Vote for Bernie.I have been to restaurants where a side dish of mashed potatoes or steamed broccoli is $10. So, the $21.36 meal for a prime rib is not bad, even for this woman. But in addition to the $100 to see a Frank Lloyd tour, I wonder what other things that she spent money on that she should not.
As I said earlier, I have read blogs of destitute people who spend $5 on a fancy-schmancy toothpaste tube, or buy grocery at Whole Foods. How do we help these people?
We splurge and go to the restaurant:
Brilliant
No, not at all, but the dramatic headline alone is asking us to see them as sad sacks. The author could have presented their stories differently, maybe as three examples of hardworking industrious people who are tackling hard times on their own terms and getting by. There is nothing dishonorable in any of the jobs they are doing.
Vote for Bernie.
I guess I had a much different take on these stories. I kinda respected these folks for not feeling sorry for themselves, making do with what was available to them, exerting some control over their lives and most of all being willing to keep working.
I think I see people like this all the time working minimal wage jobs in grocery stores, etc. and providing service to customers. The only twist on the folks in the story was the nomadic lifestyle. I might not agree with their choices, but they're not asking me to be responsible for them either.
Am I the only one that feels this way?
I almost always spend much more than 21$, but I don't go out that often and when I do I normally order something that takes much preparation. Easy to make dishes I prepare at home much cheaper. But I am not $50,000 in debt or I would be eating Ramen Noodles!
We will see more and more of this over time. Not so surprising... 1 candy now or 2 candies later.
Something I noticed but forgot to comment on.She can’t buy in bulk because Big Foot has little storage space. Often, she’s forced to purchase smaller-sized products — at convenience store prices — that fit a smallish RV refrigerator.
But there are plenty of opportunities to spend more... Like the high end fish taco place a block from Barbarella's... Everything is ala carte and it's hard to get out of there for cheap.
As Marvin Zindler used to say on Houston TV, "It's Hell to be poor!" [...in America--my addition.]
unfortunately (my opinion is that) stories like these are just the tip of the iceberg - we will see the number of poor elderly accelerate as that generation ages
The people in the story aren't asking for sympathy but it seems the author is trying to evoke some.
I always wonder about the author's agenda on these stories. My first reaction is always that someone wants me to cough up more money either through taxes, contributions or other means by trying to make me feel guilty.
I'm sort of fatigued out on that score.
I think they have a different mentality all together. Are they just foolishly optimistic or it is some kind of pleasure principal at play here?
What I've noticed about some of my friends who are just getting by - if they have extra cash, they don't think about saving it first
. They think about what extra fun they could have with it like getting a watch they had been wanting for a while - an Apple Watch. Or they get laid off and take the long vacation they always wanted to take but couldn't because they were working and had no time to. Money? Oh they got severance and would be getting unemployment, plus they could dip into savings if they had to. (That's what they (my friends) would say.) They always seem to come out of the other end fine somehow, which kind of amazes me every time.
He learned absolutely nothing from being broke for 10 years, and I expect that the $150,000 will all be gone in 2 years.
But if someone finds enjoyment in it and can afford it why not?
We only live once and can't take it with us.