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I ran into some trying times last year. I remember having only $5 in my pocket and that had to last me 2 weeks. I remember going to bed and my stomach was growling, waking up and having only water. Yeah, I had friends that I could have turned to but the stupid pride of mine prevented me from asking for help. I did go to a food bank eventually and they served me a hot meal and gave me some groceries.
I remember waking up and the first thought of the day was ", what am I going to do?" Nice way to start the day with that pit in my gut, no?
I am now employed full-time but I will never forget that humbling period. Ever. I am tearing up as I recall that, but life has a way of sorting itself out. The important thing is to never give up because the light is there inspite of the darkness.
When we were kids my father died. There was enough money to sustain us for a little over a year then we ran out. On a cold moon lit winter night my brother and I would drag a toboggan down the road to the wood pile..>We had to heat a 9 bedroom house with a huge roaring fire place..we could not afford to run the furnace..I remember us living off a 50 pound sack of potatoes for a month..My mother would melt down beef fat and make these very tasty French fries..
We got very poor for a couple of years..but we did not know we were poor..we had a lot of fun and it was normal...all it took was a little more effort to get buy. It would bother me years later when my wife would complain about not having enough spending money..and she would tell my children that they were poor...We were RICH...in comparison to what I had endured...
Funny..there were times when my sister and mother would go out in the Mercedes to buy mink coats...and there were times when there was no food...I have seen both ends..rich and poor.
Did you get sick of potatoes? I ate oatmeal for breakfast and a rice, egg and canned tuna scramble for about two months straight. I cannot stomach those two things for the life of me.
I ran into some trying times last year. I remember having only $5 in my pocket and that had to last me 2 weeks. I remember going to bed and my stomach was growling, waking up and having only water. Yeah, I had friends that I could have turned to but the stupid pride of mine prevented me from asking for help. I did go to a food bank eventually and they served me a hot meal and gave me some groceries.
I remember waking up and the first thought of the day was ", what am I going to do?" Nice way to start the day with that pit in my gut, no?
I am now employed full-time but I will never forget that humbling period. Ever. I am tearing up as I recall that, but life has a way of sorting itself out. The important thing is to never give up because the light is there inspite of the darkness.
Thank you for sharing! And I am glad things worked out for you. I remember how hard it was to sleep when I was hungry
After all this time I am still in poverty..My sister who is a great money maker and who has traveled the world tells me I live like a millionaire. I have everything that money can buy except for money. Somehow..things work out...I have about 60 dollars to my name and my only concern is cleaning the house and doing the laundry...You can be poor- but you have to be clean...appearance and presentation are everything...My only anxious moments are when it comes to keeping myself supplied with nicotine...other than that - no big deal...POOR means poor of the spirit...or stupid...It has little to do with money.
Did you get sick of potatoes? I ate oatmeal for breakfast and a rice, egg and canned tuna scramble for about two months straight. I cannot stomach those two things for the life of me.
Not really - once in a while someone would catch a big pike in the lake and my mum would do it up in tomatoes and garlic...as for the potatoes....You have to remember ..they were deep fried in beef fat...It's the old way..a little salt and pepper and vinegar -delicious...My mother eventually started up a restaurant on the lake and people would come for miles to eat her fries...Sounds like you know how to cook...A few onions some garlic and spice and you can do wonders...Today I filled up on luxury food.. but my daughter will be traveling to India and Africa this summer and I will have to fend for myself...If it means going back to eating potatoes so be it.. Canned tuna and egg? I will have to try that...I go heavy on the garlic and red pepper....
Thanks be to God I have never been as poor as you describe although I've been through plenty of pretty lean times. However I had a window to that world during my years as a foster parent. I will never forget shortly after I had a young girl placed in our home, that it was getting snowy and the kids walked about 3 blocks to the neighborhood elementary school, so I told her one day "we will go out to get you some snow boots today". So off we went. Walking from the car to the store she looked up at me and said "mom, what are snow boots?" She had never had anything but thin, cheap canvas tennis shoes. Pretty soon after that conversation I can say that I rarely felt sorry for myself again.
Thank you I currently work as a bank teller and customers are always making jokes/remarks about their money and saying things that make me cringe. One guy got upset that I couldn't cash a $4k check because it was stale dated and he asked me how much money I make and said he felt sorry for me and he hopes I'm in school because my job sucks, I must be new...blah blah blah.
Sorry you have to put up with that. One thing to think about, even though people like that may be monetarily wealthy (or appear so), there is also such a thing as emotional or spiritual poverty. It costs nothing to treat other people with dignity and respect, and it's sad that people like this customer haven't grasped that.
I've had some rough times when I was young, where I couldn't get what I needed, never mind what I wanted. And it's rough when the people in your immediate vicinity seem to have everything. I'm by no means glorifying poverty, but out of tough times comes resilience, strength, and character. I don't forget where I came from, I express gratitude for what I have, and I work my butt off to make sure that I don't have to worry about the roof over my head, the clothes on my back, and the food in my stomach ever again.
The people I really feel sorry for are the ones who have been mollycoddled all their lives, because, Heaven forbid they have to face any adversity. They'd be screwed.
Thank you for the advice, I will look up those books this week
I am sure those books are good, but a newer book to add to your list would be "The Difference" by Jean Chatzky. See if your local library has it. I know mine does.
I did not grow up poor. We always had good food on the table, and my parents always put away a little for that rainy day. My parents grew up in the Depression, so we were frugal -- so I didn't have the silver spoon mentality.
But, when I was 20, my father died of a heart attack. My mother was a stay at home mom, and Daddy dying took away the paycheck, about 8 years before he was to retire.... leaving her with a small amount of money and some investments he had started that were to pay out at 65.
She took the lessons she learned growing up and put them to good use. And she lived very nicely on very little till she died 2 years and 364 days ago. (June 4th). There wasn't a thing in her closet that didn't match everything else and couldn't be dressed up and down. There was little in prepackaged foods -- she cooked from scratch -- very well. (which when we were little -- not -- we have stories about my mom's not good cooking!)
I took from my mother's dealing with adversity the knowledge of I can make it, too... and that saving money is paramount.
But honestly -- people that say horrible things about poor people -- way too many people are way too close to the edge to swing their jaws about it... but they love to spout off.
Yep. Grew up on welfare and slept in parks until I was 15. Never celebrated a birthday, Christmas, or any other holiday until I met my wife. With 4 children in the family, I was the first one to own and drive a car at 16. I taught my mother how to drive when I was 25.
I now own my own home (outright) at 48, have been married to the same woman I took to my junior prom in High School, and we raised 3 children.
The "disdain" you talk about is the fact people say they "cannot make it." And "the world is stacked against them." I'm a black man and if I can do it, so can they. The fact is, MOST of those people have no motivation to improve their lot in life. No reason too. Everything is given to them.
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, what am I going to do?" Nice way to start the day with that pit in my gut, no? 
I currently work as a bank teller and customers are always making jokes/remarks about their money and saying things that make me cringe. One guy got upset that I couldn't cash a $4k check because it was stale dated and he asked me how much money I make and said he felt sorry for me and he hopes I'm in school because my job sucks, I must be new...blah blah blah.
