Food Stamps and Friday Morning.

I usually try avoiding W.allmart twice a month on Fridays when government issues food stamps. Not only is it that the shelves are bare (it looks a bit like a tornado warning has been issued and the whole town went grocery shopping for food that should last them a month) and the lines are loooong, but also because the concept of food stamps reminds me of that first year after the Soviet Union collapsed. With the state went the money and for the longest time the government would issue these sheets and sheets of 'money' to take to the grocery store. You literally had to have three-four sheets of these to get a loaf of bread. Also, since food was in very short supply, you could only get it in limited quantities per family. Like, two lb. of sugar at a time (an you never knew when the next time the store will have sugar is going to be) Needless to say, these are not my favorite memories.
Well a couple of weeks ago on Friday I had to go to Wa.llmart regardless of how I felt about it. We ran out of dog food (poor Lucy!) and diapers (Rachael went back to sleeping in pull-ups a few months ago, which I prefer to her waking up every two hours to go pee anyway).
So, to Wal.lmart I go, three kids in tow. It wasn't a very productive trip, because of the bare shelves and three hyper kids. I picked up the diapers and was on my way to get dog food (which is on the opposite side of the store) when I noticed this guy turning frequently and just staring at the boys. He freaked me out a bit. I am used to women commenting on the kids all the time (they ARE cute kids, if I say so myself). But it's always a quick comment, no one ever just kept turning around and staring like that before. I decided to just ignore the guy, get my dog food and get out.
I go to check out, pick the shortest (two mile long) line and park everyone there. The kids went to check out the toys by the register and needed my 'help' being nice to each other. And that is why I didn't pay attention to my surroundings. BIG mistake! Because right in front of us was that guy that stared at the boys earlier. By the time I noticed he was trying to start a conversation with me asking all sorts of questions about the boys (he was not at all interested in Rachael, which is weired in and of itself, because she is the youngest and ALWAYS insists on wearing pretty dresses and pigtails when we go out, so she is usually the one getting all the comments). Now, I usually try to be polite with people, smile at them and talk to them (M. just grunts and turns away which discourages conversation). But I had no idea what to do with the guy. He wanted to know everything from age to where they go to school, to what they like to eat. Am I the only one who thinks it's inappropriate? He was also trying to keep his voice down so I had to ask him to repeat the questions over again. I had it with him when he asked where I lived and since I was obviously avoiding answering that question (just like the rest of his questions) he started naming the streets and asking me if I lived there. SERIOUSLY???? At that point Rachael said she needed to go potty, I sighed the sigh of relief and we all went to a different register.

NEVER.GO.TO.WALLMART.ON.FOOD.STAMPS.DAY.

Please, don't think that I put every one who needs food stamps in the 'creepy' category. Many of the families using them are truly in a difficult spot and are trying their very hardest to get off of them. I know that. But then there's creepy individuals, and for some reason I tend to run into that kind of people.

Also, I NEED.TO.LEARN.TO.GRUNT.AND.TURN.AWAY.to discourage that type of conversation.