Have You Ever?

Here's a good one for ya! You have my permission to laugh at my expense.
: ) Before the funny part....you'll need a little background.

Last week we enrolled in the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) program. WIC is a program for low-income women that are pregnant or have children under 5. It provides key nutritional items for free such as milk, bread, cheese, oatmeal, etc. OK.....now similar to many people, I have never exactly pictured myself on government assistance. Programs like WIC, Medicaid and Food Stamps were created for those in similar situations such as ours; people that are trying to better themselves and give back to society but have to live on a lower income in the mean time. However, because of the vast numbers of people on government programs who seem to be perfectly content with never getting off the programs, there has developed a certain way that the general public thinks and feels about those on the programs. (At least that is my experience and what I have been guilty of in the past). When Bryan and I visited Talbot last year in CA, we spoke with some seminarians who shared with us that they and many of their fellow students where on WIC, Food Stamps and MediCal (Medicaid for CA). When I first heard that, I have to admit, I was quite taken aback. I had not realized that going to seminary often meant living on such a low income. Bryan was also a surprised. Over the next several months as we processed our move and expected financial situation, we began to be more accepting of being on some government assistance if need be. Initially our plan upon moving here was for me to work full time to provide insurance and money to live on. As time has passed over the last 2 1/2 months, I've been unable to find a job and we've agreed that for me to work more than part time right now would be too strenuous on our family since we have also learned that seminary is much like a full time job schedule-wise. OK.......so all that to say that we decided to go ahead and enroll in WIC last week. Although I was feeling thankful for the benefits of the program, I was still feeling kinda weirded out about going to the appointment to sign up. They did a quick physical and hemoglobin check on each child. Yep.......that meant a finger stick so mama could get her free groceries! That was kind of a weird feeling......not sure which face I'd point to on the feelings chart for that? The WIC program works on a coupon system. They give you several coupons for free food for each child along with a detailed list of what food qualifies. You then have to take the coupons to the store with you along with your WIC packet (a trifolded card with info and my signature on it) and use all of that when the cashier processes your items. OK......you've got the background.

For my first trip using the coupons, I decided that a night trip would be best so that it wouldn't be busy at the store and hopefully I could get quickly through the line and be on my way. I was feeling a bit nervous and a bit some-other-unidentified-feeling…….embarrassment perhaps? Even though I knew why I was getting free food and felt fine with it, I was not really excited about feeling the judgment of others when I handed over my coupon and WIC packet. When I finished gathering the groceries I went to pay. I had taken special care to triple check that the items I chose exactly matched the specifications on my information. There was only one line open and it was pretty long. The cashier was an older lady. They opened a second line and since it cleared up, I headed over there. I carefully laid all of my WIC items on the belt separate from my regular groceries just as I had been told to. I walked up and handed my coupons to the young male cashier and said “I am using WIC and this is my first time.” Guess what? It was his first time too! Yay! (that was sarcasm) Since he didn’t know what he was doing, he called for a supervisor. As we were waiting for help, the line behind me grew and the line next to me was also getting quite long. The supervisor called the cashier next to me (the lady) to see what my cashier needed…….therefore making it necessary that he say in a raised voice across the lanes “she is using WIC coupons and I don’t know how to do that.” Yay! (I say again with the sarcasm) At this point, I started to feel the stares. Trying to be helpful (and assuming it would be easy to teach him…..I guess) the cashier from the lane next to me decided she would help him instead of having the supervisor come up. So then I was holding up two long lines of shoppers instead of one. My cashier had tried to start without help and done it wrong so first she had to void out the several items he’d rung through and then start again. It turns out they have to ring up each coupon separately which requires my signature and receipt printing each time. When we finally got to the third out of four coupons, I was told that I had picked an incorrect type of juice (although it matched exactly what was listed). Luckily, she said I could switch it out afterwards. The whole process took close to 8 or 10 minutes……which is close to an eternity when you are holding up two lanes of people while you get free groceries. As I stood there slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed, I couldn’t keep from smiling. I could almost hear God saying to me “Ummm…Kelly…….yeah, so we are going with full humility for with this WIC experience tonight.” When I finally got done and bagged up my groceries, I decided I was fine with heading out with my “incorrect juice” since she’d already recorded me as taking two……I really just wanted to get out of the store. As I drove home, I couldn’t keep from laughing in my van as I contemplated the irony of how my perfectly planned “discrete WIC trip” turned out to be exactly the opposite. I’m not sure it’s very often that we get to experience God’s sense of humor but since we are created in His image, He is sure to have one! I experienced that on Saturday night along with a strong dose of humility. In all honesty, if God would like to teach me more things via being funny, I say bring it on!!

To conclude, I am pretty sure that I will never again judge anyone in a grocery line paying with WIC coupons or food stamps. I am pretty darn excited about my free food and will cherish and remember this pride lesson always!! Hope it made you laugh too!!