Tell me about being poor

[Anonymous]

My family has been lucky to always be well off, and this is one of those things I could never ever bring up with anyone I know, but am secretly fascinated by poor people and wonder about so many aspects of their lives.

Do you shop at WalMart?
Do you eat fast food all the time?
How big is your home?
What do you DO on weekends?
Where do you go on vacations?
Do you have very few clothes? Shoes?
If you're too poor to go out, what do you do to get together with friends?
Do you have any friends who are well off?
What do you do for fun?
What do you think is the qualifier that makes a person poor?
Do your kids know you're poor?
What do they do after school?
Do they get teased in school?

I always watch movies about really poor people and this whole lifestyle just fascinates me.

[Anonymous]

Being poor isn't a lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

SMH

[Anonymous]

Asshole.

[Anonymous]

What's it like to be a moron?

[Anonymous]

Wow!, how can anyone be so bored as to post such a bizarre thread. Real responses would be even more shocking.

[Anonymous]

I see we have reached a new low on DCUM. Tacky, OP.

[Anonymous]

I wish I could adequately educate you about the nuances of the poor lifestyle, but right now I need to go key your car.

[Anonymous]

I am thrilled to finally see a topic that no one is actually taking seriously. Keep the non-replies coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family has been lucky to always be well off, and this is one of those things I could never ever bring up with anyone I know, but am secretly fascinated by poor people and wonder about so many aspects of their lives.

I"m openly fascinated by the fact that i was raised very, very poor and now am "worth" over a mil. Can't believe it. So I'll share then and now.

Do you shop at WalMart? yes then -- everything. now, no, wtf is it even?
Do you eat fast food all the time? then no; couldn't afford it. but I just at mcdonnalds for lunch.
How big is your home? then 900sq feet for 1 mom and 3 kids. 1.5 baths, 3bedrooms. now 3000, 4beds 3 baths for 3 people
What do you DO on weekends? watch tv and eat Hydrox or little debbie snack cakes and spend lots of time with family/ now, everything, lots of stuff outside...hiking for ex. museums. weekend trips, vacations, visit friends, family, host parties.
Where do you go on vacations? then, 1 vacation to the beach from home - 2 days now, i've been all over the world. So far this year I"ve been west for a week, south for a week and am going north for 2 weeks in Aug.
Do you have very few clothes? Shoes? OMG: ONe time I had 2 undies and 1 pair of socks, in highschool, and I had to WASH them every night and dry them with a hairdryer in the morning. I'm not making this up. I also had like 1 or 2 pants and shirts but I remember the washing of the underthings as traumatic. I finally told a relative and they took me to walmart for more things. now I have a filled walk in closet with work clothes and a small closet with play clothes and my child's closet is full and yes, im a bit of a hoarder (food too b/c I was hungry all the time...foodstamps don't buy much) but a neat, well organized one. I have lots of shoes. at my desk I have 3 right now and slippers. Back in the day, 1. Just one pair at a time.
If you're too poor to go out, what do you do to get together with friends? all the time but I was a child and early-adult. We hung out in backyards a lot
Do you have any friends who are well off? then, no. but way better off than me. I'd have friends give me clothes and food...they had "extra" so embarrassing.
What do you do for fun? socialize. eat. then. Now the same but go out, do stuff, spend money on yummy food and new experiences...
What do you think is the qualifier that makes a person poor? hum...mom made minimum wage when she worked. dad was absent. mom sometimes didn't work...
Do your kids know you're poor? n/a but oh yes we knew we were poorer than most of the poor people we knew
What do they do after school? watched self watched brothers and tried to keep house clean and cook dinner and avoid bloody accidents. Seriously, I almost was gassed to death once b/c the house we lived in sucked so much. My brother woke me up telling me that it was stinky. He was crying and screaming b/c I wouldn't wake up. I had a seriously bad headache and was very dizzy. House-full of gas. and roaches.
Do they get teased in school? hell yes. "Suzie Q, isn't that the shirt you wore yesterday" "yes you f-head, it is". I was mouthy then and now I"m a fancy downtown dc type.

"I always watch movies about really poor people and this whole lifestyle just fascinates me."
I, on the other hand, actively avoid them.

[Anonymous]

I'll bite.
Growing up we were poor. Both mom n dad worked long hours so I only saw them on weekends. Grandma watched me my brother and my coursing so my aunt also could go to work.

