Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

davidthegnome

(2,983 posts)
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 03:51 PM Mar 2016

The Working Poor - and the Just Plain Poor

The recent and current circumstances of my life have left me with a great deal of time to think. More than is probably healthy for someone who probably thinks too much to begin with. Up until recently, I had been working - mostly in the service industry, for several years. It's a story that some of you know well - that millions of Americans survive every day - and I think it is well worth bringing it to attention as much as I can. If my own circumstances and my own struggles can shed light on the reality of life for millions of Americans - and perhaps, inspire empathy and compassion, then I will have accomplished something of great value to me.

I have shared my story here several times, but for those who are unfamiliar - a brief summary:
*
I was an introverted, odd child, who suffered severe abuse at a young age, as well as frequent bullying in the public school system. I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder at the age of fourteen (I dropped out of the public school system at the same age), earned a GED at 17 - and spent the next several years trying to raise two children - and failed. I spent the next several years suffering the results of a severe nervous/mental breakdown. I was medicated - and in therapy for several years - until I lost my health insurance. Now I remain medicated (even some of the working poor/just plain poor can occasionally afford generic drugs) but without the therapy - so bare with me if I occasionally seem mildly insane - it's possible that I am, but I have good reasons.
*

When I was twenty-nine, I had spent the last three years working mostly as a dishwasher for restaurants - as well as a... customer service professional for a couple of different call centers. Part time or full time, the highest wage I ever received through any kind of "full employment" was 9.50 an hour, which, given the circumstances of my area and the economic devastation in my state, wasn't too bad... unless you considered the work required, or the lack of medical, vacation, paid sick leave, or any sort of benefits package - at all. The jobs I held did not offer health insurance programs, did not offer benefits - and if you missed work, or skipped, or got sick, you had maybe a day or two of grace before you would be fired and quickly replaced with another desperate person.

Prior to that, due in part to health conditions and a lack of reliable transportation, I worked for my local small town farmers and carpenters, jacks of all trades - all under the table. I stacked wood, I shoveled roofs and driveways, I played gopher for skilled laborers who were making, building, and repairing things. I also did plenty of yard work. I once spent several weeks literally working in shit - going through horse manure with a pitchfork and a shovel to help one particular person fertilize a lawn and garden. I would come home at night and take a bath... and there would be an inch or two of dirt and shit in the tub. So I'd have to clean it out, and take a shower afterwards. At the time, I was earning five dollars an hour... completely off the books, of course. Those twelve hour days some times made me wonder if absolute insanity and hospitalization might have been a better option...

So, yeah, I think I can safely say that I was, at the time, fairly familiar with the circumstances of the working poor in America, I was one of them. One of the millions of non-union employees who have nothing resembles a benefits package, wage right negotiations, or other things that many in the more professional positions often take for granted.

Eventually, I had a "light bulb" moment. I realized that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results was the very definition of insanity. I decided I was tired of being broke all the time, I was tired of not being able to afford Doctor's visits, or therapy, or groceries, or to buy things for my children... even if I couldn't be with them, it would be good to be able to send them gifts on Christmas. Perhaps this discovery was rather belated, I was twenty-nine and had lived the majority of my life fairly stupidly - but it was a powerful realization, nonetheless.

I decided I wanted to go to school, earn an education - and find myself a job that would enable me to have a productive, reasonable life. There were many obstacles in my way - not being a "traditional student" was actually one of the least of them. I had issues with severe anxiety and depression, I took psychiatric medication - and I had a driver's license, but no car. I had previously had a strong tendency towards self hatred and pessimism, I mean, the chances of my success were almost insanely low (or just plain insane). As I said, it's entirely possible that I am mildly insane.

I borrowed money from my parents to apply for a university in a relatively small college town (which is actually considered "the city" by lots of locals). Due to my hobbies of constantly reading and occasionally writing in my free time, I must have written an application essay that appealed to who ever read it, because, in spite of an overwhelming lack of qualifications, I was accepted into the university.

Thus began the first experience I had had with optimism in many years. First, my utter shock that I had been accepted into any school at all (at the time, I basically believed myself stupid and helpless) second, my gratitude that not only was I going to have a shot at an education, but that financial aid through grants and student loans might enable me to survive while I looked for work. With financial assistance from both the federal government and my parents, I rented a small apartment in a crappy neighborhood - but one that was close enough to school (a quarter mile away or so) so I could walk.

