General Discussion
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HERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ALL POOR CHILDREN KNOW that Republican Politicians don't seem to know (or care).
1. A fingernail file can be used to file a jagged edge if a tooth breaks.
2. We go to the doctor when were sick, but mom doesnt.
3. We have to move a lot because sometimes we cant afford the rent.
4. I dont always tell my mom when I need school supplies. I can tell it makes her nervous.
5. Having to print something for school gives me anxiety. Our printer doesnt always have ink. Its easier for me to just get a bad grade on the project than admit to the teacher I cant afford to print.
6. Ditto homework that requires the internet. Sometimes we have it, sometimes we dont. People say use the library but theres not always gas money to get there and they are only open one evening a week.
7. God doesnt hear my prayers.
8. The only time Ive ever been to a store to buy new clothes is when my aunt took me. The dressing rooms were foreign to me.
9. I learned how to cook ramen noodles when I was six years old. I was hungry when I got home from school and mom wasnt ever there to cook because she was working.
10. Healthy snacks are expensive. Ramen noodles are cheap.
11. My grandmother criticizes my mom for not feeding us more healthy food. What she doesnt understand is that healthy food usually costs a lot more.
12. We can never get the chicken nuggets at McDonalds. We have to order from the dollar menu that mom calls garbage food.
13. Every day when I get off the bus, Im scared until I get inside the house. Moms at work when I get home.
14. I know Id be a really good football player, but weve never been able to afford for me to play.
15. When I go somewhere where theres a piano, I love to try to play. I know Id be really good but well never be able to afford a piano or lessons.
16. I dont wear different clothes every day.
17. We have to buy all white socks because if one gets lost or torn up, it may be a while before we buy more.
18. We are really good at cleaning our house with stuff that most people dont use to clean, like bleach and vinegar.
19. I needed colored pencils for a project once. My teacher told me that if I didnt bring them, I wouldnt be able to do my project and Id get a zero. I told the teacher I didnt have any and she told me Id better figure it out. On the way to school, my mom went into the grocery store. I was confused because she told me she didnt have money. When she came out, she had the pencils but they were in her purse, not in a sack. I think she stole them. She was crying.
20. Mom keeps her toothbrush in her bedroom so that it doesnt accidentally brush up against ours in the bathroom. Germs and she cant afford to get sick and miss work or go to the doctor.
21. I have no idea what other kids are talking about when theyre talking about the latest TV shows. Weve never had cable.
22. I sometimes dread the summer and weekends because at school, I eat two meals a day.
23. Ive never tasted any of the cool cereals that my friends talk about.
24. When I get money from relatives for my birthday or Christmas, I use it to buy things I dont want to ask mom for, like hair products and underwear.
25. My hair nearly always get too long between haircuts. I got sent home from school once because of it. Mom cut it herself.
26. Other kids make fun of my clothes.
27. I know what its like to be really cold in the wintertime.
28. We wear our jackets and gloves in the house in the winter.
29. When our dryer broke, we had to hang our clothes to dry. It took all weekend for my jeans to dry in the wintertime.
30. Christmas is about things we need, not things we want.
31. We can never buy cool clothes just cuz. They always have to be things that have a dual purpose. We can wear them to school, church, or whatever.
32. Ive never been to summer camp. Even if we could afford to go, Id be embarrassed about my old underwear.
33. I did go to summer camp. I was the only kid who could never buy snacks from the canteen.
34. I got my first job babysitting when I was 14. I couldnt spend the money. We needed it for bills.
35. Sometimes we have to put stuff back in the checkout line because we dont have enough money. The cereal always gets put back first.
36. Cashing a check is hard if you dont have a checking account. You have to pay to cash it.
37. Im an expert on what can and cant be bought with SNAP and WIC.
38. One Christmas, we had no money so we went to the Dollar Tree where everything is a dollar Mom gave us each $5 and told us to go shopping for each other. It was the weirdest and funnest Christmas ever.
39. Sometimes we have to use dish liquid in the washing machine. It works if you only use a small squirt.
40. Sometimes we get sick and go to the doctor. He gives us an antibiotic and tell us to start it, but if he calls to say that our strep test came back negative, we can stop taking it. When this happens, Mom keeps that medicine so that she can take it if she has an emergency and gets sick.
41. Sometimes we want to pack cool lunches like some other kids do, but its cheaper to eat the school cafeteria food. Mom says the foods not healthy, but we get free lunches so thats what we eat. Mom gives us money every day so that we can buy an extra milk at school. Its cheaper than if we bought it at the grocery store.
42. Sometimes we dont eat if theres a mean kid in the line. We dont want them to know were getting free lunch. Theyll make fun of us forever.
43. Duct tape can fix almost anything. Mom makes a game out of it. If a window gets a crack in it, she fixes it with duct tape and uses the tape to make cool designs.
