Was in line behind a Latina woman with not awesome English attempting to use WIC vouchers in a supermarket. The cashier was being a bit of a dick about it. He wasn't too bad, I think he was just frustrated with the whole thing too, but assuming he knew what he was talking about, basically:
The 24 ounce cans of beans weren't eligible. She had to get the <16 ounce cans.
The supermarket branded jumbo eggs weren't eligible. She had to get the large eggs.
Lactaid milk wasn't eligible. Other milk would be.
The corn tortillas weren't eligible. The flour ones would be.
There were a couple of other things that I forget, but you get the idea. When the ordeal started, I thought she was just using SNAP benefits which don't allow everything but do allow "most" things. If I had realized more quickly, I would have (and should have) just offered to pay. She was there with a young boy, too.
Paternalistic nutrition aid programs are ok in theory, but this was just ritual humiliation for what I think was $20 worth of vouchers. Also, too, accounting and other administrative costs.
Just give people some damn money.
