The Desperation of Poverty

[davidthegnome]

So, I was at work today, for my normal Sunday shift - 8 AM to 8 PM, and I was tired, and cranky, and really eager to get out by the time 7:30 rolled around. The place I work at is a small gas station/convenience store.

One of our regulars came in at about that time - an older gentlemen, late forties or early fifties, polite enough fellow, but I don't believe I've ever seen him smile. Usually it's all business - and I've never seen him come in any time other than Sunday night when he'll buy a six pack.

As I was ringing it up for him, I asked him if he was watching the big game. He looks at me, expression unchanging from his usual bland demeanor and tells me, "No, I had to give up on the cable a while ago. I figured it was more important to pay for heat, and even that is tough. This will be the first year in many, many years, that I haven't watched the super bowl."

Now this guy had the look of a long time worker who had probably earned so much damage to his body that he had to give it up. He was dressed very lightly for our current freezing weather (20 below 0 with the wind chill here in Northern Maine - and getting colder) and didn't even have a good coat on, just an old DOT vest over what looked like a zipped up sweater. His car was broken down, so he had had to borrow someone's truck to get to the store to begin with.

I didn't know what the hell to say. I winced, I grimaced, I shook my head over how bad that sucked. I sold him his beer, put it in a bag - and bid him a good night as he told me to "Have fun!" on his way out.

It occurs to me tonight... as I sit here typing at a computer I was barely able to pay for... in the upstairs area of my parents home... that while my life might suck, I have it no where near as bad as that guy. A place to live, food, heat, these things really aren't something I have to fret about, thanks to my family. I have lived in serious poverty before, where I could not afford to buy milk for my toddler son... I would rather remove any three body parts than go back to that.

What happens though, when you don't have that support? What happens when you can't earn enough money to get by, when it's 20 below zero outside... you've already given up your cable and your phone service... and pretty soon, you won't be able to pay for heat. If you're lucky, maybe you've got a friend you can stay with. Otherwise... the homeless shelters are pretty full, the soup kitchens are pretty busy - and most of the people who have any real money will tell you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get a job, or a better job, to work harder and longer.

So much of our social safety net has been obliterated, so many of our people turned to the worship of "job creators" - as if merely creating jobs makes someone some sort of hero. So many of us have taken the mentality that anyone who is struggling, freezing, or starving, either isn't working hard enough or isn't ambitious enough. I've really got to say..... that that is the biggest crock of shit on earth. That people who are struggling, desperate, and/or in poverty, have only themselves to blame. While I don't deny that we all bare some responsibility for own well-being, when we cannot meet that responsibility, when we struggle and falter and fail... then it is the duty, even the sacred obligation of any society even resembling righteous or just or compassionate... to step in and help.

How the hell did we end up with a Senate and Congress full of republican asshats? How the hell is our President (who I like, by the way, so please don't start with the "Obama hater" shit) pushing for a trade deal that is seriously going to screw over the American worker and send even more of our jobs over seas? How the hell is it, that people who have worked for decades lose their retirement, their pensions, their security... because some damn politician thinks that what they've earned is somehow fair game... somehow an "entitlement".

Most of these politicians haven't got a damn clue what it's like to be a member of the working class, or to be in poverty, or to have to worry about paying for the basic necessities of life. I'm sick of it.

We need to start coming out swinging in favor of supporting the working class and the impoverished as well as the middle class. We need to boost our economy, and help our Country grow... starting from the bottom. We need to make sure that people who have given years of their life to this Country in service don't have to ever worry about freezing to death. This is the sort of thing that FDR realized and why I believe he was the greatest President we ever had.

We have no excuse for how bad things have gotten for America's poor - or for how severely our party today ignores them, degrades them, or uses them as a scapegoat.

Being the richest Country in the world is no damn good if the poorest of us can't heat our homes.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I share your values.

This nation has been rapidly getting more disgraceful over time. We have to take it back somehow, and put it to rights

And what I said about the nation can pretty much be said about the world.

[Broward]

2. This country has lost its way.

[BlueJazz]

3. Sadly, We've heard this ridiculous talk before. "Work hard and save your money" for old age.

When it takes 2 jobs just make ends meet and have somewhat of a happy life, all the "neat" little slogans are just more of the rich Bullshit.

[Mnemosyne]

4. I got a LIHEAP grant for natural gas heating, but cannot afford the electric to run it after

this month. I understand the not smiling, very well.

