I remember the times when I was so poor that whenever i had a rare chance to order a pizza I would eat the toppings off the crust and then save the crust for dinner the next day. Have anyone in here ever lived in poverty? Being poor ain't no joke because when you're poor nobody gives a damn about you. I remember the times when i use to tell the lunch lady at school to sneak a lunch bag out of the cafeteria for me so i could take it home to feed my brother and me. It wasn't no shame in my game when i was poor. I remember the day that I got so tired of being sick and tired I fell on my knees and prayed to God and asked him to get me out of this situation. I heard a voice intuitively telling me to "read, because reading will get you out of this." So, I took the advice and started reading at my local library (I had to walk 6 miles every day to go there) I read books from many genres, especially business books. The more I read the more Knowledge I gained and the Knowledge that was in me I used it. In no less than a year me and my brother started our own business, directly from the knowledge of reading. Right now, I have a new and beautiful two story house, a brand new car, and money in the bank. I'm not bragging on myself in any way, but I just can't believe how far I come when I look back at the poverty state I was in last year. If any of you in here is in a state of poverty, I can give you this advice: READ BOOKS. Reading is the way out. Join a book club. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is only power when you use it.

Anyone here ever lived in poverty?

Hearin you loud and clear AbucahX,there was a time when my mother and I lived on handouts and hand me down clothing,not knowing if we were going to be able to make the rent or where our next meal was coming from.There were people who didnt give a damn and were happy to mock our situation and then there were people who cared and helped us out "our angels" they were.

I firmly believe that times like these help us to become stronger and better people.

Thanks for sharing and good luck.

Much love Pochacco

Pochacco said:

Hi Pochacco, you are most definitely right, times like those do make you stronger and better people. People did mock our situation also. And you are right, there are a few people that does in fact genuinely care and try their best to help you out, but for the most part, people didn't give a damn. This may sound strange to some people, but I am actually glad that I grew up poor. Poverty most definitely makes one a better person and wise when they arise from the slumps.

I was once so Poor that I Made a Crum Sandwich Nightly.I've been in tough Neighborhoods&where the Water was Brown&Scary.I use to be so Hungry that back in the day I use to wash Dishes&the Food that wasn't touched on a Plate I'd eat.I Remember Patching Up My Pants&whatnot.there was nothing Fashionable about Being Broke back in the day.I use to always trip off the College Kids out in California that had madd Loot&would wanna go around Bumming&tried to down-play there Family's Wealth.I was like if I ever get One Dollar I'll be like WIllis&Arnold from "Different Strokes".nowadays things are looking way up but for me Growing up through different times it was a real Struggle.I had Moments like that scene in Richard Pryor's "Jo-Jo Dancer" where My Tummy would Growl&Make the Blues come alive. Much props on this Thread.whenever I see somebody that seems A Bit out of Sorts I always wanna help them out because I know the feeling all to well.

I hear you madly, mistermaxx, i can totally relate to that. I remember myself licking my plate clean before I would wash it, I had no idea where and when the next meal will come. Thats a scary feeling not knowing when you will eat again. And you're right, it wasn't nothing fashionable about being broke, I could care less about fashion. I remember walking home from school when it was like 15 degrees outside and watching classmates and people i knew drive right by and wouldn't even offer me a ride home. Thats why I do everything that i can to help a poor soul because I know how it is to struggle like that. I help donate books to local charities and organizations to give to underprivilage children, because education is the only thing you have when you're poor and Knowledge is something that nobody can't take away from you. You can easily lose your mind when you're poor, and a mind is a terrible thing to waste, especially when you're living in poverty.

not rich but not poor either.

i've been poor

Hell yeah i've been poor.I can honestly remember the power being turned off and no food in the fridge.My mother and father worked and we still struggled.I didn't start living decently until junior high.I have the uttmost respect for my parents because they did the best they could and never gave up.I will always have some love for poor people because alot of times they didn't choose to be in that situation and usually have more courage and strength than you could imagine.I'm doing ok now.My goal is to make it where my kids don't have to work as hard as me.And be in a position where they can pick the job that they WANT to do.

I've lived my life steadily in the middle class. Different areas of the middle class. Nowadays, in the off-season for tourism, the winter, we do with less than we do in the summer.

I can't relate to actually being poor though.

I remember not being happy with my family's financial
condition, we lived in the projects for like five years.
from when i was 5-10 y/o, i thaught we were very poor,
and i spent my young life acting out about it.
i thaught the things i did made our life Better, but they only change some of our conditions.
actually i found out that POOR, had nothing to do with
money... Poor is a condition of life and how one percieves it...

