What Regular People Do

While standing at the checkout line of a local grocery store I presented what I thought was my EBT card as payment for my items. Instead of the food stamp card, I accidentally swiped my debit card and realized I'd spent gas money. Not good. Could I redo the transaction? I asked the cashier. She frowned and lectured me on how hard it would be for her to do this, and besides, regular people didn't make these types of mistakes. I understood her to mean that people usually didn't use more than one card for purchases. So, I asked her, I'm not a regular person because I use food stamps? She began to backpedal. Fortunately for me no one was in line behind me. Which also begged the question: what was so hard about helping me? It wasn't as though she had a line of customers waiting. I had only five items in my shopping cart. The food stamps I receive as a low-income disabled person are mostly for buying ice and water. Ice, because I don't have a refrigerator and need to keep perishable items cold. Water, because I don't have a tap to turn on the way homeful people do. I can recall a handful of instances where I felt the hostility of others as I used my EBT card. Instead of hanging my head and hurrying out the door after my purchases I'm going to blog about the times that I go through crap like this. Once again I have to rely on anonymity because, if I complain and name names (in person or in print) I will risk further censure. After all, avoiding the attention of retailers is part of what I have to do to find a safe place to park.