[daredtowork]

8. This last for 5 years

Even though I need it, I didn't apply for 2 reasons.

1) I have a housemate, and the financials seemed complicated because of that. My housemate is part time and retired on the lowest form of Social Security, but still the paperwork seemed a hassle. It was also a long distance number just to talk to anyone about it.

2) If you can only get it for 5 years, I thought I better save it for when I'm elderly, because I will probably be just as poor then.

My housemate has kindly agreed to take on the heating bill for the last 3 years. Before then I always paid it because I'm the primary resident, so I don't feel this is unfair. On the other hand, since I AM the primary resident, I'd like to go back to paying all the bills as soon as possible and maintain good relations with a good housemate, and maintain a good housing arrangement.

[Mnemosyne]

63. It can be a real pith, but I have never heard it is limited to 5 years anywhere.

It most likely depends on your state. If it is limited in your state you may still want to try, as the new state Congresses may kill it along with everything else that helps anyone at a low point, other than themselves.

Good luck!

[woo me with science]

5. K&R Outstanding Post.

Our politicians and their mouthpieces have sold their conscience, their souls, their human decency.

There is no excuse for it. None.

[KingCharlemagne]

6. Great piece from the bottom of the heart. I'm staring down the barrel of a proverbial

gun myself. Got about 2 more months of expenses and then, if no job, it will be time to make some hard choices like this gentleman of whom you write has had to make. By the time one is over 50, if one is childless, the safety net one might have depended upon is largely gone (if it ever existed).

I'd like to leave you with a little wisdom from Emma Goldman from about a century ago that still holds true today:

Ask for work. If they don't give you work, ask for bread. If they do not give you work or bread, then take bread.

Anarchism and Other Essays (1910)

[jwirr]

12. I am sorry to hear about your situation. I think that many of the people who are in real trouble

are like you between 50 and 62 when you can get Social Security. I know a little bit about welfare and there is not a lot out there for that group unless they have minor children. General Assistance does not give you enough to live on. Food stamps are good but if you do not have a kitchen they do not give them to you. I can see why some are suggesting that we need to lower the age for Social Security.

[KingCharlemagne]

13. Two thoughts: either lower the age of SS eligibility to 50 or get serious about

enforcing the laws against age discrimination. There's so much of the latter that it beggars the mind. I'm sending out resumes with half of my relevant work experience simply deleted so as not to give away my age until I'm in the interview. Here's a question I faced in an interview a couple years ago:

"How will you feel working around a bunch of younger people?" Cue jaw drop and double-take. I'm pretty sure my age is what determined there would be no call back for a 3rd interview or job offer, although i can't say for sure.

Alternatively, an older proposal from the early 70s needs revisiting: the Guaranteed Annual Income (aka "Negative Income Tax&quot .

One gets few opportunities for 'do-overs' after 50, a lesson I've learned to my regret. I guess I had used up my stock before I hit 50.

[Curmudgeoness]

41. You and I are in the same shoes.

I lost my job three days after my 61st birthday. Luckily, I have unemployment for six months, then I will have to deal with six months of no income unless I find another job. And that is not working out so well after five months of searching. I have excellent skills and experience, and my resume has gotten me many interviews, but I can tell when I walk in the door that they are disappointed to see an old lady.

Since I have not had any luck in my job search, I don't know that I am the best one to give advice, but I have a few suggestions that I am trying out. First, for the resume, I have totally done away with the history of where I worked and when I worked there. Instead, I created a resume that lists all the things that I have done and my skill sets with bullet points. Instead of job history, one of the bullet points lists the types of industries that I have experience in.

Another thing that I have started to do is to broach the question of my age. It is not legal for them to ask any questions regarding my age, but I decided that they were making decisions based on it anyways, so I might as well discuss it myself. I have not had bad results from it and it might help me at some point. What I do say is something like "I realize that you cannot ask me about my age, and some employers may be reluctant to hire me, thinking that I will not be here long enough to be worth the training. I just want to say that I must work for another five years, and if I find a job that I truly enjoy, I would want to stay even longer. It is quite possible that I could be working here for ten years." I don't know if this is a problem to do or not, but it just has to be brought into the light of day since decisions are being made without my input if I don't say something.

