I explained my situation to the aid people, maybe I got one of those people who just don\'t care about their jobs, but they said there was nothing I could do about it.
Luckily for me, after I enrolled my GI bill kicked in and I had a bit of money to cover things.
I wish I could have compassion for the poor, I really do, but I can\'t.
During the Reagan years my father was part of a union disbute, a dispute that got him locked out and blacklisted. For 6 years.
I know a bit about poverty.
No, screw that, I know quite a lot about poverty.
To most of you poverty is a just a word, a concept that you think you have a grasp on. You see someone who is poor and think that you can empathise and understand it, but you truly don\'t.
I do.
Not \"I\'m poor, but I got the latest fashions and my bling\" poor.
Not \"The bills are paid but I can\'t afford to hit the casinos\"poor.
Not \"I got every cable channel, and the internet\" poor.
I\'m talking \"Hunter/Gatherer\" poor.
I\'m talking \"get up in the morning, put on my cammies and go hunting for food on the table , before I go to school\" poor.
I\'m talking \"Great Depression era\" poor.
If not for the good graces of my grandfather, our house and family land would have been lost, he only made us pay him interest until my father got a job. (I\'m not joking here.)
My father didn\'t throw up his hands in despair and ask for government assistance, that was for people unable to work. (Although my mother did go behind his back to apply and was denied because we owned land.)
My father did whatever, he wasn\'t too good for any job.
He roofed, he chopped firewood, (not a very lucrative business when your average winters are in the 30\'s), he picked pecans, he grew a garden. Anything and everything to keep some money coming in.
I remember eating squirrels and tomatoes (about the only thing my father could grow) day, after day, after day. I can\'t eat a raw tomato to this day.
I remember going to bed hungry, because I didn\'t shoot enough squirrels. I remember feeling guilty because Mom and Dad gave up their portions for us kids.
I remember breaking fingers and resetting them myself, with popsicle sticks and gauze.
I remember my father cutting himself badly and stitching it himself.
At 12, when most kids are worried about pimples and girls, I was worried about killing enough squirrels/rabbits or catching enough fish to feed the family. By 14, I knew more about responsibility than most 25 year olds do today.
We had two channels on a beat up TV, our entertainment was the public library.
After 6 years of this my father got his job back.
I was a hellish exsitance, but I wouldn\'t change it for the world.
It has made me who I am, it has made me a stronger person.
It taught me some very important things about life.
1.) Never take anything for granted, always take care of your stuff, you never know when you may be able to replace it.
2.)Life owes you nothing, You must work to get what you want/need.
3.) It can absolutely get worse, but you can survive.
I\'ve got a close group of friends from the area who all went through the same thing.
If you look at us now you\'d never know.
All of us are in our Mid 30\'s and will have our homes paid off before we are 40, we each have vehicles that are paid off, and with the exception of house note are all debt free.
All of us put ourselves through college, most of us working full time while doing it.
Coincedence? Maybe. We all understand true poverty on a very personal level, and each of us will do anything to avoid it again.
All our siblings who were too young to remember it, are horrible with their money, no exceptions. My brother, who makes around double what I make in a year just got his car reposessed, has five maxed out credit cards, and can\'t get a loan to save his life.
I look around today at a lot of those claiming poverty, and I have to shake my head in disgust.
I see a lot of people with their hands out.
I see a lot of people looking for a free ride, who believe they are entitled to something.
I see a lot of people who have no type of work ethic or will to change their lives.
I see a lot of people who put their wants before their needs.
I see a lot of people who don\'t know what true poverty is.
And every now and then I see a genuine person who needs help, and that\'s who I extend my help to.
