WalMarts Swell with Poor People Once a Month at Midnight—When the Government’s Electronic Dole Payout Goes Through
October 10th, 2010Via: USA Today / AP:
Once a month, just after midnight, the beeping checkout scanners at a Walmart just off Interstate 95 come alive in a chorus of financial desperation.
Here and at grocery stores across the country, the chimes come just after food stamps and other monthly government benefits drop into the accounts of shoppers who have been rationing things like milk, ground beef and toilet paper and can finally stock up again.
Shoppers mill around the store after 11 p.m., killing time until their accounts are replenished. When midnight strikes, they rush for the checkout counter.
Research Credit: She Who Measures
