cops still conduct stings on them.
 
KevinKohler said:
How exactly do they bust stores that sell booze to minors?


Again, it happens all the time.
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They send in under cover people into the store. I've seen stories about it on the news several times here. There was also a big bust here last year for a store that was selling cigarettes individually to customers.
 
Here is the situation. My brother and his sons live in another state. My sister passed away this month from lung cancer. I traveled there for the funeral and to visit. When I got there i found my brother and two of his sons had not eaten for two days. So i went out and picked up some burgers. After they had eaten I took my brother and his sons in my rental car, none of them have a car, to buy groceries which I gladly paid for. On the way back they asked me to stop at a store so i did. They came out with beer and cigaretts. Well needless to say i was pissed. I asked, how can you afford beer and cigaretts but can't affod food. My brother responded "the store accepted his food stamp card for beer and smokes, isn't that cool" I said hell no its not cool. My brother and his adult sons are on food stamps. So what am I to do. Turn in my brother and his sons.
 
ecofarm said:
Generally only small stores do it. Large stores and chains tend to avoid huge fines and the imprisonment of their employees.
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It's probably just not worth the risk for a larger store that brings in a huge profit margin. Maybe that's not the case for your local mom and pop stores.
 
Captain America said:
I appreciate your compassion.

But I am compelled to ask. Here we have a person scamming the system to buy beer and cigarettes and you suggest that "if they are religious......" How did you get from scamming cigarettes and beer to them being religious and seeking pastoral or psychological counceling?

Don't get me wrong. That idea is as good as any. I am just wondering how you got from A to B. The OP didn't make me think the people involved were into religion at all.
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There is no such thing as a "perfect" person. Even drug addicts seek out help and sometimes religion helps people a lot more than you would think. Just talking to someone who is an objective listener and isn't going to be judgmental can be a great relief to people who are suffering. Sometimes people don't walk to talk with their family members/friends because they don't want to burden them.
 
annata said:
I would be highly pissed at the store - not that anyone will DO anything about selling booze and smokes..
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That's so not true. Police departments have units that constantly bust such places around here.
 
ChrisL said:
There is no such thing as a "perfect" person. .
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Chris, Chris, Chris -- you should know better than to say something like that!

You've known me HOW long by now?
 
ChrisL said:
It's probably just not worth the risk for a larger store that brings in a huge profit margin. Maybe that's not the case for your local mom and pop stores.
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Not so much mom and pop stores, they're generally saving for their child's college or retirement. It's the 'creepy dude' stores, with needles laying around and little baggies strewn throughout the parking lot and a dumpster that looks kinda like a studio apartment. Generally with a parking lot in the rear, high security fence and the smell of homeless people wafting about.

Most towns have one here and there.
 
ChrisL said:
I can see your point, but a person is still going to naturally have more reservations about turning in a family member than a stranger. I don't know if I could call a person a "hypocrite" for choosing to NOT do it because it's not an easy thing to do and can cause severe turmoil in your family too.
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Hypocrisy is having different standards for an in group as opposed to an out group. In any case, that is the definition that captures the root of hypocritical feeling. Lying to yourself about the character of what you are doing because something is difficult is ultimately not a very good path. It is ALWAYS difficult to have standards of conduct. When would NOT being hypocritical ever be easy? As I already stated, I do understand the emotion, but a spade is still a spade.

As to who is at fault for the turmoil... that would be the ones causing it. Namely, the ones breaking the law.
 
Captain America said:
Having come from a long line of law enforcement professionals, I would recommend that you follow the rule of occupation that has served my family well.

Rule: Do not police your neighbor's, family or friend's. Let the other cops do that. You police THEIR neighbors, family and friends. It all works out better that way.

Regardless of your disdain, you will never find a way to be the "good guy" in this. Report them if you must but be prepared for blow back. For I assure you, in the end you will be made out to be the bad guy. It's kind of like telling someone their significant other is cheating on them. You can never win.

But if you wanted to tell the powers that be that the store is trading beer and cigs for food stamps, I suppose that might give you some solace. But do that knowing that there are 10,000 similar reports like that ahead of yours.
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Quoted for truth Cap.
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Also.....lets not forget how the blowback works with Cameras in a Store.
 
GottaGo said:
After you've cooled down, try and have a calm discussion with your brother. Tell him you didn't mind helping him out with the groceries, but it really bothers you that they would use their Food Stamps card for non-necessities. Tell him how you feel about it, without being judgmental.

Hopefully, maybe he'll see the light of day about how he's using that card.....

As to turning him in, well, if the program allows him to use his card for such products he's not actually committing fraud, just showing very poor judgment.
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This...
 
Dezaad said:
Hypocrisy is having different standards for an in group as opposed to an out group. In any case, that is the definition that captures the root of hypocritical feeling. Lying to yourself about the character of what you are doing because something is difficult is ultimately not a very good path. It is ALWAYS difficult to have standards of conduct. When would NOT being hypocritical ever be easy? As I already stated, I do understand the emotion, but a spade is still a spade.

As to who is at fault for the turmoil... that would be the ones causing it. Namely, the ones breaking the law.
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This might all be true, but it doesn't change the facts that people are going to be more hesitant to turn in a person they love and care about than a complete stranger.
 
Gardener said:
Chris, Chris, Chris -- you should know better than to say something like that!

You've known me HOW long by now?
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Oh yeah, I forgot about you and CC. :mrgreen:
 
ChrisL said:
This might all be true, but it doesn't change the facts that people are going to be more hesitant to turn in a person they love and care about than a complete stranger.
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Indeed. And I acknowledged that in my first post.
 
ecofarm said:
Not so much mom and pop stores, they're generally saving for their child's college or retirement. It's the 'creepy dude' stores, with needles laying around and little baggies strewn throughout the parking lot and a dumpster that looks kinda like a studio apartment. Generally with a parking lot in the rear, high security fence and the smell of homeless people wafting about.

Most towns have one here and there.
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We had quite a FEW stores like that in my old town of Taunton. There are stores that are like targets for robberies, and these same stores get robbed over and over again. There was also a murder outside of one convenience store in Taunton called "Grampies" where a person was stabbed to death. This place was ironically also one of the places busted for selling individual cigarettes to customers and minors. I tend to try to avoid those parts of town for obvious reasons.
 
SgtRock said:
Here is the situation. My brother and his sons live in another state. My sister passed away this month from lung cancer. I traveled there for the funeral and to visit. When I got there i found my brother and two of his sons had not eaten for two days. So i went out and picked up some burgers. After they had eaten I took my brother and his sons in my rental car, none of them have a car, to buy groceries which I gladly paid for. On the way back they asked me to stop at a store so i did. They came out with beer and cigaretts. Well needless to say i was pissed. I asked, how can you afford beer and cigaretts but can't afford food. My brother responded "the store accepted his food stamp card for beer and smokes, isn't that cool" I said hell no its not cool. My brother and his adult sons are on food stamps.
So what am I to do. Turn in my brother and his sons.
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You should only rat them out if you can get a reward for doing this.

If there's nothing in it for you, you should let it slide.
 
SgtRock said:
I am a witness
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You possess only hearsay. They may have been lying to you to avoid coming clean about cash on hand.

Nonetheless, the police department will check it out (the store).
 
I have noticed here lately that the EBT cards are accepted at gas stations, convenience stores, Family Dollar stores, even a restaurant or two and a lot more. Perhaps it is time to just limit the EBT card to grocery stores once again. There should be no way a liquor store or even a gas station should be able to accept these cards.

As for turning in your brother, I would definitely turn in the liquor store. Your brother is why a lot of people think no one should be receiving food stamps.
 
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