Never take seriously those who ridicule low income people for having a smartphone or laptop.
“If they’re so poor how did they buy an iPhone???”
Because they’re trying to escape poverty, not the 1700s, genius. If you think basic tech access is luxury, try and survive a month without it.😐
@QasimRashid I agree with the basic point you're making - but - there are MANY very functional smartphones far, far less expensive than an iPhone.
I know because I own them (and one iPhone which oddly, I consider the least useful smartphone I own).
If I was poor AND I decided that the smartphone I *had* to own was an iPhone, well, it seems to indicate I might need help managing my financial resources.
Why should food benefits let you buy a premade sandwich you can just make your own for less
@hakirsch @TheWerewolf @QasimRashid because some people have a disability that makes cooking (even making a sandwich) difficult, work jobs with long or unpredictable hours, or need something to eat quickly after a multi hour bus ride to a job interview, temp job or medical appointment. Maybe they eat cheap batch cooked meals at home 6 days a week, and the ingredients would go bad if they bought a whole pack of each thing for the one day they have to travel. They might not have a safe fridge to store the ingredients. (If there is a fridge at a shelter, there is probably a food thief.)
Why would taking away options help people? It doesn't even cost the government anything, hey're getting the same amount of money either way.
@TheWerewolf @hakirsch @QasimRashid even the packaging doesn't have to be so bad. My local convenience store offers sausage rolls in a paper bag, sandwiches in waxed paper, and after the deli closes there are sandwiches in windowed boxes or clear plastic wrap (I forget which). The premade food is usually eaten immediately so there's no need for stiff airtight plastic clamshells like cheese and deli meat often come in.
This is in Ireland, though. American food packaging is often less eco friendly. I'm not sure if there's a tax incentive or something driving the simpler packaging, or if it's just a cultural difference.
@legumancer @hakirsch @QasimRashid Over here? Individual slices of industrial cheese wrapped in plastic and then put into a plastic sleeve - and if it's 800g, TWO 400g sleeves. and then an outer third plastic sleeve.
Lasts forever - the "cheese" AND the wrapping... :)
But you're right - it doesn't *have* to be this silly.
Many cheese packagers are going back to a slip of paper between each slice and just the outer resealable bag.
@TheWerewolf @hakirsch @QasimRashid where is here?
At any rate, that sounds like a great improvement.
I haven't actually bought much cheese here in Ireland, but the packaging doesn't look so different from US packaging. Cheese does spoil easy though. I'd like to see more things packed in paper and cardboard.
The one exception is oats. I really want to be able to buy oats that aren't rolled (steel cut, pinhead or just plain unprocessed groats) at a non luxury good price, but they're packed in little paper sacks and no one else buys them apparently so they're stale and taste awful. I'm about ready to look for an animal feed store instead where at least the stock moves quicker, lol.
@legumancer @hakirsch @QasimRashid And that supports the point - it costs more to buy oats unprocessed than refined, which theoretically makes no sense.
Yet here we are.
And by here, for me, I mean Canada. :)
Qasim Rashid, Esq.
The Werewolf
H. A. Kirsch
legumancer Davy