You know, it sucks not being economically stable. It sucks having to take out a loan to afford school books and pay off what the grants couldn’t cover. It sucks having to sometimes space out meals because I don’t have enough to cover the ice cream at the Union on Tuesdays. But you know what? It also totally rocks.
The winters are very hard for my dad and I because we have a summer-based business. It was a very slim summer, so this winter has been worse off for us. I also just started college as a freshman in September, so there were those expenses to worry about also. I’ve found that retrospection makes a lot of this easier to deal with, because I can now see some positive sides of not being filthy stinkin’ rich.
I feel I have a more realistic view of the world right now because I have true empathy for people in bad situations. I don’t obsess over fashion sense or having the latest whatever. Maybe that’s just who I am, or maybe who I am is because of how I’ve been raised. My dad and I have never been rich, thought there was a time when we were better off financially. In eighth grade, things started going down hill when my dad was hurt on the job. He was a mechanic/ski hill manager/campground manager, but now he couldn’t do any of that because of an accident. We then relied on our small fireworks store that catered to out-of-town pyromaniacs (ironically, residents of our state are unable to buy anything more than sparks, but we’ll get into this in another blog entry in the future). Fireworks, if you don’t already know this, are a ton more popular in the summer, especially in the two weeks leading up to the Fourth of July. So we’d get a busy couple of weeks, and need to rely on that till next year rolled around.
I believe that I am more responsible because of this. I need to worry about money, so I’ve had to give up a few things. I wasn’t able to attend the film/acting camps I wanted to go to, or accept the invitation I got from Cambridge for their summer semester. I didn’t want to go to Prom because I couldn’t wrap my head around buying an incredibly expensive dress to wear once and then never use again. When the band trip and school trip were the same amusement park in eighth grade, I thought it would be more practical to just go on the bad trip. I am a window shopper, and it’s very hard for me to decide on something to buy because I don’t shop often. I try not to spend the money I’ve saved.
So you can see how my experience may have differed from a rich kid. A rich kid would have been able to go to those camps and accept those expensive opportunities. A rich kid could spend money left and right and not have to worry about being thrifty.
I’ve also made an observation on rich versus poor people that I think makes so much of a difference. Rich people often seem so impatient, annoyed, and in a rush that they don’t understand the little pleasures of life. Poor people can be incredibly kind and giving. We are the ones who tip the waitresses nicely and donate to those little cups on counters. I’ve made this observation around town and also in my place of work: The fireworks store. The rich New Yorkers who come down our gravel driveway in their spiffy ugly-as-sin Hummer who demands to have a particular item that doesn’t exist…then the Pennsylvanian who is just so excited to show the family some nice little fireworks who will take the time to talk like human beings to me.
I know I’ve made a generalization, and that not all of this is 100% true. It’s an observation, so it had to be a little general. There are plenty of kind people who also happen to have money, while there are poor people who are completely miserable. I know the world doesn’t shade in only black and white. But haven’t you noticed the same thing? Of course, this depends on where you live and who you live around, but I would still like some comments on this subject. What is your take on rich vs. poor?
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There's a difference between being just rich and being rich and knowing how blessed you are to have the things you have. My family wasn't always as well off as we are now. We were the kind of "poor" that was a single mother taking care of two children while getting her master's and recieving no child support kind of poor. Through education and strength we are now living in an affluent part of our state.
Most families have a struggle, but most children don't know about the struggle their parents had to go through to give them what they have. I know a lot of people who don't realize how lucky they are. I just want to send them on a plane to see REAL poverty. I want them to feel the affects of seeing children with swollen stomachs who don't get to eat 3 meals a day and live in a big cozy house. The one thing that always blew my mind, while I was in Africa, was how generous the peopel were. They were always so quick to give you their food and make sure you were comfortable even if they had little to offer you. I think the wealthy should take a page out of their book and realize material goods aren't everything.
I mainly see the difference (in my more day to day life) between my sister and her boyfriend. My sister grew up more wealthy and him poor. He doesn't understand our need to go shopping as often as we do, although we are cutting back, it's still a problem and I know we can spend our money in a wiser fashion.
I wrote a blog that can kind of be attached to this in the sense of why am I so selfish and why is it so hard for me to give up my goods when those who have so much less than me can give them up so much easier? It's a conscious effort that I am trying to make to better myself.
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"Most intellects do not believe in God, but they fear us just the same." - Erykah Badu
Very cool. I'm glad you've done a blog on this subject because it looks like you know what you're talking about.
I think it's incredible that you helped out people in Africa. I would love such an opportunity, because I don't trust ads on TV that talk about donating money. You never really know how much money is making it to the people who actually need it.
I actually have family that live in Africa. They are from Cameroon (which is located in central Africa on the west coast) and they are incredible people. My mother actually has no obligations to this family considering my parents are divorced but we always send them money, clothes, and other things to help them especially during the holidays. It's important to know the feeling of sharing what you have with others.
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"Most intellects do not believe in God, but they fear us just the same." - Erykah Badu
That is so cool. I wish more families could be like that: more giving in nature.
I see where your coming from. Poor people seem to be better people. However, I have friends who have more money then me, and they seem to suffer like me too. They have divorce, and they never see their parents a lot. At the end of the day, we are all just people trying to survive. I rather be rich though. Do you agree?
Rich might be nice in some aspects, but like my reply to the comment below this, I'd rather experience the life of a poor person first. Then you understand what you're taking for granted.
I agree that in general poor people are ncier than rich people. I am a freshman in college, like you, and go to a school where some people come to the school just because they can afford to. They tend to be impatient, wasteful and have no desire to work (school or an actual job). I on the other hand come from a poor to middle class family. My parents work hard. My dad is an entrepreneur and he has busy and slow times of the year. It has helped to teach me the value of money. I bought my first car, but I also wouldn't do anything that could be potentially bad for the motor. People at my high school had their parents buy them mulitple sports cars. Each car they proceeded to crash before getting another one within a week. It would be nice to be rich, but that is something people need to earn for themselves to appreciate the value of a dollar and what work actually means.
~Jessica Mondillo
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/jmondillo
I would like to add something to this; "It would be nice to be rich....after knowing what it's like being poor."
I wonder sometimes about my future. If I somehow made a lot of money, started a family, what would the children turn out because of that money? I would almost want these hypothetical children to have experienced life as a poor person, rather than being born into affluence and having everything handed to them.
Hey! I'm from New York and I think Hummers are the ugliest, most wasteful vehicles ever created. Except maybe Jags.
My family isn't "rich," but we are now upper-middle-class whereas we used to be downright dirt-poor. I've seen both sides, and I'd agree with you there are pros and cons to both. My youngest brother is very different from me and the middle child because of the difference in economics when we were young.
I did say it was a generalization...
Not all New Yorkers are rich or own a Hummer, I know that. We just seem to get an alarming amount of people that fit this category.
And please don't be offended by what I said. I'm technically a New Yorker too. I was born on Long Island and lived there for the first seven years of my life.
Oh, don't worry... you have to do a lot more than say mean things about New Yorkers to offend me.
: )