Sep 05 2008
Government Cheese
I took the #4 bus to an area of town called “little Mexico” or outer southeast to apply for WIC (women, infant, children). I asked the woman behind the plexy glass window if I could schedule an appointment. She handed me a business card and said to call the number. I whip out my cell phone and dial the number. The woman behind the plexy glass answers, I ask her if there is an opening today, yes in an hour. One last thing, why the fuck couldn’t you have scheduled this when I walked up to you in the first place. The woman behind the plexy did not answer my question and just looked at me blankly. I sat in the waiting room next to an Asian man wearing a cowboy hat singing to himself. He asked, “Hey, do you know me?”
“No, but I have a feeling I’m about to.” I mumble. For an hour he would say a few English “catch phrases” like: what’s up, long time no see, then he would sing some more. I was called back to the office where they weighed me. I weighed 165 pounds. The caseworker showed me on the chart that I am overweight.
“I could have told you that without a chart,” I said.
Apparently being overweight would qualify me for their vouchers and services. I would have thought the opposite that underweight individuals would automatically qualify for food as they were probably starving and me being fat is somehow fed. The vouchers put me on a strict diet that consisted of Government eggs, cheese and milk.
I had to suck up my pride as I went grocery shopping, of course it was a big scene where the cashier didn’t know how to process the vouchers, so he shouts to the next cashier, “how to ring up these WIC vouchers?”
Then I learn that WIC doesn’t cover organic eggs only tortured chicken eggs. Annoyed, he calls over the loud speaker for eggs as everyone else in line moans and groans. The guy behind me offers to just buy the eggs. No thanks, you already have.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Not A Member? Register for Free!
