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Thread: "Being Poor" by John Scalzi

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    dadakarma
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    "Being Poor" by John Scalzi

    Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.

    Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.

    Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they're what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there's not an $800 car in America that's worth a damn.
    Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.
    Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends' houses but never has friends over to yours.
    Being poor is going to the restroom before you get in the school lunch line so your friends will be ahead of you and won't hear you say "I get free lunch" when you get to the cashier.
    Being poor is living next to the freeway.
    Being poor is coming back to the car with your children in the back seat, clutching that box of Raisin Bran you just bought and trying to think of a way to make the kids understand that the box has to last.
    Being poor is wondering if your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn't mind when you ask for help.
    Being poor is off-brand toys.
    Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.
    Being poor is knowing you can't leave $5 on the coffee table when your friends are around.
    Being poor is hoping your kids don't have a growth spurt.
    Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn't have make dinner tonight because you're not hungry anyway.
    Being poor is Goodwill underwear.
    Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you.
    Being poor is feeling the glued soles tear off your supermarket shoes when you run around the playground.
    Being poor is your kid's school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks and no air conditioning.
    Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal.
    Being poor is relying on people who don't give a damn about you.
    Being poor is an overnight shift under florescent lights.
    Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support.
    Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.
    Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger's trash.
    Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a $#@!roach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw.
    Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a goddamned difference.
    Being poor is people angry at you just for walking around in the mall.
    Being poor is not taking the job because you can't find someone you trust to watch your kids.
    Being poor is the police busting into the apartment right next to yours.
    Being poor is not talking to that girl because she'll probably just laugh at your clothes.
    Being poor is hoping you'll be invited for dinner.
    Being poor is a sidewalk with lots of brown glass on it.
    Being poor is people thinking they know something about you by the way you talk.
    Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise.
    Being poor is your kid's teacher assuming you don't have any books in your home.
    Being poor is six dollars short on the utility bill and no way to close the gap.
    Being poor is crying when you drop the mac and cheese on the floor.
    Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere.
    Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually stupid.
    Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually lazy.
    Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap.
    Being poor is never buying anything someone else hasn't bought first.
    Being poor is picking the 10 cent ramen instead of the 12 cent ramen because that's two extra packages for every dollar.
    Being poor is having to live with choices you didn't know you made when you were 14 years old.
    Being poor is getting tired of people wanting you to be grateful.
    Being poor is knowing you're being judged.
    Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa.
    Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by.
    Being poor is deciding that it's all right to base a relationship on shelter.
    Being poor is knowing you really shouldn't spend that buck on a Lotto ticket.
    Being poor is hoping the register lady will spot you the dime.
    Being poor is feeling helpless when your child makes the same mistakes you did, and won't listen to you beg them against doing so.
    Being poor is a cough that doesn't go away.
    Being poor is making sure you don't spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.
    Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.
    Being poor is four years of night classes for an Associates of Art degree.
    Being poor is a lumpy futon bed.
    Being poor is knowing where the shelter is.
    Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so.
    Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor.
    Being poor is seeing how few options you have.
    Being poor is running in place.
    Being poor is people wondering why you didn't leave.

    - John Scalzi

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    I thought we had a "war on poverty".

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    Quote Originally Posted by Alias View Post
    I thought we had a "war on poverty".
    we did.. it is ongoing and the poor lost
    The eastern world, it is exploding, violence flaring bullets loading. you are old enough to kill , but not for voting, this whole crazy world is just to frustrating, and you tell me over and over and over again my friend, you don't believe we are on the EVE of DESTRUCTION.


    Never approach a bull from the front, A horse from behind, or a fool from any direction.

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    The sad thing is there is not a single poor citizen in this country. All citizens have means to get assistance if they can't help themselves (as long as the rest of us stay productive and pay taxes). People act like they are poor because they make bad financial decisions, and they drown themselves in hopelessness.
    Faith can move mountains, but don't forget to bring your shovel.

  5. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to spunkloaf For This Useful Post:

    Alias (04-14-2012),wingrider (04-14-2012)

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    Christian churches and organizations all over this nation and the world feed millions of people every day and never take a dime out of anyone's paycheck.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Alias View Post
    Christian churches and organizations all over this nation and the world feed millions of people every day and never take a dime out of anyone's paycheck.
    But God knows when you don't put something in the collection plate.
    Faith can move mountains, but don't forget to bring your shovel.

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    Quote Originally Posted by spunkloaf View Post
    But God knows when you don't put something in the collection plate.
    you think god counts pennies in a collection plate over his command to feed the poor and the downtrodden? I don't,, didn't Jesus say render unto ceasar the things that are ceasars and unto God the things that are Gods. organized religion is just that.. an organized business.. I will help people who need help that is what Jesus said to do and that is good enough for me.
    The eastern world, it is exploding, violence flaring bullets loading. you are old enough to kill , but not for voting, this whole crazy world is just to frustrating, and you tell me over and over and over again my friend, you don't believe we are on the EVE of DESTRUCTION.


    Never approach a bull from the front, A horse from behind, or a fool from any direction.

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    Quote Originally Posted by spunkloaf View Post
    But God knows when you don't put something in the collection plate.
    That's right. God sees the generous widow who puts in $5 and the rich misery who puts in $500 and rewards each the same. Only God sees the heart and the sacrifice, not the amount.

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    Quote Originally Posted by wingrider View Post
    you think god counts pennies in a collection plate over his command to feed the poor and the downtrodden? I don't,, didn't Jesus say render unto ceasar the things that are ceasars and unto God the things that are Gods. organized religion is just that.. an organized business.. I will help people who need help that is what Jesus said to do and that is good enough for me.
    Apparently God is supposed to be omnipotent and omnipresent. No small deed, good or evil, goes unseen. I don't believe in God like a Christian does, I'm just relaying their doctrine.
    Faith can move mountains, but don't forget to bring your shovel.

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    Quote Originally Posted by spunkloaf View Post
    The sad thing is there is not a single poor citizen in this country. All citizens have means to get assistance if they can't help themselves (as long as the rest of us stay productive and pay taxes). People act like they are poor because they make bad financial decisions, and they drown themselves in hopelessness.
    I hear what you're saying, and agree, pretty much, but would add that dependence on government keeps them trapped in poverty, trapped in in all the things said by John Scalzi about "Being Poor".

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