Pardon my self-righteous judgmental attitude

In October, I wrote a column about not judging the people that would be coming to get Thanksgiving baskets. The premise of that column was there are people who take advantage of such programs. They may not really be in need. However, we shouldn’t think things like “Oh, they can afford to buy cigarettes but not food,” or “My, you can afford a bunch of piercings and tattoos, but you want us to feed you.”
Fast forward to Nov. 19 when the Thanksgiving baskets were given out from the Basin Food Bank. I got bothered. Really bothered. What bothered me was not the people who might spend their money on “sinner” items.
It was the people that I know make good money and can afford to purchase food for their Thanksgiving meal but took baskets for themselves.
There was one lady in line who asked what the baskets were for. I said for people who can’t afford a Thanksgiving meal. She said she could afford to buy her own food and she wouldn’t take a basket so it could go to a person that really needed it. God bless her.
So after writing about not judging people, I sure did it. Vehicle after vehicle.  It still frustrates me that items went to people that didn’t need the help. That by taking those items, a family that was really in need didn’t get food. How do you do that in good conscience?
My judgement didn’t stop there as many of the people had expensive vehicles, the latest phones, etc. I thought, you can afford those, but you are here taking free food. Just because something is free doesn’t mean we should take it. Especially when it is set up to help those in need.
The Basin First Baptist led a ham and turkey drive. The turkeys were for Thanksgiving and the hams for the upcoming Christmas baskets. Over 100 baskets were handed out, using every single turkey and ham. Volunteers had to go to the store twice to purchase more of both. There isn’t much left to fill the Christmas baskets.
I tried to justify my attitude because it was righteous; even so it is still wrong. At the same time, I hope telling on myself will help people understand that things like food baskets aren’t for everyone. They are for the elderly on fixed incomes who don’t have family that can help, for the single parent struggling to feed their children., the person that lost their job, etc.
I still feel  outraged,  but am working on it. Trying to practice what I preach. Ugh. So, please pardon my self-righteous judgmental attitude.