"Struggle survival skills that keep you in the struggle"
A lot of shit poor people learn to help them navigate a life of poverty helps perpetuate poverty. This is not a condemnation of poor people, it's a fact of life.
1. "Getting bills in your kids name" In response to Reply # 0
You are poor. You have bad credit and you can't afford the deposit required for gas or electricity. Get that shit turned on in your kids name. But you are poor so you miss payments, make partial payments or late payments. Now your kid's credit is fucked up too.
6. "Maxing out student loans at communty college" In response to Reply # 0
go to school, get that pell and max out the loans for refund. Drag out enrollment as long as possible to keep getting them checks until you reach the end of your loan and Pell eligibility. Have an associates or less to show for all that debt.
14. "for them refund chex" In response to Reply # 9
let's say you're an adult freshman with zero income and your tuition is 3500/year. Pell will pay about 5700. Depending on your home state, you may qualify for 4k in state grant. That's 6200 in refund checks, but ig you take out Stafford loans, you can increase that to 15700 in refund checks. All it costs you is 9500 in debt, which you probably don't plan on repaying anyway.
7. "indeed. the first 6 replies nailed the biggest offenses" In response to Reply # 0 Wed Jan-21-15 02:02 PM by BigJazz
but think about those caught up in that struggle. they may learn a better way of living through trial & error. or maybe somebody in their circle knows better and will tell them how to do it better...but then they gotta be willing to listen & apply the lesson.
i guess i'll add drugs to the list.
poor people sell drugs to escape poverty. then they end up with a criminal record and end up being unemployable which sends them right back to the struggle...this time with less options
8. "the thing is, everything named is clever and resourceful" In response to Reply # 7
These people have mastered NAVIGATING the struggle. They've been taught and they're passing it down. They have a great understanding of their world. The problem is that we (the state) aren't giving them what they need to escape the struggle...because we need people to struggle.
11. "i'm not sure about the whole 'needing people to struggle' angle. " In response to Reply # 8
if HAVES are to exist, there has to be a HAVE NOT.
sure, i'll give you that.
but the HAVE NOTS can improve their lot in life significantly and still be have nots as compared to the haves.
i'm from the struggle so i know it well. i've climbed out of it but i still got scars & bad habits from being in it.
i try to school people on the easiest changes to make to improve their lives. like putting people who can't get bank accounts on to American Express Serve so they can have their checks direct deposited and avoid check cashing fees.
Did you know you don't have to pay the whole electric bill? You just have to pay enough to keep the lights on. You can use the rest of that money do get your hair done.
Of course it will ruin your credit and fuck you in the future. Here's the thing though, POOR PEOPLE DESERVE CREATURE COMFORTS. That's not sarcasm either.
17. "I know some cities consider homes without electricity or water" In response to Reply # 13
uninhabitable. Homes can be condemned if the person doesn't have utilities on. I can see why a landlord would move to evict to keep their property from being condemned.
Atillah Moor Member since Sep 05th 2013 13825 posts
Thu Jan-22-15 03:34 PM
24. "Able bodied pan handling " In response to Reply # 0
Coulda found a job and pulled a better paycheck in the time it takes to scrape together maybe $30 at best hanging out in train stations lying about how you don't have the change to get back to your point of origin or can't afford some damn diapers (which you can get for free through programs).
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Everything looks like Oprah kissing Harvey Weinstein these days
26. "i had a homie who did/does this" In response to Reply # 24
Dude had issues with mental health and alcoholism. Knew something was up a couple years ago when I was walking to class at 7 am and dude was outside sipping a tall can.
Seen him recently out of rehab and dude told me he was goin to old town to do some pan handling. I know I'm not built for it, once I had to ask folks for a quarter cuz I was short on bus fare and even that hurt my soul.
------------------------------- If life is stupendous one cannot also demand that it should be easy. - Robert Musil
27. "scratch offs/the lottery in general" In response to Reply # 0
no, you aren't going to win. Even if you do win say $500 on a scratcher, you prolly spent $700 on them shits before you finally won you dumb motherfucker you.
------------------------------- If life is stupendous one cannot also demand that it should be easy. - Robert Musil
28. "i got relatives that play no less than $20 a day, EVERYDAY, on numbers....." In response to Reply # 27
i dig the whole 'that buck that bought a bottle coulda struck the lotto' concept. a dollar and a dream...all that.
cuz it's like, what can you do with $1?
but once you start talking $20 and up, and you playing consistently? nah, you buggin. that money coulda been better spent on all kinds of other things.
and even if you not the investing type or the saving type or the buying shit you need type, at least throw your money at something with better odds. hell, the casino got better odds than the lotto...
31. "i do the gas hustle every now & then." In response to Reply # 0
let's say the tank's on E and i'm low on funds.
i go to the gas station and use my bank card as a credit card to fill up my tank.
well, the day i'm getting the gas, the gas station only pulls $1 off my card. then, 2-3 business days later, the full cost of the gas comes off my card.
so if i'm expecting a direct deposit on the 15th and i go get gas on the 13, i'm good...