44. I sit really quietly when I get an ice cream cone, enjoying every lick.
45. I share a bedroom with my two younger siblings. Its impossible to find a quiet place to do my homework.
46. I didnt do as well as I should have in math classes because I couldnt afford the calculator that was required.
47. I couldnt be in Boy Scouts because we couldnt buy the uniforms.
48. I couldnt be in Girl Scouts because we couldnt afford the books and patches.
49. You can make a whole meal out of gravy and white bread.
50. White bread is usually cheaper than wheat bread.
51. Spending the night at a friends house is awesome. They always have plenty food.
52. Butter and sugar sandwiches are the best.
53. We dont trust the police. We know they wont treat us fairly.
54. We eat a lot of: potatoes, beans, and cheap bread.
55. My mom lies about not wanting seconds.
56. Ive learned that when mom says do you want the rest of this [food]?, what shes saying is if you dont want it, then Ill eat. Ive learned to say Im full, even if Im not, so that she will eat.
57. Hamburger Helper feels like a gourmet meal.
58. When I got home one day, I let it slip that the other kids went on a field trip and I stayed behind. She asked why I didnt go and I told her it cost money and I didnt want to ask. Later, I heard her crying.
59. Ive had to stay home from school when my little brother was sick because Mom couldnt miss work.
60. I know what day Frito Lay dumps the expired chips in a dumpster.
61. We cant always afford to go to the laundromat and we have to wear dirty clothes.
62. A bottle of Febreeze can be used to cover the smell of dirty clothes.
63. When my shoes start to become too small, I get worried.
64. My pants are always too short about two months after we buy them.
65. I know exactly how many miles our car will go after the low fuel light comes on.
66. We take blankets in the car because the car doesnt have heat.
67. Ive never had a birthday party.
68. We dont always get our presents birthday and Christmas at the right time.
69. When my mom complained to her sister about not having enough money to raise her kids, her sister told her you should have closed your legs.
70. Weve never been able to take all of the school supplies that we were supposed to have.
71. Ive never bought a school yearbook or school pictures.
72. Ive never bought a book at a school book fair.
73. One winter when we ran out of propane and couldnt buy any for a week, mom made us one huge bed in the floor in the living room. She brought every blanket in the house and we stayed in there all the time staying warm.
74. Our grass gets high sometimes. We dont have a lawn mower and mom never has enough money to buy one. She usually does have $50 to pay someone to mow the grass but sometimes she has to wait a couple of weeks to get the money.
75. Mom misses my open houses at school and my football games because she doesnt always have gas. She has a neighbor friend who I can ride with to my games.
76. Ive never had a new coat. Mom says that were lucky that someone always gives us one of their old ones just when we need one.
77. We learned that washing our clothes by hand is a lot of work. Our washer broke and it was two months before we could afford a new one.
78. When we finally got a new washer, Mom bought it at a place where you can rent to own. It costs twice as much to buy things that way. Mom says its expensive to be poor.
79. One time Mom had to write a check for the electric bill. She said she knew that she didnt have the money in the bank, but she had to do it or they would cut off our electricity. She said the bank would pay it. They did, but she had to pay them an extra $30 because of not having enough money in the bank. The electric bill was late and we had to pay the electric company $10 for being late.
80. Weve never met our doctor. We go to a clinic and a nurse sees us every time.
81. If we go to the grocery store and pay with money, the clerks are nice. When we pay with our food stamp card, the clerks are rude.
82. We know that if we go to college, its going to cost us a lot of money because well have to get loans. Poor kids have to pay a lot more for an education.
83. We dont get to participate in some school activities if they cost money. Even stuff like band costs more money than we can afford.
84. We eat a lot of unhealthy food. Carbs and fats are cheaper than protein.
85. I have a poor friend who lives in the inner city. Hes afraid all the time. Mom says its because he hears a lot of gunshots when hes trying to sleep and during the day. She says that he doesnt know how to turn off the fear.
86. Ive never ordered a soda at a restaurant.
87. We never take anything for granted. Whether its candy, toys, food, or cool clothes, we know its a blessing.
"A Framework for Understanding Poverty" by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D.
OffWithTheirHeads
(10,337 posts)But I'm white, male and smart. It was easier for me. But you never forget and though I am now 63, retired and financially comfortable, the anxiety NEVER goes away.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)One learns to never never take anything good for granted.
I grew up poor, in the 50's.
Back then, there was still AFDC (welfare) and commodity food.
Back then, I had no awareness of the impact on the my mother, trying to raise 3 kids on so little.
She farmed us kids out in the summer, to relatives, each kid going to a different place.
Luckily, I often got my Grandma, who, tho not a charming person, did have a farm, and I learned a lot that I put into practice 20 years later.
On a positive note, being a wise shopper is ingrained, and passed down to my kids when I had my family.
Thrift is a long learned lesson.
Lancero
(3,018 posts)This list reminds me about a fight I got in with a rich kid back in middle school.
He was picking on me because I was wearing broken shoes and a ripped shirt, knowing that my parents couldn't afford anything new. He'd been doing it for a while, and this time I remembers a friend mentioning how little he seen his parents since they had to spend most of their time at work, leaving him to be cared for mostly by hired help. I got tired of him and asked him how long it'd been since he last seen his parents.
The teachers had to pull us apart after that since I kinda pissed him off.
Part of me wanted to feel bad about taking that low of blow, but another part of me was glad that he never bothered me after that.
(Neither of my parents could work, so we had to live off of my dads SSI.)
Honestly though, even though we were poor we were still in a lot better shape then some. My mother had won money in a casino right after I was born, and thats the money that was used to move and buy a new house. The house was a hunk of junk, but it was paid for which is a lot more then some lower income - and even some higher income famlies - have going for them.