Lancelot, (2/15/2009 7:44:18 AM)

Welcome to the real world. Now let's see how for this rabbit whole goes.

Yiddish Engineer, (2/15/2009 10:21:03 AM)

What ever happened to the days when people were ashamed to receive public assistance?

Yiddish Engineer, (2/15/2009 10:24:08 AM)

Ha, funny how the "Memorial Stadium could be filled x times......" Only in Oklahoma would they have to cite an athletic venue to help people quantify how many people receive food stamps. For the love of God, hicks don't mix with politics.

yep, (2/15/2009 10:24:43 AM)

Yiddish has it right. Cook talks about how bad she has it, but yet she still seems to have money to pay for those manicured fingernails.

CPT Ron, Lawton (2/15/2009 10:28:09 AM)

There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, so there is no excuse for people to be starving.

Food Stamps appear to be a good effort at distributing food to those who cannot afford it.

However, I think that Food Stamps should be funded by voluntary contributions instead of taxes taken from people by threat of force.

The Real Joe Dolty, TULSA (2/15/2009 10:28:46 AM)

I give credit for this woman's ability to get assistance to the republicans for expanding the food stamp program and unemployment benefits back in 05-06.

CPT Ron, Lawton (2/15/2009 10:31:18 AM)

The article about Food Stamps is outstanding.

The Real Joe Dolty, TULSA (2/15/2009 10:32:04 AM)

"What you need to apply for food stamps:
Identification card showing your name, proof of address, Social Security numbers for everyone in your household applying for food stamps"

And yet we're evil bigoted haters if we want to require identification card to vote.

On the fence, Tulsa (2/15/2009 10:42:47 AM)

I wish this woman and her family the best. However, I'd like to see the state link up their databases for the food stamp recipients. Most of them are honest. But to often, I see someone in front of me at the check-out line wearing at least $500 in clothing and shoes that drives off in a $40,000 new or almost new car. For some of these guys, maybe we could put a lien on their Lexus, Mercedes, or BMW to recoup some of the money we gave them for food stamps.

sooner fun girl, (2/15/2009 11:47:54 AM)

I agree with only me the food stamp program is a good program for those that really need it but I feel that there should be more limitations on what they are allowed to buy with this assistance. to many times I have been behind someone in the line that is paying with their food stamp card and the cart is filled with soda, candy, chips,etc. This assistance is supposed to provide nutricious meals for families but they buy all this junk and then at the end of the month they don't have money to eat. You can't buy things you may really need like laundry detergent, bath soap ect. they should not be allowed to buy junk either.

fredsdad, Tulsa, OK (2/15/2009 12:09:51 PM)

Only me,

I have never been on food stamps or any other form of public assistance - yet. But should that day arrive, I will go to the store wearing the clothes and driving the car I bought before the situation arose, as I have determined that when you are ugly, good grooming and a nice car help.

I won't be on that assistance for long, if ever. I suspect that Miss Cook, who does not appear to be as ascetically challenged as I, won't be either. She appears to be doing the right things to return to being a contributor to, rather than a beneficiary of, the system. I suspect that she, as have I, has developed a low tolerance for poverty, and will do what is necessary to return to the nail shops and boutiques she has previously frequented. I wish her Godsspeed.

J3SS!CA, Sh0NkA (2/15/2009 12:20:14 PM)

"One the fence" said it best.

Barf-Bag, Chouteau (2/15/2009 1:38:37 PM)

Fredsdad---I agree with you completely. It appears she may have been over extended in debt, per "paying down debts" and then got the rug pulled out with a layoff. I always thought low of the food stamp reciever who was able bodied to work, but choose not to, but if happenings put a person in a bad temporary situation, I say go for it. Just hope she doesn't frequent the Casinos, have a boyfriend with no job, and supply him with beer and cigarettes.

fredsdad, Tulsa, OK (2/15/2009 1:49:39 PM)

Barf-Bag,

I too hope she doesn't frequent casinos.

I don't smoke or drink, but if she becomes wildly successful and wants a boyfriend to keep in boats and motorcycles and Mercedes and ribeyes, I hereby make formal application.

getreal, (2/15/2009 3:07:19 PM)

On the fence;

Great story, a really old urban legend. Try again!

Picher_Resident, Picher, OK (2/15/2009 3:07:45 PM)

What a lot of people fail to realize is the fact that people who truly need assistance, such as the young lady this story is about, have contractual obligations previous to their layoff. Thus the reason many people complain about those driving a newer car than what you might deem acceptable for someone receiving food stamp benefits. I can understand one's need to try and maintain what they already have rather than let it go back to the lending institution and ruin their credit. After all, this young lady did pay her taxes while employed and I feel it is her right to search out assistance that might be available to her until she can regain employment. What is wrong with someone trying to maintain their dignity for as long as they possibly can? Does one honestly believe that a food stamp recipient should wear mismatched or dirty clothes, flip flops and have a bad hair style? Talk about preconceptions of the system but it's not really your fault. We, as a nation, have always looked down our proverbial noses on those who are less fortunate than us. It's when we are helping a third world country, in the same way, that we are doing a good thing? I am of the belief that charity starts at home. I read the comments previous to mine and found that most of you seem to have no empathy for people who have fallen on hard times and that is a shame. This has left me to wonder if you would be so judgmental if it were you walking in their shoes. Come on, it's not the fault of this young lady for the circumstances that encompass her. Shall we place the blame where it truly belongs? What we, as American citizens, need to realize is that we do have the power to make changes if we don't like the way things are. It's called, elections!

