John Scalzi: Being Poor

[mountain grammy]

17. Being poor is having 3 jobs and still selling furniture to pay the electric bill.

Being poor is your kids asking you why we're have scrambled eggs for supper again (they were on sale.)
Being poor is watching the engine smoke on your 20 year old car everytime you stop because the head gasket is leaking and you can't afford to have it fixed so you just keep dumping oil into the engine.
Being poor is asking the mechanic if he can plug the hole in the tire and he shows you the steel is coming through the rubber and you know you can't afford one, much less 4 tires.
Being poor is living with cold water because the hot water heater is broken.. and happiness is replacing a thermo-couple all by myself and fixing it.
And, you know what? I was lucky to have 3 jobs, furniture and electricity, food to eat and a junker to drive, a decent house to live in and a hot water heater to fix. So many have it much worse. The worst part of being poor is the insecurity, knowing you're one illness from the streets.

The only thing good about the years I struggled with my kids as a single mom, was the economy was good enough to get three jobs, that was Houston, Tx. 1978-1984. That was true through the nineties too, and even for a while under W. These days, people are lucky to get one lousy paying job. I honestly don't know how people can do it. I have several friends getting assistance, food stamps, etc. and they're hanging on by a thread waiting for summer.

The minimum wage must be raised. It should be about $15/hr. If corporations refuse to share massive profits with the workforce that produces that profit, the government must force them to do it. And please, don't whine about the effect on small business owners.. I was one for several years. Placing a high value on your employees always pays off.