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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Another post-poor here:

I've posted a few above and last night read all the pages and then reflected on what I read.

I want to make two points:

1.  What I think people don't really get about growing up poor is the thousand little humiliations that we go through. Let's take for example the mom cut. Yes, if we are solidly middle class and have clean clothes that fit and aren't too worn, a little mom-cut is fine.  When your hair is dirty b/c there is no shampoo, and your clothes are not clean b/c there is no detergent OR you are wearing your only shirt, the little mom cut just adds insult to a million injuries. (not picking on mom cutter..I am a mom-cutter).  There was a time when I was 13 (I'm female, imagine this) I had 1 shirt, 2 pants, 1 pair of socks and 1 pair of undies b/c my mom left our clothes at the laundry mat over night.  (crazy woman, no drugs involved).

2.  This past can make us feel out of place at times. For example, I was dining with neighbors who were talking about poverty. I *Started* to tell them about a life of poverty and got through maybe 2 examples (like the stuff upthread) when their faces changed and I stopped talking.  I could tell they did not know how to relate.  It seemed odd and foreign to them. You could see them wondering how it could be true; how did I "rise above" ect.  Anyway, I tell a little at opportune times but even my husband has yet to hear all of the stories.

Gads, I'm getting weepy again.

I've never been homeless and to those above who have been, I can't even imagine and hope that your life has improved as much as mine has.  Happy 4th!

Finally, ours is a land of opportunity. I got out of poverty through education, public education, financed by low-interest, Stafford-backed loans and pell grants. I also went to a pretty cheap undergrad school and NIH research grants paid for my doctoral degree. So thanks all your public servants who keep those programs alive!    [/quote]

Land of opportunity, sure, but such poverty should not even happen in a country which is a democracy and has such a military budget.[/quote]

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