I kicked off the first semester with what was, for me, an excellent GPA of around 3.4. I thrived in the more open class room atmosphere, engaging with students and professors... and discovering through my writing, that some people liked it, or thought it was clever, or funny. English professors in particular rewarded me with high praise, telling me they had never seen an undergrad who wrote like I did. It was an awfully proud moment when a Professor told me that a particular essay was one of the best pieces of writing he had ever seen.

While this was going on though, I was having trouble finding work. I was told that there had been no money allocated for a work study for me, which I didn't - and still don't entirely understand, but I shrugged, and figured... I lived on a street with four nearby bars, a movie theater, grocery stores and various other businesses, I'd find a job eventually. I doubled down on filling out applications, scraped together every bit of cash I could beg, borrow, or find - and kept going.

The second semester... I also had to take a course that included algebra and math that I had no experience with (it is considered to be basic: math 18 or something like that, I think it was called). Equations; X's and y's and so on and so forth that were meant to represent some value. Measurements (I couldn't even read a tape measurer) and lines and how to determine circumfrences and width and length and so on. I had never had such a trying intellectual challenge in my life. It read, to me, like really complex Kanji (Japanese writing) and I would some times stare dumbly at my book for over an hour, reading the same mathematical concepts over and over again... and failing to comprehend even a little.

The Professor who taught the class offered tutoring, which I started taking, but it didn't help me at all with the tests, which I failed. Still, my other grades were good and I had gotten to know and like many students and Professors there, so I struggled on, now somewhat more humbled by my educational experience.

Towards the end of the final semester, my money ran out. I had borrowed the maximum allowable amount for the year and almost every job application I had filled out had been politely ignored. I went to several interviews where I think my nervousness , shyness, and general geekiness convinced potential employers that I was a poor fit.

I sat down one night after I had packed up my little apartment and given away most of my furniture... it was time to move back home. I sat down with my last ugly, cheap pen, purchased at a dollar store - and my last notebook, purchased at the same place. I sat down and wrote for hours about the experience, how profound it had been, what it had been like to have hope and optimism as opposed to what I had known for most of my life - and all of my adult life. I angrily denounced for profit institutions, predatory lenders - and so on and so forth. I preached about how wonderful it would be to have a system of higher education funded by the public.

Then I looked at my financial documents and realized that I was over ten thousand dollars in debt, out of food, out of money - and my GPA had crashed. Failure, a failure I considered unforgivable - I had been given a chance to do something with my life - and somehow, I had fucked it up. Not only would I be unable to pay off my student loans, I would be lucky if I didn't have collection agencies up my ass every day - a fear which has since been realized.

I failed. So I went back home to live with my parents - and back to work in the service industry, earning about 8 dollars an hour so I could pay for gas, car payments, vehicle insurance and some other basic things. I was uninsured, so there really wasn't much I could do about any health issues... yet I had been a delegate for Obama, I had gone to the disastrous state convention to support him... because, well, I thought that me, and millions of others, could really benefit from health insurance. Turns out that didn't work out so well for some of us.

Anyhow... I'm thirty one now - and finally, as was almost inevitable, I injured myself. I'm still not entirely sure how I did it, but my back is screwed up enough now that I can't bend, twist, walk, or lift as I used to - so I was laid off from my job a few weeks ago.

I have a few hundred dollars left over from my tax returns (thank the universe for the earned income tax credit) but that's going to run out pretty quickly due to car payments. My student loans are in default, I can barely afford my medications that keep me from going from mildly insane to severely insane. I am, in several regards, trying to tread dirty water in shit creek.

Yet I have a place to live, with my family. I have food, water, heat, a bed to sleep in. I am grateful for all of these things, but the idea of future independence, financial or otherwise... seems pretty far fetched to me. Some times I feel like the deck was stacked against me to begin with - and I am a white male, with all kinds of societal privileges, I can only imagine how much worse it sucks for members of minorities and for women in situations like mine.

I share my story to make a point. Also, yes, I fully admit that I am indeed looking for sympathy (and more particularly - empathy) - but not just for me in particular. For the millions of Americans who live as I do, who struggled as I did and are now treading the dirty waters of shit creek. Maybe I write well enough to get some of my points across. Maybe my long winded manner of writing and mild insanity put off a lot of readers - no offense taken, I get it.