I had the best childhood ever and never felt deprived of anything. We played outside every day rain or sunshine. Played sports, played with dirt, built forts with sheets and chairs. We watched very little TV and shared one old bike that was too small for my cousin and too big for my brother.

Food was always fresh and cooked from scratch. Most ingredients grown in our backyard. I had McDonalds for the first time when I was 15yo and soda we only drank in parties or on the weekends.

BTW weekends were spent either in church or following my parents around doing volunteer work. I remember helping my dad with tools fixing roofs, plumbing, electrical connections etc at people's houses. I became quite handy.

We were in public school until middle school when we took a test at a local private school and got scholarships.

I worked my way trough college and only bought my first car after getting married.

Now we live a comfortable life at 100K and I can SAH with the kids until I feel like.

[Anonymous]

i was a poor immigrant growing up.

Anonymous wrote:Do you shop at WalMart? No. Salvation Army.
Do you eat fast food all the time? No.
How big is your home? 2BR apartment
What do you DO on weekends? play with friends, visit family members, museums
Where do you go on vacations? didn't go on a lot of vacations, but went to the Pacific NW once
Do you have very few clothes? Shoes? not a lot
If you're too poor to go out, what do you do to get together with friends? hung out, went to the movies
Do you have any friends who are well off? yes, had a scholarship to a private school
What do you do for fun? now? hang out with family, workout.
What do you think is the qualifier that makes a person poor? my parents worried a lot about paying bills.
Do your kids know you're poor? yes, i knew when i was growing up.
What do they do after school? sports, hang out with friends.
Do they get teased in school? i did. as i got older, it got better.

I always watch movies about really poor people and this whole lifestyle just fascinates me.

as someone pointed out, it's not a "lifestyle." i didn't choose it. it was what it was. i don't consider myself poor now and looking back, yes, we were "poor" financially. but i never really wanted for anything, i was fed, housed, clothed and LOVED. maybe it wasn't always the right pair of shoes, but who cares now?

[Anonymous]

Well, to begin with, we aren't zoo animals, and it's not a lifestyle.

In the off-chance you're not trolling, and instead just clueless. I'll bite. I wasn't born poor, but our family became poor very quickly when my youngest sibling was born with a congenital defect that has affected us ever since. I wonder still, if my parents will be able to retire due to my sibling's medical bills. (We were insured, but no with lifetime maximums, it was the thing that killed us, later pre-existing conditions killed us- my sib was BORN with a pre-existing condition) I may even still be poor to you, though I feel rich, as we have a HHI of about 95k/year.

Do you shop at WalMart?
We did for essentials, but also shopped second-hand, and sales. Our idea of "need" is likely different than yours.

Do you eat fast food all the time?
No, too expensive. Maybe once every two weeks as a treat when I was a kid. We ate at home, simple, cheap and filling meals like spaghetti, tacos, beans and rice, and casseroles.

How big is your home?
Our home was large, but it was purchased before my sibling was born. 4 br/2ba. This was in the early 80s in the midwest though.

What do you DO on weekends?
Spent time with family and friends- playing game, chatting, doing chores, same as now.

Where do you go on vacations?
To far-away family's homes- loved vacation.

Do you have very few clothes? Shoes?
What a strange question. I probably had 2 pair of jeans and 5-10 shirts growing up, lots of hand-me downs. 1 good pair of shoes for the season. It was enough then, and I don't have much more now.

If you're too poor to go out, what do you do to get together with friends?
You invite them to your home, you cook a meal, you chat, play cards, watch movies.

Do you have any friends who are well off?
We did then, we do now.

What do you do for fun?
Read books, watch movies, play cards, play sports, talk with friends and family, go for a walk.

What do you think is the qualifier that makes a person poor?
I couldn't say if there's a specific dollar amount, but when you're unable to provide the basic needs- food, medicine, shelter, clothes- you're pretty poor.

Do your kids know you're poor?
I had no idea we were poor growing up until I got to high school. I then got a job, which helped.

What do they do after school?
We read, played sports, or just played at home.

Do they get teased in school?
I did get teased at school- wrong shoes, wrong clothes, unable to go to movies very often, or to concerts, trips, etc. I got a job when I was older to help be able to do that sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow!, how can anyone be so bored as to post such a bizarre thread. Real responses would be even more shocking.

oops. Guess I'm bizarre. (I"m the PP with the long answer)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SMH

no kiddin?

fascinated? really?????