On Thursday a picture taken by an employee at the Hannaford grocery store located in Brewer, Maine was posted to the Facebook page of conservative talk-show host Howie Carr.

The picture is of two store receipts from separate purchases made with EBT cards, otherwise known as “food stamps.”

Circled on the receipts (by the unknown photographer) are the balances on the EBT cards, which total $2,325 and $1,491.

The Howie Carr Show’s Facebook page has over 19 thousand followers, and the image soon went viral, but not everyone was impressed.

Maine EBT card. Photo- Linda Coan O’Kresik.

On social media threads the unknown employee who took the picture was both commended and vilified.

In typical fashion, angry people identifying as “fiscal conservatives” but more closely representing “raving lunatics” went on rant after rant about how terrible people who need state assistance are and the scourge of “the nanny state.”

On the other side of the fence, more compassionate-minded people denounced the picture and defended those who use food stamps.

EBT benefits roll over from month to month, and the amount given per month varies on a number of factors including physical and mental ability and number of dependents.

They’re also used for access to funds for people who qualify for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, but a close look at the receipts shows that the abnormally large balances are listed on the “Ending FdSt Bal” line.

Many people have called on Hannaford to terminate the employment of whoever it was that took the picture, and many more have recommended sensitivity training instead.

To their credit, Hannaford has been very responsive to this issue, even responding to several threads via Facebook with the message:

“Thanks for reaching out. We wanted to let you know that we’re looking into the situation. We welcome all forms of payment in our stores. Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns and your feelings with us.”

A manager on duty at the Brewer store referred me to the Hannaford’s corporate office for comment, but did say, “the only thing I can tell you is that it’s something that we take very seriously.”

A call to the corporate office in Scarborough was not returned at the time of this article’s publication, but updates including the response from Hannaford’s corporate office can be found here.

What do you think?