Being Poor

[staceyy]

http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/y...num=1163275542

[wanderinggrandma]

many emotions after reading all of the posts at this site.

My favorite hymn, the one I can never sing and not cry is "Because I Have Been Given Much, I Too Must Give." I have always tried to be aware of and help others. I truly hope I don't ever take for granted all that I have been blessed with in this life and forget to help others.

[PrairieRose]

I read the whole thread and have to say that I understand that the woman who wrote the original post was very poor and feeling desperate she was also wallowing in self pity for sure. I have family members who are very poor. To some people it might look as if they are all victims of unfortunate circumstances. I can tell you however that as a family they have been given more (possessions and money) than anyone else I know of. They still are poor and I expect that if they hit the lotto (which I know they play and often) that in 3 months time they'd be poor again. I know that there are many 'poor people' who are stuck and although they are working as hard as they can, managing as well as they can are simply stuck in their circumstances. But I also believe that in America there is for anyone who is willing to open their mind and think --- deeply think about how to go about creating a better life for themselves, it's here for the taking. It's not always easy to see the solution, the trees sometimes get in the way.

[Persimmon Lace]

After reading the list, which was not all true and I do some of things on the list like the lamp thing, plus stealing has nothing to do with being poor. I believe a part of poorness (?) is due to a poor spirit and lack of creativity. I've been reading a lot about the depression times here in America and the thing that struck me the most is the creativity these people had. And they had it because they weren't tied to a tv or magazine way of life. They were also secluded in some ways from the people who were around them. Maybe out of 4000 people in their town during the depression there was only maybe 1 or 2 people who had real wealth and some who did pretty well and the rest who struggled. Now we "see" wealth all around us, but how many of those people are in debt up to their eyeballs? Being poor isn't a great way to live, dh and I were there at one time for several years but we worked alot to get over the hump. At least I know how to appreciate beans and cornbread if it ever happens again!

[AmyBoz]

Quite a thread and an interesting read! Thanks!

[YankeeMom]

Some of them made my heart ache with remembering darker times.

[lottaLove]

Some of those posts made me sad....but some, like the meat stealing one, just made me angry. I agree that for every person who really is poor, and tries as much as they can to break the cycle but cannot, there is another person who sits back and does nothing to improve their situation. Reading that did make me feel blessed for all of the things that I do have.

[ewokgirl]

Reading that was heartbreaking. Made me realize just how blessed I've been all my life.

[Shell]

Reading that was heartbreaking. Made me realize just how blessed I've been all my life.

It does remind you of how much you have.

[guest32]

Well, I've been poor. (like, don't know where the next meal is coming from, living in someone's basement, poor)

Being poor meant being eternally grateful for the used washer and dryer so I wouldn't have to go to the laundra-mat at 11:00 PM, after ex-h got home from work. I cried when I got my first real, new, matching washer and dryer. I was probably 30 at the time....

Being poor meant using the cloth diapers my mom generously bought for me. I never, ever resented using cloth, plastic pants, and washclothes for diapering! They were a gift that taught me how to use and reuse what was available.

Being poor meant learning how to make food stretch, and last for days. It also taught me that mom can skip meals...kids need to be fed.

Being poor meant learning to offer homemade (potato) soup and biscuits for company, and being proud that I had that to offer.

Being poor meant not having anything new for *years*, but being so much more appreciataive for even the smallest of gifts.

Being poor meant ironing dd's hand me downs to make them look new and crisp.

Being poor meant taking the 20.00 that was sent as a gift for my children and using it for groceries for a week.

Being poor meant meeting some really wonderful, hardworking, honest people while working in an onion shed (sorting onions on a line) and thinking what a great job it was because I was able to be home when my kids got home from school.

I could go on and on.....but being poor taught me more about life and living than having money ever has. The leasson is: Remember where you came from.

[Dixie]

Kathy, you sound rich in ways that really matter. Thanks for sharing your story.

[Bethany]

Kathy,
You are so right. Most people only learn, develop their minds when they have to. In some ways, those of us who have to struggle from time to time are so much more fortunate than those airheads in Hollywood (Paris Hilton comes to mind) because they have never been taught about a day's work, or how to be told no, or more importantly, how to say no to yourself!

[Michelle68]

I like what you had to say, Cathy. I also had mixed feelings when reading those posts. My mom always used to say "Being poor is a state of mind." Now sure, this came from a woman who is eternally optimistic, sometimes slightly unrealistic but also took us through some very difficult, lean times as a single parent. I think if I believe "This is it. I'm poor and things will never get better.", then this will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if I can look at a situation and say,"This is a rough period. We'll get through this and be better for it." then as Cathy says, I'll have come through stronger and wiser than I was before. Life is what we make of it. Bad things happen, money might not always be there, but I don't ever think I'm "poor". Even while growing up, we didn't have a lot but we weren't poor because there was always someone who had less than we did and could use more help.


--Michelle

[iida]

I don´t think stealing is right, but I would not judge a child who steals meat because she is hungry. It was a child who was stealing in the original post.
Some people are stronger, have more skills and people to support them than others. Some are smarter than others. And many poor people suffer from depression and other mental illnesses.

We are quite poor comparing to many other people our age, partly because of my cancer and my husband being severely depressed. Thank God we live in a wellfare state. All schools are good here and every child gets a free lunch at school. Healthcare is also for everyone and so is dentalcare including braces etc. There are poor kids and rich kids in the same school and usually no-one can tell them apart.

Having said that, I have to admit, things are getting worse all the time. The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. And people are getting more selfish.

[foxxyroxie]

In a lot of ways I can relate to the post, however, I disagree with some of them. There is a big difference between being poor and being frugal. During the past few years, I have become so frugal poor Abe Lincoln cries when I pinch the pennies too hard. I also now understand why my parents made the home we had. While I didn't classify us as poor, we wore hand-me-down and second hand clothes, rode in used cars, sat on used furniture but we also had wonderful camping trips EVERY summer and ate well with meat and potatoes EVERY night and three meals EVERY day. While we didn't necessarily eat fancy, we ate well and there was ALWAYS plenty. My parents tried and worked very hard to give me and my brother and sister everything they didn't have when they grew up during the 1940s. Additionally, Christmas wasn't about how many presents Santa Claus brought us, it was about a few loving-filled gifts, baking cookies, a beautiful Christmas tree and the house decorated to the hilt, a big Christmas dinner and being with family. That's all that should matter.

I do know some of the 'dishonest' poor. Those people who price swap in stores, steal money left out or out of people's purses (have been victim more than once to that). That has nothing to do with poor...that's just plain dishonesty. You don't have to be poor to be dishonest.