http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/does-mean-poor-america-195128330.html
Some good comments some really ignorant ones as well.
I’ve been poor all my life and the only ppl that have the “extras” are the ones that scam and cheat the system which is the minority not the majority.
Being poor means that you do without a lot of things that most ppl take for granted. It means at the end of the month you’re living on ramen noodles and cereal and lunchmeat. It means you’re out of dang near everything with no way to bridge the gap to get the things you need until you get paid again.
It means you barely have enough money to pay for the essentials let alone anything extra.
Ppl gripe about cell phones.. well let me say this.. do you think that all because someone is poor that they’re never going to need to leave the house?? I mean heaven forbid that you have an appointment or are out all day running errands and your child gets sick at school. Heaven forbid that you get into a car accident or that your clunker junker car breaks down and you get stranded someplace. Ppl today don’t stop to help you the way they once did.
Ppl don’t understand that its impossible when there are no bus lines in your town that you need a car because you cannot walk miles to the store then try to hand carry everything you had to get in order to get it home.
Ppl don’t understand that when you don’t get to do anything else at all for recreation/entertainment you will find a way to at least have basic cable or family cable. My daughter and I went without cable and internet for a year and I thought both of us would loose our ever loving minds. I dont care how many movies the libray has you can only watch the same thing so many times over.
Being poor means that you don’t get to give your kids the extras like name brand clothes, or an elaborate bday party or Christmas. Being poor means you have to go to work even with a high fever and feeling like you were hit by a mack truck because you can’t afford to take a day off of work.
It means a great many things too numerous to list. The one thing I really dislike is how quick ppl are to judge and blame the poor person as though ppl want to live on welfare.
Also just because a person has a flat screen tv or nice furniture and such does not mean they bought it brand new or rented to own it forever. I buy a lot of things that look brand new from used furniture stores and pawn shops. I have a freind who’s another 4H mom who gets all her family’s nice stuff at auctions for dirt cheap. She told me she got her kids a brand new wii still in the box for 15 dollars!! Who can beat that??
