BEING POOR by John Scalzi

This is so powerful. How true this is and how sad :(

" 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 hoping the toothache goes away.

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 off-brand toys.

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 moms get home and then telling her she doesn't have to make dinner tonight because you're not hungry anyway.

Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you.

Being poor is your kid's school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks.

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 finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support.

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 cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw.

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-cents raise.

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 in 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 knowing you're being judged.

Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by.

Being poor is a cough that doesn't go away.

Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.

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. "

-- John Scalzi

For a full version of the essay, click http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

"There's enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed."
-Mahatma Gandhi