00769BAD said:

I'm with you on that. Your income level certainly doesn't make you poor.

BattierBeMyDaddy said:

theC
True dat...but when your stomach is empty and you ain't got no money to get food.The last thing you feel is RICH

theC said:

Hmm, I suppose you're right, C.

AbucahX said:

I'm glad things are better for you. Nobody should have to go hungry. Especially in the "richest country in the world."

I can't really say that I've been poor. I come from a single parent household, and when I became an adult my mother would tell me and my siblings that we were poor growing up. But I don't see it that way. I figure since I never went hungry and my clothes were always clean...the concept of my family being poor just never ocurred to me as a kid.

But also as an adult, I can see how my mother felt that way. She was raising kids, working full-time, and at one point even going to night school. We were by no means rich, or even upper middle class. But we were blessed. We never went without the necessities of life (at least not during my lifetime. I have siblings who have been around longer than me). And it was hard work for her as a single parent in that situation - plus paying the mortgage on the house.

Some poor young adults nowadays turn their noses up at jobs that require you to clean public (or private) bathrooms. Hey, IF that's the only way you can make it until you can do better, it's time to come down from the arrogance that allows you look down on job like that. Our parents weren't too good to do it until they could do better, so there is no reason we can't. Being a poor snob will get you nowhere. I don't get people like that. There isn't a damn thing shameful about people who work as janitors. Just because they clean up our shit doesn't mean mean they're not just as good as you, me, and everybody else. Nobody aspires to be a janitor, but they do it until they can find a better way of life. That happens at different times for different people. Everybody doesn't come from the same circumstances.

I've never had to have a job like that. But it could potentially happen to anybody. No matter how smart they are, no matter how great their resume looks and how qualified they are, no matter how great their job/career is NOW. There are people today with PHD's that are having a hard time getting jobs because of this current recession.

When I was younger I used to give homeless people money - until I found out that some of them use it for alcohol and drugs. The thing is...you don't know what exactly they're going to do with the money, so that percentage that does use the money for drugs makes it hard on the ones who truly are trying to help themselves and need help. I never give them money now, I tell them where to go to look for a job (it's not easy since you need to have a residence to be eligible) and I buy them food. I gave this one man some food, he told me thanks and walked away like a kid that had just been bought his favorite toy. There are violent homeless people that make you skeptical of non-violent homeless people too; so it's really risky to get close to them.

I'm off on a tangent, so I'll stop here.

I never knew I was poor cuz I was blessed to have parents that hid our poverty from me.

I remember wearing hand-me-down clothes from older cousins, I remember eating A LOT of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with no crust (but didn't know that my moms saved the crush for HER meal), I remember getting cheese and milk delivered to our apartment (not knowing where it came from), etc., BUT I never knew there was a stigma attached to those things.

I never labeled my condition as poverty cuz I never knew what it meant. I just knew we were a happy family that didn't have what everyone had, but enjoyed what we DID have, and appreciated our life with each other.

It is only as I got older that I learned that these things were the cause for people to be laughed at, feel low-self-esteem abut themselves, and be the butt of jokes... but by then, my peeps had instilled in me such a level of self-confidence that those things never bothered me.

I learned to define my condition and not let my condition define me. So yeah we were poor but we did not live lives of poverty.

I can never understand a bum laying on a sidewalk in the midst of a major city. There's jobs all around you. A $300 paycheck every two weeks is better than no paycheck.

But on the flip side, there are many people who bust their ass at their jobs only to be capped off by greedy management who ignore raises and try to milk them for what they can.

A middle class person who doesn't qualify as poverty level, but can barely pay his/her bills can be the poorest of them all.

theC said:

PREACH!!!

I get stopped all the time in Cleveland by bums with this story:

"Hey man, can you help me out. We're from [insert fake hometown here], my car broke down over there (as he points to a car parked along the street that isnt even his). We're stuck here in town. My wife has diabetes and shes with the two kids. Can you spot me a few dollars to get them somethin to eat?"

No joke, I've heard this same story from at least 5 different bums around there.

One of the more creative bums pulled this one on me:

I went out in cleveland on a wednesday night. The pay parking lot I parked in doesnt have an attendant on weekdays. Youre supposed to shove the money in a money box but noone ever does it.

I pull in the parking lot, and this guy walks up to my car dressed like an attendant and says "that'll be 5 bucks". Stupid me assumes that they now have attendants throughout the week. So I give him the five bucks, he says thanks and walks away without handing me a ticket. I see him walking away from the parking lot down the street.

