Being poor

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Scrutiny Hooligans picked up an insightful post from this blog by writer John Scalzi on what it means to be poor. Might help some people better understand what’s happening in New Orleans.

A sample:

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.
Being poor is people wondering why you didn’t leave.

Some of mine:

Being poor is being familiar with the sounds of gunfire.
Being poor is bringing your lunch to school in the same brown paper bag for weeks and being laughed at.
Being poor is knowing what it is to be invisible.
Being poor is despising the sound of the telephone ring for fear of the creditors.