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It really really is. Hate to refer to the easy example BUT IT'S TRUE so:
When you're poor you buy $20 boots knowing they'll only last a year, bc you can't afford the $100 pair that will last two decades. You don't have credit to buy em with. You lose 2% every paycheck w no bank. https://twitter.com/Badgirlsbedhead/status/1342868167635431437
When you're poor you buy $20 boots knowing they'll only last a year, bc you can't afford the $100 pair that will last two decades. You don't have credit to buy em with. You lose 2% every paycheck w no bank. https://twitter.com/Badgirlsbedhead/status/1342868167635431437
When you don't have a oven or microwave your cheap meal buying choices are limited. When you don't have a freezer you can't stock up on sale frozen fish or meat or veg. When the McD's dollar menu is the best calorie bang for your buck even though you know it's unhealthy, you buy.
When you can't apply for many jobs because you don't have a reliable car to get to them. When you spend time you could be using to look for jobs giving plasma so you can get some cash to buy flour and yeast at Aldi to make bread for the week. Treading water constantly.
It sucks.
It sucks.
Not there now, knock on wood I won't be again. I'm grateful. But honestly, I had the same work ethic then than I do now. I honestly wouldn't have survived otherwise and that's not hyperbolic. But that trauma stays with you. I won't run from it. Not while other folk have the same.
Also, pet peeve - gardening is great but ain't gonna solve systematic problems. When we were broke as hell we grew like no other. Literally traded what we grew for rent and utilities with the only true libertarian I've ever met who was our landlord. Only gets you so far, really.
Not to mention growing food is difficult as hell, even if you know what you're doing - which the 3 of us did - if you don't have money upfront. Compost takes time. Soil amendment takes time and money. Seeds take money or luck. All can be undone in one bad severe rainstorm...
Rephrase for clarity: work ethic means jack. Horatio Alger myth is exactly that, a myth. Point was I worked as hard (if not more) when we were broke as I do now. Doesn't matter, when you can't get ahead. It takes so much $ and energy and time just to survive, when you're poor.
& it SHOULDN'T mean jack, because people who straight up can't match the ideal hustle work ethic- say, if they're disabled- deserve the right to live a life without worry of food, shelter, medical care as much as anyone. Every human being-esp in the richest country on Earth-does.
And recognizing where I was lucky through circumstance/privilege. When I was broke AF I could earn cash once a month working for my uncle. Even if we didn't have inherited wealth, had that lifeline. We wouldn't starve outright. Had a basement to sleep in. Etc.
Not everyone does.
Not everyone does.
I doubt many folks read this far but "oh, why didn't you get a bridge card"?
Well, combination of being indoctrinated against asking for help (unfounded) + very real fear that if it was discovered we were living in aforementioned basement everyone would be kicked out (founded).
Well, combination of being indoctrinated against asking for help (unfounded) + very real fear that if it was discovered we were living in aforementioned basement everyone would be kicked out (founded).
The lease was very clear that extra people weren't allowed, yet when the weather turned cold there we ended up. Couldn't live with ourselves if everyone got kicked out so low profile it was. Which meant not documenting our presence at all. Even if it meant plasma for food. Sigh.
The more depressing thing, surprisingly, was how many folks with jobs were giving plasma. Have you seen a FT teacher grading papers with one hand? I have, more than once. Because they needed the money. They multitasked like no other. This damn state/country. Smdh.
Legitimately, depressingly, one of the reasons I haven't recently isn't bc I need my plasma to function at my best but bc my now local plasma place is way sketchier. If I was living near Southfield I still would be. Because I don't know what rainy day is ahead.
