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She is talking about bills and I don’t even. I am trying to focus on writing and she wants to talk about money I don’t have. I don’t like to talk money because it stresses me out. I try not to think about money any more then I need to. When you are poor it is hard because everything comes down to money. What you do, what you eat, where you live, what you think about, what you dream about all comes down to money. Money sucks and stresses people out. Money is one of the biggest issues that couples fight over. OK now Beth just called and she is coming with the food. YEA!!! I am hungry.
That is another thing poor people think about all the time. Food. How to get food, how to stretch what food you have, how to feed your kids, how to afford Thanksgiving dinner, where to get the most food for the least money and now we are back at money. So today’s writing is brought to you by poverty. The great equalizer because no matter what color you are, what nationality you are, or where you call home everybody that’s poor can relate and knows the struggle.
The struggle is real and it is playing out every night on America’s kitchen table. As groceries get more expensive families get less for their dollar. With wages stagnant for years and minimum wage not even covering the cost of rent, food has become secondary on America’s budget. But it is number one in America’s mind because when your kids look at you and say “I’m still hungry”, after you split that can of ravioli’s four ways and didn’t even eat any yourself, it breaks your heart. The struggle is real and the struggle is real hard.
It takes everything you have to keep on keeping on. To get up every day and work that dead end low paying job just to try and cover the rent so you and your kids don’t end up in the street. It is hard when you know that this is your life and will be your life until your children are grown. It is hard when you have to miss your child’s firsts because you can’t afford to lose a day’s pay. It is hard when your youngest starts calling the babysitter mama because she sees her more then she sees you. The struggle is real and the struggle is real hard.
Unless you have had to wrap up boxes of cookies and put them under the Christmas tree so your child would have a present on Christmas morning you don’t know struggle. Unless you have had to go to McDonald’s and steal the toilet paper out of the bathroom just so your kids can wipe their ass you don’t know. Unless you have had to cut up one apple and share in among 4 children and call that lunch you don’t know the struggle. Unless you have to worry about getting shot for walking to the corner store to get your baby some milk you don’t know the struggle. The struggle is real and the struggle is to survive for one more day, one more hour, one more minute because you never know when a stray bullet may take you out.
Speaking from experience, I agree that poverty and the struggle to survive and hopefully move on are definitely real, and they take a toll on the humans involved. When the time is right and the opportunity is available, one tool in the arsenal to fight back is to find a job with a company that has tuition reimbursement as part of their benefits package. Yes, you have to be able to pay for the tuition and books and wait for reimbursement, but if you can make that first payment you are on a roll and can use the reimbursement to make the next payment. If that is out of the question, look to your local adult education courses and approach them for a scholarship (empty seat) to attend a computer class or two. Keep stroking. 🙂