My last suggestion is for you to cut back as far as you can right now, not after your money is depleted. I know it is not ideal, but every penny that you are not spending now will get you a little farther if you are unlucky enough to still be unemployed. I am down to bare necessities and hope that my savings will be enough to get me to age 62 and SS if I must take it early.

I wish you luck and hope that you are luckier than I have been in finding work. Keep thinking positive.

[KingCharlemagne]

45. With all the talk about 'white privilege,' some talk should also be given to 'male privilege,'

I think. As perilous as my circumstances are, I would be even more vulnerable to the sexist, misogynist shit were I a woman in my 50s or older. So you have my sympathies. Your approach makes as much sense as any. I use a skills resume with an abbreviated experience section and as few dates as I can get away with and still seem reasonably honest.

The fact that you and I are having to resort to such shenanigans to game the landscape is proof positive of how rotten the system has become for the victims this OP has so deftly illuminated. Nothing a Guaranteed Annual Income wouldn't cure but, hey, Socialism . . .

On a humorous (black comedy) note, for a Democratic Socialist, I have been surprisingly anti-social over the years, a fact I am now coming to rue given the indisputable evidence that 'networking' is the most efficient and productive approach to job hunting (per What Color is Your Parachute). I hope you can give that book a look if you have not yet done so; it will definitely open your eyes to other ways of looking for a position.

[Curmudgeoness]

51. I think that age discrimination is so rampant

that it really doesn't matter if you are male or female. At the point of certain ages, the male privilege disappears---at least in the job market.

I read that book years ago, when it first came out, but don't remember much about it. I know that it didn't do a think for me. I have definitely been networking as much as I can....the next step will be going up to perfect strangers. I have even given my resume to my neighbors, my insurance agent, my state reps, and everyone I have ever worked for or with. I have only had one time that networking has ever gotten me a job, and that was because a friend was working in an employment agency. My most successful strategy has been to work for a temp agency (I do office work). I am very capable, and have gotten job offers for full time because the managers have seen my work and liked it. When I get closer to the end of unemployment, that is my strategy this time as well.

[Newest Reality]

54. Add me to the

list.

I won't even bother to convey the details of the last five years in my late fifties, but I can say I totally empathize with your circumstances and know several people who are in our shoes.

Good fortune to you.

[Curmudgeoness]

56. Sadly, there are too many in our shoes.

I am luckier than some, since I am close to the age where I can take early SS and will not have to go too long with no income. And let me say that SS is the best program this country has ever created---better than workers' comp or unemployment or welfare or food stamps, even though those programs are valuable as well. I will have to hold my breath for a while, but it will allow me to breathe.

I hope that things go well for you too.

[jwirr]

52. I like the guaranteed Annual Income. It would help everyone that is in trouble and put money back

into the economy.

[Newest Reality]

53. Yes, what with

improved "efficiency" and increased productivity, not to mention a new wave of automation busting out, discussions about a GAI are cropping up and with good reason.

Too bad we have to deal with the right-wing mindset that infests the media portrayal of a work ethic that no longer applies in relationship to the technological and economic changes we face.

In my opinion, it may come down to a GAI or a form of passive genocide as more and more people become expendable as labor.

Marshall Brain is quite a good advocate for a GAI approach, has given it much thought, and has even formulated some detailed ideas about how to do it and pay for it. His sci-fi story, Manna, gives a very vivid picture about two different results and proves to be a very moving and poignant story.

We cannot depend on the oligarchs and corporate mindset to support this at this point. They and there political lackeys have a different agenda.

[jwirr]

55. Yes. this last election has pretty much put a stop to any reasonable changes that address the

needs of anyone but the corporations and their stockholders.

Actually there is one government program that already does what a GAI would do - SSI. But it only effects the poor. For example if one gets a minimum social security check SSI gives an added income so that it is at least $700+ a month. This program also helps disabled who are not getting SSDI or SSA in the same way. Now if they were to add the idea of job availability to the application they could cover people over 50 who do not qualify for other benefits.

[ND-Dem]

19. Best of luck and good wishes to you sir.

[KingCharlemagne]

21. Thanks. Have an interview on Tuesday and am dreading

the whole over-50 thing. Oh well. If age discrimination weren't practiced so widely and so tolerated, I wouldn't have had to lie to get the fucking interview.

