Living in Poverty
I flew through High School. National Honor Society, 1200+ on the SAT’s, all that crap. I never studied. School work was easy and studying was unnecessary. I spent a lot of time on my computer, a 286 purchased through the combined forces of my entire family. I went to Georgia Tech on scholarships to study Computer Science.
I never graduated. I tried to get help to see why I couldn’t focus, but help didn’t come quick enough. Grades slipped, scholarships went away, debt mounted. Things fall apart.
A few years later, I’m working two jobs to take care of my wife and kids. We live well below the poverty line. My wife doesn’t get a job because that means we would need childcare and that’s just out of the question. We literally live from paycheck to paycheck. We eat the cheapest food we can find and live in a neighborhood where our neighbor sells drugs and prostitutes frequent the alley outside our window.
We can’t afford a phone, so we make calls at the payphone across the street. We don’t have a car, but at least the bus stop is right in front of our apartment complex. It takes me over an hour to get to work everyday. I barely even see my family.
I try a couple of times to go back to school, thinking maybe I can get a degree and then get a better job but, after two failed attempts over the years, all I have to show for it is more debt. Working two jobs and trying to go to school without reliable transportation is almost impossible.
Sure, I have the knowledge to work as a developer (I’ve been programming since the 4th grade), but nobody will hire me without a degree. I’m making $10/hr as a supervisor at my main job and that’s about as good as it gets. I’m stuck living in poverty and I’m not sure how to get out. Nobody can understand why I’m not doing better. I’m so talented and smart…so they say.
Is this your story, Rahsheen?
It very well could be. I most certainly never got a degree, but my mother wouldn’t have hers if I hadn’t taught her C/C++ and OOP (remember when that was a buzz word?). I have always hustled and scraped any way I could to try and provide for my kids. I have worked two jobs for most of my life. I have lived in poverty.
Anyone can end up in poverty. It doesn’t matter how hard you work. It doesn’t matter how smart you are. It doesn’t matter what race or ethnicity you are.
I tell you these things because a lot of people focus on the Why’s of poverty. They wonder why you let yourself live like that. They wonder why you don’t just get a better job. Why don’t you just go back to school and get a degree? Do you even have an ounce of pride in yourself?
Some situations are like quicksand. The more you kick and struggle to pull yourself out, the deeper you sink. There is nothing to grab onto. All your lifelines are gone.
Will you just walk past your fellow man and ignore their situation? Will you simply marvel at how they could have ended up in such a predicament? Will you wonder how they could have been so stupid?
…Or will you simply give them a hand?
There are a million things you can do to help. For now, let’s keep it simple: 88 Ways to DO Something About Poverty Right Now.
Don’t just sit there….DO SOMETHING.