The point I am trying to make though... is that a political revolution from the ranks of the working poor, the just plain poor... it has been decades, even centuries, even millenia in the making. Forget policies and principles for the moment - what we have is a real disaster boiling over. Millions of poor Americans, from the unemployed to the working class to the middle class... have stores similar to mine. The way forward cannot be through more of the same policies that got us here to begin with.

What we need, all of us, is greater compassion for our own people. The next time we want to bash that welfare mom - we should remember that she is a living, breathing person with feelings as genuine as our own - with struggles we know nothing about. The next time we want to mock people for getting "free health insurance" through medicaid or various other programs... or complain about how people use their food stamp money... we should remember the same about them.

Being mocked (recently) as an ungrateful millenial who just wants free shit has been an amusing experience for me. I always think to myself... "if only they knew".

Frankly, who becomes President may not make any difference at all for me and millions like me (yeah, progressive policies are popular - and all but impossible to actually accomplish at present) - but your compassion, your consideration, your dedication to fighting for the cause of the poor and the working poor... will mean a great deal. Each of you, as individuals can do a lot to make things better. Through your votes, through your compassion, through walking a mile in someone else's shoes. We can all do this, we can all aspire to be "super human".

This is why I became a democrat long ago. This is why I am liberal democrat today. I am asking myself, with increasing concern, whether or not the party of tomorrow will represent me. In an age that mocks so called "entitlement programs" that provide for those with almost nothing... in an age where angry teabaggers are screaming "let them die!" and others are promoting war and division and corporate greed and corruption...

I can't move to the center. I can't believe in the concept of incremental change as what we need - because we need desperate, massive change... we needed it long ago. There is indeed a revolution in this Country, but it goes well beyond political. It is coming from people who have little or nothing, from people who have worked, who have struggled, who have suffered in this global economy. From people of all kinds of backgrounds. I said years ago that that revolution would eventually begin... and it is beginning.

The democratic party - I believe - can only continue to exist and thrive by moving in the direction of progressive legislation and values. It may be that our Country can only continue to exist and thrive this way. Capitalism may be great if you're a millionaire or a billionaire... but for most of the rest of us, it is a heartless, cruel, and ultimately damning form of economy and (bought and paid for - and often corporate owned) government - and I think we've just about had enough of it.

It's been a tough couple of decades - and I'm extremely tired and cranky - and mildly insane, but I dare to suggest that perhaps my story is but one of millions that points out the problems... and suggests solutions.

Realizing what the problems are... is the first step towards making change, and while my long winded, mildly insane rant may only be read by a few people, I hope that my story has shed some light on what the problems are.

Just my ten cents. Thanks for reading.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The Working Poor - and the Just Plain Poor (Original Post) davidthegnome Mar 2016 OP
I will never be one who says fuck you I've got mine. onecaliberal Mar 2016 #1
Can you qualify for SSI? Downwinder Mar 2016 #2
Good question. davidthegnome Mar 2016 #3
I don't think quarters are necessary for SSI. Downwinder Mar 2016 #4
SSI is not Social Security. It is a program meant to help those jwirr Mar 2016 #6
Sorry to say that I have been where you've been Hydra Mar 2016 #5
SSI and SSDI are two different programs. The latter is part jwirr Mar 2016 #8
Bless you. Delphinus Mar 2016 #7
I Also say apply for SSDI BuelahWitch Mar 2016 #9
I simply do not believe your last line hfojvt Mar 2016 #10
K&R Scuba Mar 2016 #11

onecaliberal

(32,483 posts)
1. I will never be one who says fuck you I've got mine.
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 04:07 PM
Mar 2016

People like you are why I haven't completely given up on the dems.

davidthegnome

(2,983 posts)
3. Good question.
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 04:23 PM
Mar 2016

I don't think so. I'm mildly disabled, but I am young, my children do not live with me or depend on me for money or provision, my parents are middle class and make reasonably decent money. I'm not sure if I have the... "quarters"? to qualify for SSI either. In my state of Maine, in particular, medicaid expansion did not pass - and to add insult to injury, our Governor recently cut compensation (from our state's free health insurance program: Mainecare) to hospitals and institutions - specifically for mental health related issues - by somewhere from 25-30%. It's not only that republicans don't recognize the issues - it seems that they deliberately create them.