yep, (2/15/2009 5:33:25 PM)

Most people I've seen using food "stamps" (it's a card now) have a mix of normal food and junk food, and aren't sporting fancy attire and rich outfits. Normal folks. If I was out of work, I'd use food stamps, and I'd have no problem driving my luxury sports car (it's paid for). But most importantly I'd be cutting my other expenses as much as I could. That's personal accountability and responsibility. And I disagree Picher, it's not MY fault in society that other people are not personally accountable and responsible towards themselves first and foremost. I don't look down my nose at people such as Ms Cook who are out of work. I've been laid off myself, so I know the angst. I'm not taking the blame because someone else chooses to be unaccountable for his/her own financial situation. Ms Cook probably will do fine. She'd be better off if she'd not have had that debt in the first place. As I mentioned before, perhaps she'd be better off paying bills rather than keeping the manicured nails. I'm sympathetic, but I am not interested in hearing how tough things are for people when they "can't" pay their bills but they still keep their extras and nice to have things. When I was laid off, I cut my home phone (went only to a cell), canceled the cable and cut off all magazine subscriptions, and got a part-time job (those are pretty easy to find). Don't blame me because other people won't do those same things.

Picher_Resident, Picher, OK (2/15/2009 9:00:40 PM)

Personal responsibility is what each and every one of us should practice daily as most of us do. However, the huge financial institutions that we have bailed out have went in the hole due to what reason? Yet our country continues to give these banks money that we know will never come back to us, the taxpayers. In fact, my kid's great-grandkids will probably still be the ones paying this stimulus debt. Where is the accountability in that? Anyway, it is nice to know you were so 'thrifty' during your time of unemployment but I wonder about one thing. When you scaled back your home telephone services and went to only a cell, were you under contract with the provider or were your services prepaid? Most of the time, these prepaid services end up costing more in the long run than what a simple contractual service would have. Doing the math and knowing what choice is going to be more cost efficient in the long term is what I call personal responsibility my friend. My intended point was that our nation, as a whole, is facing a financial crisis that goes much further than what a food stamp card can fix. Taxpayers have the right to seek those services when they are needed. Who are you or I to rise up and play judge and jury. Oh, and I saw nails that looked very nice and well cared for. That can be done at home as well. Judging her by a picture is another reference to my statement before. Should she let herself go in order to please complainers like yourself? Get over it, Yep.

Libertista, BA (2/15/2009 10:44:52 PM)

Everyone should just assume that for one of a million reasons, they are going to lose their job once in their lives. Maybe twice or 3x in their working life. It's going to happen and people have to be prepared ahead of time by putting money aside.

Instead, The average American has been going deeply into debt since the 90s. Most Americans have over $9,000 in credit card debt. They have never seen a boom time like we had from 1982 to 2007 and got lulled into thinking economic growth would last forever.

Studying booms and bust cycles is one of my hobbies, and Americans went on a unprecedent buying binge for about 2 decades now. Their personal savings rate went from 10 percent (1980s) to negative 1 percent last year.

Now, many people are caught out in tight trap with no savings, huge debts and no job, or the potential to lose a job.

I've been preparing for this bust cycle since 2004 and I can tell you, it's going to get a lot worse and it's going to last longer than many CNBC experts tell you it is. Miss Cook's story is unfortunate, but it's the new normal now.

Major...Missy, around the block (2/15/2009 11:25:40 PM)

why do they still call it food stamps when in fact its a card.

paleface, Ponca City (2/15/2009 11:26:35 PM)

So when a person has a job and they buy a new car and a new home and then they lose the job...
What the hell are they suppose to do just thow the car and home out....to just get food stamps...
Crazy....the people that have new cars and home need help also when they lose the job all of a sudden....

yep, (2/15/2009 11:30:47 PM)

Picher, I'm not a complainer, but that's fairly typical for many (typically more liberal types0 to call conservatives "complainers" or "haters" simply because we expect people to be self accountable and personally accountable for their own situations. I believe services are there for people who need it, and many of us will need some type of govt service at some point. When I was laid off, I drew unemployment for 6 months. Yet I also worked two part-time jobs and cut back on most non-mandatory expenses. If I was a female, salon manicured nails would be one of those things I'd cut (and could do so without "letting oneself go"). There are certainly more important things to be paid when money is tight. On the contrary, I didn't judge Ms Cook...I stated she seems to be someone who will come out of this okay. Furthermore, it's quite possible it'll be me who's out of work later this year too. However as Libertista states he did, I've made it a point to prepare for a bust cycle like this. I agree with him, this type of situation is the norm now...we can't wait for government to save us, we have to take accountability for ourselves. While many were buying bigger homes and bigger mortgages, I was putting more into savings. None of us are immune to the effects of bust cycles like this, but preparing ahead of time can insulate us from the harsher impacts of it.

On the fence, Tulsa (2/15/2009 11:43:13 PM)

Major...Missy, good question. That probably won't change for a couple of generations. Just like my grandparents always had a very nice refrigerator, but they called it an "ice box"

C.R. Delough, Tulsa (2/16/2009 1:02:40 AM)

I still "dial" the phone and listen to "albums" on CD.

Slatz, Tulsa (2/16/2009 7:59:42 AM)

There's a fine line between where she is and the people are that don't condone this. All it takes is a catastrophic illness, a car wreck, a layoff, a lawsuit...and you could be in the same spot.