[ND-Dem]

22. Don't dread. Read something uplifting and go in relaxed. I hope you get the job!

[closeupready]

23. Good luck! You'll nail it, I'm sure.

[KingCharlemagne]

24. Thanks. If they're looking for that 'professorial' look, I'm a shoe-in. If, OTOH, they're a bunch

of I-youngsters, I fear I shall once again get a polite rejection. (Interesting feature about today's job market: even after you interview, you're lucky to get a rejection letter or email if you don't get the job. Result is that you have to harass and harangue the potential employer to find out that you're no longer in the running. It's a brave new world out there and I'm not part of it.)

[mountain grammy]

26. Best of luck. Go in there with your head up high

reeking of confidence. Easy for me to say.. 67 and a regular check every month with Medicare, but I've been there. I do think things are even worse now.

[KingCharlemagne]

29. Thank you. Didn't mean to derail this excellent OP with my own plight. But I do

appreciate all the good wishes coming my way from you and others. (This allows me to kick this excellent OP back up to the top for still wider exposure too.)

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

40. What do you do? n/t

[KingCharlemagne]

44. I've worn many hats at different points. Most recently, I did Technical Support and

Analysis (SQL, blah-blah-blah). Before that, I held jobs as a Writer and Editor, as a Teacher, and as a Manager.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

50. What kind of writing?

Technical maybe? Any special qualifications, education...?
What area do you live in?
Feel free to DUmail if you'd prefer.

[YarnAddict]

7. You are making a lot of assumptions

about someone you know next to nothing about.

[jtuck004]

9. 10 million people have fallen into poverty in the past 6 years, another 20-30 million

into near poverty. The majority of them and their children will now be in poverty the rest of their lives.

Not assumptions. Fact. So probably a pretty good read, given that the guy says he had to give up cable to try and pay for heat. He's not alone, by any stretch.

[grasswire]

10. David lives in a rural small town.

He probably knows enough about the guy.

[KingCharlemagne]

14. Care to be specific or just going to do a routine 'drive by' hit and

run?

[ND-Dem]

20. and you have poor reading skills.

[mountain grammy]

27. Exactly what you are doing.

[davidthegnome]

33. With respect -

I don't know him well at all, that's true. I do know that he worked for the DOT for many years (department of transportation) is a war veteran (of which war, I don't know) some other things I know from the brief conversations we've had and what he's told me. So, I can tell you that this is a man who gave years of his life working for the public and for his Country overall.

I believe I made one assumption - that his work had driven him eventually into disability. That may have been inaccurate, as I really don't know the specific details of that. I do know though, that this is a man who is really struggling - who can barely afford to pay for heat, who's car broke down on a night that it's cold enough to hurt your face just standing outside, hurts to breathe. I do know that he wasn't dressed for the weather. He told me he was "cold to the bone".

Now maybe I did make an assumption, maybe I even made a couple. That this was a struggling man though, who was cold and in need... there was no assumption there. If that's not enough to fire our hearts, I'm not sure what is.

[KingCharlemagne]

37. You're a far better person than I for dignifying YarnAddict's hit and run post -- never

defended, never elaborated upon -- with such a considerate reply. I doubt he or she will have the courtesy to respond to you or any of us who spoke up on your behalf. But a hat tip to you nonetheless!

[YarnAddict]

65. David, just want to let you know

that I do intend to respond. I've been thinking a lot about what/how much to share on an Internet board. Need to give it some more thought before I sit down and write what could be a lengthy post.

[rhett o rick]

61. Do you have a point or do we have to guess? nm

[Thinkingabout]

11. I wonder what the younger generations are going to do, especially without pensions.

It is good to have SS but it does not fill all the needs. SS is based on the highest 35 years of paying into the system. If you only work 30 years it is still divided in 35 to get the benefit. I look around myself and see some who are "gaming" the system but it games them if they do not pay.

As in your case you are living with your parents and it is good to be able to live with your parents but what happens when your parents may not be here any more. There are going to be some very critical times ahead for so many. I am currently working a low wage to increase my SS benefit, I had some very low wage years in the past, it isn't easy, I am older, hurt more, not as much energy but I push on.

It would be so good to get the wages up to a livable amount. We don't have to have new vehicles and a big house nor do we need a boat, just enough money to know I can pay the utilities, etc.

It is going to take electing something besides Republicans, this where Democrats are going to have to step up to the plate, we did fairly well with a forty year Democrat Congress, we are going to have to go back to it again.