I had a brief discussion about disability once with a family friend who is a lawyer - and she told me that, while my circumstances sucked and I was mildly disabled, qualifying for any kind of assistance in our State was difficult in the extreme, and that I had... roughly, the proverbial snow ball's chance in hell.

I don't need it to survive, is the second point. I'll keep surviving for a while, at least, with my family's assistance, but... well, it's more surviving than actually living. Treading the dirty waters of shit creak, so to speak.

Downwinder

(12,869 posts)
4. I don't think quarters are necessary for SSI.
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 04:45 PM
Mar 2016

With your back, can you stand while washing dishes? I know I could not. SSI requires you be unable to perform any work. The disability qualification goes through the State Health Department. It is about the only way a male can get Medicaid. If the family friend is still available, check with her on the back.

A Lawyer would get paid out of you back benefits. It would not be asking for free assistance. Expect a slow process. Several months with several denials. Recommend going through a lawyer.

You would still be poor, limited to about $900 income from all sources, but you might be able to get healthy. It is existence.

jwirr

(39,215 posts)
6. SSI is not Social Security. It is a program meant to help those
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 06:15 PM
Mar 2016

who are NOT eligible for Social Security. And that includes anyone who is disabled and cannot work. You do not have to have children and you need to be over 18. And you do not need quarters.

If you qualify for SSI you automatically become eligible for Medicaid.

And you do not go through the state to qualify for help. You go to your local Social Security Office (federal) and fill out the application. Social Security administers this program and the checks come out of their office.

Call the local Social Security Office and ask for an application. The worst that can happen is that they say no. The best is that you will qualify.

Hydra

(14,459 posts)
5. Sorry to say that I have been where you've been
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 05:36 PM
Mar 2016

And only doing a tad bit better at the moment.

Don't blame yourself for what the system does to you- this is what it is designed to do. As the poster above me said, try to apply for SSDI before they shut everyone new out of it. Make it your mission the way you did when you went to college. When you are on SSDI, you can get your student loans written off. Expect to take 2 years doing it. They'll deny you over and over again trying to make you go away and die. Stay with it and be polite.

That's on the personal front. Politically, do what you are doing- we need the focus to be on normal people that the system is failing. A large part of the political power structure says that we don't exist, and shouldn't exist.

There are better ways for us all to live. Hopefully we can get some of them going.

jwirr

(39,215 posts)
8. SSI and SSDI are two different programs. The latter is part
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 06:24 PM
Mar 2016

of Social Security and you have to be able to prove that you are disabled and cannot work.

SSI is for those who do not qualify for that program or for elderly who are poor.

If his doctors will say that he is disabled enough that he cannot work and he can prove it THEN he should apply for SSDI.

BuelahWitch

(9,083 posts)
9. I Also say apply for SSDI
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 06:33 PM
Mar 2016

Get a social worker or another professional who is familiar with the forms to help you with them.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
10. I simply do not believe your last line
Sun Mar 27, 2016, 07:51 PM
Mar 2016

"for most of the rest of us"

Most of us simply are NOT poor or working poor or near poor. Half of us are even above the median income. Your own anecdote is no more a measure of everybody's life than mine is (edited to insert link here http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7702086 ).

In one huge way, it seems to me that your life is better than mine - you have two kids. Me, I haven't even been able to have sex. I've also lived much longer. Perhaps it will get better for you. At 31 I was much poorer than today, some 23 years later. It was the year I turned 31 that I just started my first factory job. My lifetime earnings up to that point were $39,648. That's $65,000 in today's money, but still not much for 8 years of work. Partly because, for many of those years, I could not find work. The factory job paid me $9,316 for ten months, or $15,000 in today's money. About $9 an hour, so not as bad as it seems, looking back.

The trouble with free college is - a degree is only valuable if everybody does NOT have one. In the end you still have to find a job and there are only so many good jobs. Free college for everybody is not gonna suddenly create a bunch of good paying jobs, maybe a few, in the colleges, but not enough for everybody. I have two degrees myself (would rather have two kids) and they seem to be worthless, even the voters do not respect them, much less any employers. I have a decent paying job now - as a janitor.

So yeah, college. I joke that I went to medical school to learn how to stack chairs and haul tables.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»The Working Poor - and th...