So instead of getting out of the car and starting a fight, I laugh it off to my own stupidity. Then as Im walking towards the bar, the same guy sees me lighting a ciggarette and asks me if he could have one!

I snapped at him and was like "yeah for 5 bucks!"

i was rich at one time but i'm poor now...oftentimes there is no food in my house,i have no health insurance and have been sick on and off 4 6 months...all my money goes 2 pay living expenses...and i have 6000...dollars in hospital bills...
The strange thing is i'm happier and more balanced as a person...i am pursuing my dreams and creating my own little "family"...not blood relatives but individuals who care and support each other like they are...i know i can work hard and get through this...which is much better than the old days...where no 1 really cared about me or expected anything of me...all ppl in that circle cared about was material possesion and creating a proper image of themselves 2 other ppl...not whether they were living full and happy lives or doing good things 4 others...i feel better even though i am struggling at 19 years old and poor...because i know that there is more 2 life than cars clothes and the latest vacation spot in the hamptons...there is greater joys in life than money which i'm sure my wealthy former "friends" are 2 shallow 2 ever experience

Things will get better for you AprilMichelle because you're a wise individual.

NuPwrSoul said:

You're right dude, poverty is only a label. You were blessed to have parents that instilled that love in you. I didn't have any parents at the time, only my brother and me. My brother walked miles to his job everyday through the hot sun, rain, stormy weather, snow, for only $5.75 a hour. When he made it home he often was very tired and angry. I remember coming home from school praying that he would make it home alive. I think if i had some sort of family support behind me it would've made it a little bit easier, but i had none. I wanted to work after school so bad but I was very tired and sick, my brother told me to keep going to school because education was the way out of this rut. I spent many days alone by myself thinking, reading and praying.

theC said:

True enough. I sure as hell didn't choose to be in that situation and i most certainly had courage and strength. It makes me angry when I hear people say that poor people choose to be poor, that's not the case for most. It was a huge learning experience for me.

Anyone ever had a 'mayo' sandwich?...no lunchmeat
in the house, but hungry as hell...

We were poor, but had a great, tight, family that is
still very close to this day. You learn to make 'do'
with whatever you have...something that our kids are
missing today.
Now, we're a working, middle-class family, but i wouldn't
trade my childhood for anything. Hard times built my
character.

Food stamps. My mom would make me go into the store and buy food with them, god how I hated that. Our neighbors used to feed me because they felt sorry for me. Other kids teased me really bad. I remember watching all my friends out of my window leaving to go to Great America (theme park), and I couldn't go because my mom didn't have the money. I cried for hours.

I was 10 when I got my first job cleaning house for our elderly neighbor "Art". That was wonderful. He always had Mountain Dew and sweets...as much as I wanted. He would pay me $10 to do dishes and clean his bathroom. Piles and piles of dishes though. I also washed cars on the side for $5.00. His dying tore me up and added much stress to an already stressful life.

I also remember the horrible terror that would come over me when the landlord would BANG on our door. My mom would lay on the couch doing nothing and I would answer it. I would get the screaming about the rent and crap like "why is your mom the way she is?" Wonderful situations for a 8-12 year old. Nice subtle reminders that we were poor.





Being poor as a child can do life long damage that takes lots of courage to rebuild. I'm happy to say that I am living a fruitful life now. I think because the simple things that most folks take for granted just send me over the moon! Going to the grocery store and buying whatever I want is an inspiring feeling. But I still gravitate towards the bargains (lol)

I never thought I would be where I am today. However, I never stopped dreaming either. I really believe that if you can dream it, you will manifest it.



My heart goes out to those who have done, or are doing, without...

[This message was edited Thu Sep 5 12:35:33 PDT 2002 by salaciousV]

POOK said:

POOK said:

I don't know if we were poor or not.
We had to go to school without lunch or lunch money.
Dinner was sometimes just french fries made at home.
Sometimes dinner was pancakes made with flour salt and
water...with white kayro syrup. yuk!
After school ...catsup sandwich...or whatever.
Mom worked day and night.
I thought everybody lived as we did...
We did have a cute house, with St. Augustine grass
and rose bushes. I had teddy bears.
I lived for music (radio) and books esp. the bible.
Now that I'm an adult, I still shop at Goodwill but
I also donate to them. I find beautiful things there
and share them with people who need them. I shop all
kinds of discount shops...and share. I spend an
average of 70 hours per month in volunteer work.

I am not rich American style...but compared to
most of earth's population I am.

I appreciate the comments here...it broadens my
understanding and reinforces my belief that all persons
should be treated with dignity...we never know the
other person's circumstances.

-

No