[davidthegnome]

35. I try not to think that far ahead.

Which maybe isn't smart, but there's really not much I can do about it at the moment. I've got enough debt (including college debt) to keep me from going back to school any time soon - definitely not ready to take on the additional thousands furthering my education would cost.

My parents won't be around forever, but I am hoping that, in the years to come, I will eventually be able to find a decent enough job that I don't have to struggle too much. I try to be somewhat politically active, pay my taxes, make donations when I can afford to (which is rare). Mostly though, my family... we all kind of rely on each other - and it's getting bigger. I don't think we'll have to worry about the basics, not just my parents, but my siblings all live nearby... and, pretty much all of them have better jobs than I do.

A livable amount would be great - and I'm glad to help fight for it. I don't really foresee any kind of real financial independence in my future though. That's okay for me, I'll be able to live.

I worry about those of us who are alone, who have no family or friends who have their backs. I worry about older folks freezing, or going hungry. I worry about young parents with small children. I'm getting really angry at the politicians who are pushing austerity and telling us that things like social security are entitlements. I'm getting angry at republicans who tell me that food stamp recipients should be drug tested. I mean, damn, like it's such a bad thing to pay some taxes so people don't have to starve?

The future may be tough, but if we can bring some focus back to helping those in need, those in poverty... I think we can make it better.

[Thinkingabout]

36. Hopefully this will get changed, as I say SS is good and really helps, I know lots are living on SS

alone, has to be tough but with GOP always trying to take this away would really hurt lots of people. I sure hope things works out well for you, hope you find employment at a livable wage, you sound like a very caring person, someone we may need to be in Congress, etc in the future.

[99Forever]

15. There are many of us that share your views.

How things will be changed, I don't know, but they surely will, probably not peacefully, but by now even that doesn't seem so awful.

[project_bluebook]

16. Its a rich mans world, even after 6 year of Obama

Number in poverty has grown yet the rich are multitudes richer and the stock market is at an all time high. This path will not change other then another crash which will put thousands more into poverty and then the wealth distribution cycle will start again.

[ND-Dem]

18. Obama is just another rich man himself. He's black, so what. He's just another rich man.

[ND-Dem]

17. They aren't interested and don't care and that's the truth. Looking to our political class to

'help' us is a fool's game. Either we help ourselves or die.

[KingCharlemagne]

25. After Katrina, the writing was on the wall for all who cared to read it. We make everything, so we

might as well make a better society while we're at it.

[ND-Dem]

38. +100

[dembotoz]

28. here is wiscosin it just gonna get worse

the pee in a cup cause the poor are addicts mentality is taking hold

[mountain grammy]

30. This is such a good post..

The only excuse for the rise in poverty in America is greed. That's about as bad as it can get.

[closeupready]

32. That is correct. The US as a nation is richer than ever. It's just not being distributed equitably

Indeed, the distribution of money is getting worse for the middle class, every year.

[ND-Dem]

48. Indeed. I wish people understood that as a nation, we're richer than ever. Just more being

siphoned off to the super-rich. That's why we can't afford a social safety net or a jobs program. Nothing but war and tax breaks.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

58. yeah, the poor are just making bad stock market choices.

[raven mad]

31. Weeping.

Highly recommended.

[byronius]

34. A recent Majority Report interview had a solution.

An economist who just wrote a book about the effects of a Basic Guaranteed Income, and the different ways to approach that concept.

Made a lot of sense. Cheap at the price, to make sure American citizens have the basics.

I've become a bit of a Leveler. The Hoarders have demonstrated that they're not only unethical and anti-American; if they have too much they try to destroy the world. Clearly they can afford to help out a great deal more. Fuck the games they play; Poor People Matter.

[WDIM]

39. The lie of hard work.

What i dont understand is why the hardest working people in this country usually have the least.

The rich dont get rich fron hard work they get rich from money creating money.

The hard workers the true back bone of this country is left in poverty or riddled with debt.

[Johnny Rash]

42. I think those Global DEALS being tabled right now are only going to make more POORS!

I am saying this, because I have seen first hand what NAFTA did to the middle-class; It simply cut it out in HALF!

Today, a lot of us are waking up and realize what that real mean.

[democrank]

43. Thank you so much for posting this, dtg.

It brought tears to my eyes.

