Struggling to get by in America

Every bitter word of the showdown over the government's decision to stop funding food assistance to the nation's poorest was playing out at the cash register a dozen feet away. Two young women, one pushing a baby in a stroller, were having trouble with their purchase. The cashier told them they'd have to take their business down to another register and speak to a manager who could handle it. They followed quietly, their heads bowed. I kept an eye on them as my purchases were rung up, suspecting I knew what the issue might be. Soon enough I saw them walk away, carrying nothing at all. I grabbed my bags and approached them, asking quietly if they were having trouble with a SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) card. The older of the two looked back at me with a wary but defeated expression and said "yes." They had left behind on the manager's desk a single gallon of milk. I asked if I could buy it for her, and she hesitated. "Please," I said. She looked at her child. Then, and only then, she agreed. I asked if there was anything else I could get her, and she was adamant: No. Just this. It is enough. I knew it was not enough. I am a mother. I paid for the milk, told her I was sorry this was happening and quickly walked away, thinking of the baby in that stroller. I tell that story not to make myself look like some hero, but to show that this is happening to real people, not just across the country, but here in Northeast Ohio. As I continued to walk away, my mind ran through a lot of people, faces of people I know and others I do not who are suffering under the current administration, and not just those on SNAP: kids and moms, and federal workers going to jobs without paychecks; of senior citizens and disabled people, foster kids who have just aged out of the system and have nowhere to go. I thought of military families, and so many working families with full-time jobs, of the one in eight Americans who rely on SNAP benefits just to get by. I thought of the massive gilded ballroom going up on the ruins of the People's House, razed without our permission. I thought of the decadent Gatsby-themed party where barely-clad young dancers shimmied tableside while rich and powerful players ate their fill. Meanwhile, America's food banks braced for the onslaught. That sort of indifference from this administration, to me, has become so old-hat it's like an element: fire, air, water, complete lack of consideration for the people we sent to serve. A MAGA congressman from Louisiana, Clay Higgins, said any SNAP recipient who doesn't have at least one month of groceries stockpiled "should never again receive SNAP because wow, stop smoking crack." When did we become so mean-spirited, so petty that we begrudge every scrap in this society? I believe that our economic lines are being drawn so starkly between the haves and the have-nots, the divide so cavernous, that the "haves" no longer even fathom how desperate life is getting for those on the bottom end. It is the only theorem I have to believe that there are those who are comfortable mocking the poor. For all the good that comes of social media, I miss the days when I didn't know what my neighbors thought about everything. How do you tell people that we passed "no sense" a while ago and we're well into "pointed and deliberate" now? Earlier this week, the government emailed grocery stores across the country, warning them they cannot offer discounts to SNAP recipients during the government shutdown. So the hungry will be hurting, but if merchants show mercy they will be held in violation of equal treatment guidelines. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the administration to pay this month's SNAP benefits by Friday, accusing the White House of withholding the benefits "for political reasons" and dodging his court order last week to pay them. The administration immediately appealed and on Friday asked for a pause on the order. Much like the threats issued forth from the White House in the aftermath of this week's elections, time will tell who the victor is by how far-reaching the retribution — or the relief — will be. Contact Chronicle-Telegram columnist Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.