Being poor means not having options

Patrick posted a link to John Scalzi's brilliant essay on what it means to be poor. I linked to it from the Grapevine. I've been kind of sobbing since I read it because it's so true and it brings back so many memories.

We're not poor like we used to be but we're always struggling.

For me, for now, being poor means panicking because the school lunches have doubled in price, gas has gone up a dollar this week, housing has tripled in the last few years, my copay for doctors and medicine has doubled, and my salary is still less than a third of the median for our county.

Being poor means not going to the open call for Invasion today because I can't afford the gas.

Being poor means when you buy a POS van so you can drive your disabled boyfriend around and it malfunctions two weeks later and you crash and he dies, you keep on driving that van for three years because you can't afford to get another vehicle.

Being poor means you stop driving because you can't bear to look at the van so you essentially become a shutin.

Being poor means deciding whether to pay the electric or buy medicine.