[greatlaurel]

46. Great opening post. Thank you.

The greatest obstacle is the divide and conquer propaganda which has so effectively brainwashed the white working and lower middle classes into believing people of color and the poor are their enemies instead of their brothers and sisters with the same problems caused by the same class struggle. The white rural populations have been flooded by the John Birch type propaganda since the take over of local media outlets by right wing corporations. Just take a look at who owns the all the media here in Ohio. Radio, TV and print are all nearly all owned by right wing outfits. The Columbus Dispatch, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cleveland Plain Dealer are all owned by right wingers. The small town newspapers have pretty much been bought up by a couple of right wing nuts, especially Adams Publishing. There are a very few independent papers and a few owned by Gannett, not a bastion of liberality. A huge number of newspapers around the country have been purchased by the shady and very secretive Adams Publishing Group LLC. Our local paper is owned by Adams and they routinely run the most vile racist and classist propaganda attacking people of color and the poor. One local author usually writes a column that is nearly verbatim Rush Limbaugh and KKK talking points.

Keep writing, David. We need your voice.

[Estevan]

47. Meanwhile...

Paris Hilton just dropped $25K On a Pomeranian.

[ReRe]

49. K&R

Thanks so much for sharing those thoughts. It might behoove us all to make a list of agencies where people can get help and carry copies of the list in our pocket. When we run into folks like this, hand it to them.

I live in a small city where a church held it's annual Super Bowl supper for homeless and needy to come and eat and watch the Super Bowl last night. There was a report on the early morning news this morning. They talked to a fellow that was homeless (living in a local shelter) and I would never have known he was homeless had I seen him out in the community. Well spoken and clean, clearly NOT a "wino."

[Adam051188]

57. "AIN'T NO GODDAM GOOD"

i think it's great

i buy poor people tears at my local yacht club to get the crud out of the intake manifolds of my jet ski's. stuff works great!

[wolfie001]

59. This outstanding post should be........

required reading for all of the Dems in Congress and the Senate. Send a copy to the WH as well. STAT!!

[woo me with science]

60. kick

[Dont call me Shirley]

62. An ugly game it is the rich play, they pleasure themselves in making us suffer.

The world is for all of us to share. We were all born onto this beautiful earth and we all deserve to have our basic needs met from the resources of this earth. NO ONE person deserves to take more than that person needs. NO ONE person deserves to withhold the resources of this earth from another. Time to divide the Hoarder's from their lavish stashes.

[ladyVet]

64. Great post.

I don't think people can truly feel what it's like to be poor unless they live it for a while. It's not just doing without a second car, or buying a three bedroom house instead of a four bedroom, or not sending the kids to summer camp this year. It's about deciding to let one utility bill go this week so you can buy groceries, or get a radiator hose and some antifreeze, or take the kid to the walk-in clinic, and hope like hell they don't decide you've been late once too often and cut your lights/water/gas off.

It's only being able to buy the cheapest food, and less of it than you really need, like having spaghetti with no meat a few times a week, and saving some of your dinner so you can eat it at work, meaning you only actually eat one meal a day.

It's doing without decent clothes yourself so your kids won't get made fun of in school. It means not going to the dentist so you can take the kids; of going to work sick because you already missed a day this month and you don't dare take another day, no matter that you're throwing up and can't see straight.

It means scrounging up scrap metal for a few extra dollars; or back in the day of picking up every soda bottle for the five cents you got, so maybe you could afford a couple of gallons of gas to get to that job you're supposed to be so grateful for, that you can't make a living on. Or collecting shit other people threw out in the trash, when you worked on a garbage truck, because you found clothes and shoes the kids might be able to wear and you could use that money saved to buy a load of coal that might get you through the winter.

It's going to bed every night wondering what disaster is going to happen the next day, because you know it's coming. And you won't have any money to fix whatever breaks, or wears out, because you're behind on the bills from the last thing that went wrong.

It's going into debt at Christmas because you're kids haven't had presents for two years, and you hate to see the look in their eyes when there's nothing for them. Often not even a tree, because they cost money, too.

It's lying about not having parties, or vacations, or trips to the movies or anything else that's fun, because you just can't afford it. It's about wondering why you work so hard, and still can't even begin to see that light at the end of the tunnel. It's about knowing you need a better job, but not being able to get one, because you don't have the education, or you're too old, or the wrong skin color, or the wrong sex for anybody to give you a chance.

All of the above has happened to me, more than once, throughout my life. I'm living the poor man's nightmare every single day.