More than once I have been treated to the spectacle of seeing welfare mothers in supermarket check-out lanes, carts full of grape soda and all sorts of cheesy, puffy processed junk foods, like potato chips, pork rinds, etc. I don't know whether such stuff still qualifies legally as "food," but many times I found myself succumbing to fits of stereotypical thinking, and I have wondered, "Why are my tax dollars financing that?"

So now (thanks to the ever-vigilant Sean Kinsell) I have to wonder why they are financing a more healthy, "flexitarian" diet:

In the John Waters-esque sector of northwest Baltimore -- equal parts kitschy, sketchy, artsy and weird -- Gerry Mak and Sarah Magida sauntered through a small ethnic market stocked with Japanese eggplant, mint chutney and fresh turmeric. After gathering ingredients for that evening's dinner, they walked to the cash register and awaited their moments of truth.

"I have $80 bucks left!" Magida said. "I'm so happy!"

"I have $12," Mak said with a frown.

The two friends weren't tabulating the cash in their wallets but what remained of the monthly allotment on their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program debit cards, the official new term for what are still known colloquially as food stamps.

(1) on food stamps and (2) not planning their budget.

The painful part here is that I am trying to figure out which wasteful stereotype I detest more. The trashy potato chip and grape soda victim, or the savvy health-conscious flexitarian?

God, people suck.

The whole thing makes me feel a lot more antisocial than I would if my tax dollars weren't paying for it.