the long line at Kroger

I kid you not that when I walked into Kroger last night, there was one cart left in the cart corral in the front of the store. I quickly grabbed it up and thought to myself why in the heck is Kroger crowded on a Monday at 7:15PM? The cop standing watch remarked to me about how crowded it was and I nodded in agreement. A store worker trying to find spare carts added to our conversation, letting us know that "well it's food stamp Monday." Oh. Apparently the first Monday of the month is always quite crowded at Kroger because the federal government adds money to the now-debit-cards-that-were-once-food-stamps at the beginning of the month. And Monday is the day to cash in.

Of course, I should have known.

Normally, I would've been ok with a little crowd. There is almost always a long line at the Kroger I patronize, and I've come to expect it. But, this was truly something to behold. Carts FULL of groceries. This will sound bad-but as I walked the aisles, using my calculator to make sure I didn't go over my budgeted amount, I grew more and more politically conservative! I mean, c'mon, there were so many people in there-and certainly a large percentage of those groceries scanned were going home FOR FREE. Jealousy crept in.

There are all kinds of statistics out there about who pays (and who doesn't pay) income taxes. But, I know this-I pay a significant percentage of my paycheck to the USA. I am a single person who rents, thus I am screwed when it comes to income taxes. And I know this too-there are a ton of people in this country who work who pay zero taxes because they don't quite make enough to be taxed. And then there are the folks who don't work at all.

I've asked this before and I guess someone hasn't explained this to me in a way that makes sense, but why the heck don't we have a flat tax that applies to all working individuals. If you make $8,000 a year, well then you pay _% of tax like everyone else. Our government is always looking for more money-why not try a new taxing system instead of just increasing the percentage the wealthy pay? Just a thought.

In the meantime, I'm going to contemplate a new job at JCrew, or perhaps, the GAP. Just part-time of course. I'd be able to put my student loans in deferment-you know since I don't make enough money, skip out on income taxes, get free groceries and medical coverage, AND get a sweet discount at my favorite clothing store.

It's a win-win.