What It Is Like To Be Poor. (Quick, Easy, Non-Paragraphed Read For You Lazy Dudes)

[DCAllAfrican]

Being Poor
SEPTEMBER 3, 2005 BY JOHN SCALZI
Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.
Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.
Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they’re what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there’s not an $800 car in America that’s worth a damn.
Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.
Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends’ houses but never has friends over to yours.
Being poor is going to the restroom before you get in the school lunch line so your friends will be ahead of you and won’t hear you say “I get free lunch” when you get to the cashier.
Being poor is living next to the freeway.
Being poor is coming back to the car with your children in the back seat, clutching that box of Raisin Bran you just bought and trying to think of a way to make the kids understand that the box has to last.
Being poor is wondering if your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn’t mind when you ask for help.
Being poor is off-brand toys.
Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.
Being poor is knowing you can’t leave $5 on the coffee table when your friends are around.
Being poor is hoping your kids don’t have a growth spurt.
Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn’t have make dinner tonight because you’re not hungry anyway.
Being poor is Goodwill underwear.
Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you.
Being poor is feeling the glued soles tear off your supermarket shoes when you run around the playground.
Being poor is your kid’s school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks and no air conditioning.
Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal.
Being poor is relying on people who don’t give a damn about you.
Being poor is an overnight shift under florescent lights.
Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support.
Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.
Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger’s trash.
Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw.
Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a goddamned difference.
Being poor is people angry at you just for walking around in the mall.
Being poor is not taking the job because you can’t find someone you trust to watch your kids.
Being poor is the police busting into the apartment right next to yours.
Being poor is not talking to that girl because she’ll probably just laugh at your clothes.
Being poor is hoping you’ll be invited for dinner.
Being poor is a sidewalk with lots of brown glass on it.
Being poor is people thinking they know something about you by the way you talk.
Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise.
Being poor is your kid’s teacher assuming you don’t have any books in your home.
Being poor is six dollars short on the utility bill and no way to close the gap.
Being poor is crying when you drop the mac and cheese on the floor.
Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere.
Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually stupid.
Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually lazy.
Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap.
Being poor is never buying anything someone else hasn’t bought first.
Being poor is picking the 10 cent ramen instead of the 12 cent ramen because that’s two extra packages for every dollar.
Being poor is having to live with choices you didn’t know you made when you were 14 years old.
Being poor is getting tired of people wanting you to be grateful.
Being poor is knowing you’re being judged.
Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa.
Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by.
Being poor is deciding that it’s all right to base a relationship on shelter.
Being poor is knowing you really shouldn’t spend that buck on a Lotto ticket.
Being poor is hoping the register lady will spot you the dime.
Being poor is feeling helpless when your child makes the same mistakes you did, and won’t listen to you beg them against doing so.
Being poor is a cough that doesn’t go away.
Being poor is making sure you don’t spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.
Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.
Being poor is four years of night classes for an Associates of Art degree.
Being poor is a lumpy futon bed.
Being poor is knowing where the shelter is.
Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so.
Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor.
Being poor is seeing how few options you have.
Being poor is running in place.
Being poor is people wondering why you didn’t leave.

 

[antidope]

Some of these are nothing to be ashamed about and I wouldnt consider them a staple of being poor but I get the overall messages. Sucks that people have to live this way at all.

 

[thadocta]

sometimes i wonder if we can all be equal econmically and no classes should exist but then i think of how greedy ppl are and know it wont work

 

[higherground]

dude could've came up with a billion dollar idea with the same time he used to write that.

wait...

he probably is about to climb a few economical classes with this .

 

[still itachi]

did u write this?
sometimes i wonder if we can all be equal econmically and no classes should exist but then i think of how greedy ppl are and know it wont work

I don't consider myself greedy, but I can not get down with equal distribution of wealth. I work harder than some other people, and have invested way more time and money in myself to get better results...so I should be entitled to the spoils of my labor.

That said, I do think that every human being should be entitled to the bare necessities of life...food, shelter, clean water, a great-by-international-standards education. We are not a primitive society. We should at least be able to ensure that much for people.

Also...and here's where I become the Bad guy...many of these list items mention kids...we live in an age of where if you don't want a child it won't happen unless you're careless...People need to understand that Other people don't give a **** about your kids. You had em, you feed em. Children are one of the biggest drains on your two vital resources...your time and your money. If more people understood that there would be quite a few less children running around.

 

[knowledgebones72]

Also...and here's where I become the Bad guy...many of these list items mention kids...we live in an age of where if you don't want a child it won't happen unless you're careless...People need to understand that Other people don't give a **** about your kids. You had em, you feed em. Children are one of the biggest drains on your two vital resources...your time and your money. If more people understood that there would be quite a few less children running around.

What about the kids who get abandoned by parents who don't care or are unable to provide for them? Sounds like from your side, they should fend for themselves, which means if they gotta be child workers/prostitutes/soldiers then that's cool...I mean unless that's NOT what you're saying.

 

[currensy]

This list isn't very accurate.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

^ Accurate as in what? Different people have different accounts as to what being poor is. Nobody implied the list represents all poor people's experiences. So you calling it inaccurate, I don't understand.

 

[still itachi]

What about the kids who get abandoned by parents who don't care or are unable to provide for them? Sounds like from your side, they should fend for themselves, which means if they gotta be child workers/prostitutes/soldiers then that's cool...I mean unless that's NOT what you're saying.

Read again.  It's soooooo evidently, clearly, patently obvious that is not what I'm saying.

In fact, it's almost exactly the opposite of what I was saying.  What I was saying was, parents can not expect other people to care about them being poor and having no financial maneuverability because they chose to have kids and now have to work a **** job everyday with no hopes of ever advancing or getting education/training for something else, soley because they have no time since they have to grind everyday to put food on the table.  That's not society's problem.  It's theirs for choosing to have kids.  And when I say chose, that also applies to people who had kids by accident because they were not careful.  That is also a choice...the choice to throw caution to the wind.