34. "i learned it doesn't work wit Bank of America. sure they hold that $1" In response to Reply # 33
but please believe the rest is coming out like the next day.
but i also bank with PNC and with PNC, i've had gas hit my account and make it negative...and PNC didn't charge me the fee. since the $1 was there when they held it, i guess PNC figured the charge was cool.
so that's my ace in the hole when times get rough. as long as i got $1 in my PNC account, i can get a full tank of gas...
72. "I had a similar hustle when i was broke back in '08" In response to Reply # 31
i dubbed it the "Kroger loan" lol so basically my payday was Friday but say it’s Thursday and I only have pennies in my account I would mosey on over to Kroger (though I’m sure any grocery store would’ve sufficed) go cop me a pack of Altoids or something small, right? swipe that ol’ debit card and press “cashback” somehow or another, Bank of America would let me get the max cashback that Kroger would allow (it used to be $100 but I think they’ve since decreased it) even though the money wasn’t there so I’d basically be taking out a “loan” from Kroger if I attempted to make a withdrawal from an ATM, it would always decline but not Kroger the kicker was I would HAVE to do it on a Thursday, Wednesday at the earliest because if I freaked it right I wouldn’t be assessed the overdraft fee(s) because it wouldn’t clear until Saturday or possibly even Monday even if my attempted ATM withdrawals did go through, they’d have cleared the same day for sure and that would’ve led to a ton of overdrafts man those Kroger loans used to get me through some rough times, I’ll tell you what
64. "Because of the kinds of foods that are sold there" In response to Reply # 63
Most of these stores are put up on Food Deserts where the lack of fresh vegetables, fruits, and healthy meats are missing. So, the people are forced to by unhealthy canned and boxed foods that are high is sodium and sugar, along with junk foods in the form of snack foods.
. . . "Today is your day to have a better life -- it's your right."
"Putting off the Doc, Dentist, Therapist, etc. Costs MORE!"
I swear not going to get stuff checked out costs more in the long run. Get the cavity filled before it becomes a root canal!
If you don't want the baby go get the abortion pill before you you have to pay for the longer and more aggressive surgical abortion.
Feeling cray, see a therapist before you lose your job!
Just deal with the difficult while it is still easy (Lao tzu)
My sister is always in struggle mode because she ignores shit until it is a huge growth in her life. Then everyone has to dig into their savings to help her, when we could have chipped ina few bucks at the beginning to avoid a disastrous ending.
50. "Putting off the Doc, Dentist, Therapist, etc. Costs MORE!" In response to Reply # 0
I swear not going to get stuff checked out costs more in the long run. Get the cavity filled before it becomes a root canal!
If you don't want the baby go get the abortion pill before you you have to pay for the longer and more aggressive surgical abortion.
Feeling cray, see a therapist before you lose your job!
Just deal with the difficult while it is still easy (Lao tzu)
My sister is always in struggle mode because she ignores shit until it is a huge growth in her life. Then everyone has to dig into their savings to help her, when we could have chipped ina few bucks at the beginning to avoid a disastrous ending.
51. "I used to be really cheap when buying shit" In response to Reply # 0
But many people have told me if you buy cheap shit (especially tools) you'll spend more in the long run because you will have to buy that same time THREE to FIVE times over the lifespan of that ONE good quality tool
this parlays into clothes and shoes as well
so now, i just buy the good shit to begin with and dont look back
52. "man i used to buy used tires..." In response to Reply # 51
this was right after i got outta college 25 here, 25 there
that shit would add up because the tires would always dry rot shit was annoying i figured all of the money i spent on used tires couldve easily got me a set of pretty decent new tires
hustling backwards man smh
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<----- Genesis is deep my features are that of a God
I'll take it a step further. I'd like my child to tidy up after himself, but I'm not going to OD and raise my kid with a service worker mentality. Hopefully there will come a time where he can afford to pay someone to clean for him. Blacks are bad, but Mexicans can the worst with this sometimes. Pulling their kids out of school to "help out", it's wild.
77. "It's not just a "Mexican" thing, this is a poverty issue." In response to Reply # 68
This more to do with lack of cash, resources and a mentality that all we will ever be is the help. But people of many cultures do this, and they are all POOR.
>Blacks are bad, but Mexicans can the worst with this >sometimes. Pulling their kids out of school to "help out", >it's wild.
Anti-gentrification, cheap alcohol & trying to look pretty in our twilight posting years (c) Big Reg
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78. "Don't twist my words, I didn't say that. I just spoke on what I've seen..." In response to Reply # 77
>This more to do with lack of cash, resources and a mentality >that all we will ever be is the help. But people of many >cultures do this, and they are all POOR. > > > >>Blacks are bad, but Mexicans can the worst with this >>sometimes. Pulling their kids out of school to "help out", >>it's wild.
It's a phenomenon in the Bx & Westchester. There are poor people of all kinds in those areas, but the Mexicans are the only ones pulling their children out of high school to labor, or to send them back to their home country for a month.
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