If you check out what I was saying, I'm advocating that would-be parents not have kids until they have the financial wherewithal to care for them.  

I would never rag on a child.  Children do not get to decide who they are born to, which is the saddest part about life, because so much of your lot in life is based on who your parents are.

 

[let me post]

sometimes i wonder if we can all be equal econmically and no classes should exist but then i think of how greedy ppl are and know it wont work

this is such a poor persons mentality. if you worked hard for your dough and you were doing well financially, youd change your tune on your whole "greed" talk

 

[nocomment6]

The first point on the list is a fundamental point of making many rich.

 

[Trillmatic90]

Being poor sucks but helps build character, like most other things that suck.

 

[jayhood23]

That list sounds miserable, I'm sure there is a list for what it's like to be rich floating around somewhere out there.

 

[mgrand15]

Also...and here's where I become the Bad guy...many of these list items mention kids...we live in an age of where if you don't want a child it won't happen unless you're careless...People need to understand that Other people don't give a **** about your kids. You had em, you feed em. Children are one of the biggest drains on your two vital resources...your time and your money. If more people understood that there would be quite a few less children running around.

This is why it KILLS me when I see my cousins and friends or just people I know have kids at 19. Have kids at 20. You keep the "poor" cycle going by having kids that young. Forced to drop out of school and work a job with no real ladder. Forced to spend all your money and time on child expenses. I know everyone doesn't believe in abortions but I still SMH knowing what's to come. The sad part is, just like the people that can't afford kids but still have them, these KIDS don't know any better. It's what their parents did and what their parents' parents did. It's normal.

 

[girlslovewaffles]

Sucks to be poor, but at the end of the day, IT IS ALL ON YOU. No one gives a **** about you except yourself. Stop depending on others and then complaining when things don't work out.

Why are you having kids if you can barely afford to put food on the table? That is a decision you made and you're going to have to live with it. Stop doing stupid ****, make better decisions in life, and realize that sometimes, it is NOT OKAY TO MAKE MISTAKES. Don't think that you'll get a second chance. This is the real world where second chances don't always exist so you better make sure your first attempt succeeds.

Losers all share the same defeatist mentality. It's all about attitude and perception, improving on your weaknesses and developing your strengths. Poor people always say the same thing and it bugs the hell out of me. Just like all those Occupy Wallstreet clowns who complain about not having enough money and that the wealth distribution is unfair, yet they're defiling their city with their filth and guess what, not working.

Find what motivates you and feed off it every single second of your life. Do something with your life before your find yourself in a situation similar to OP's post.

 

[thadocta]

sometimes i wonder if we can all be equal econmically and no classes should exist but then i think of how greedy ppl are and know it wont work

this is such a poor persons mentality. if you worked hard for your dough and you were doing well financially, youd change your tune on your whole "greed" talk

u dont make sense bruh

 

[girlslovewaffles]

this is such a poor persons mentality. if you worked hard for your dough and you were doing well financially, youd change your tune on your whole "greed" talk

co-sign x infinity

instead of wishing everyone was on the same level, you should be wishing that you had the drive to get on a higher level.

 

[kiiing]

I live close to a expressway .. it's $1800/month for a one bedroom here.

I can relate to the first one .. I know how much everything I buy costs ..

 

[champcruthik]

Perspective. Somebody in the world always has it worse than you. I would like to think we have no idea living in America, compared to third-world countries dealing with immediate poverty and hunger. Lack of any medical attention or education.

 

[tr1ll]

 

[shoeking2101]

Who's perspective is this speaking from?

I know people who make 6 figures and still do half of the stuff in the OP.

 

[tr1ll]

Who's perspective is this speaking from?

I know people who make 6 figures and still do half of the stuff in the OP.

Theres a big difference between being poor and frugal.

 

[crcballer55]

Being Poor
SEPTEMBER 3, 2005 BY JOHN SCALZI

Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.
Being poor is deciding that it’s all right to base a relationship on shelter.
Being poor is knowing you really shouldn’t spend that buck on a Lotto ticket.
Being poor is making sure you don’t spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.
Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.

While I do sympathize with many points on the overall list, these in particular if addressed would help many people living below the poverty line get themselves out and into a better life.

There's a reason why payday loans are only in certain neighborhoods and it's not just because those are the people that use them. They use them because they're desperate and can't do the math on how much it's really costing them to not wait an extra couple days for that money.

"Poor" neighborhoods are also the ones that make up the majority of lotto revenue. If the amount most people spend on the lottery was invested instead there would be a lot more millionaires in those neighborhoods.

And leasing furniture? Almost as bad as the above two.

 

[tr1ll]

Being Poor

SEPTEMBER 3, 2005 BY JOHN SCALZI


Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.

Being poor is deciding that it’s all right to base a relationship on shelter.

Being poor is knowing you really shouldn’t spend that buck on a Lotto ticket.

Being poor is making sure you don’t spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.

Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.

While I do sympathize with many points on the overall list, these in particular if addressed would help many people living below the poverty line get themselves out and into a better life.

There's a reason why payday loans are only in certain neighborhoods and it's not just because those are the people that use them. They use them because they're desperate and can't do the math on how much it's really costing them to not wait an extra couple days for that money.

"Poor" neighborhoods are also the ones that make up the majority of lotto revenue. If the amount most people spend on the lottery was invested instead there would be a lot more millionaires in those neighborhoods.

And leasing furniture? Almost as bad as the above two.

Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so.

 

[shoedinidc]

#getoffurass and get $