Most gas station attendants will not stop a small child from stealing toilet paper from their bathrooms. Who knew?
“I’m hungry” “Drink some water” We were probably the best-hydrated children at school lmao
If you send a bad check to the utilities company on a Friday you have power for the weekend
You don’t want to repeat a grade level not because it’s embarrassing or mommy will scold you, but because that’s one less year before you can graduate, work and ease the family’s financial burden.
Pizza nights are the best birthday present you could ever f@#$$%g get.
A whole pizza, ordered exactly how you like it, and you get to have more than one slice.
The one thing I dont know from growing up poor is how the f@#k a dishwasher works.
Pre-cut Christmas trees are free on Christmas Eve. I remember the Christmas tree hunt on Christmas Eve was like our little family tradition. We would drive around in the evening looking for stores that still had trees sitting out front. Nine times out of 10, when we would ask about the tree we were interested in, they would say “just take it,” glad to get rid of them by that point.
Every year we had a perfectly beautiful tree and it was exciting to find perfect trees for free and then stay up late decorating it with home-made glitter pine cones and candy canes.
How good a buttered tortilla is.
IDK about in other states but in MN they can’t shut your power off during the winter because of the danger of someone freezing to death in their house. So that was a good time to try to catch up on some other bills you are way behind on too.
You develop an appreciation for hand-me-down clothes when they come your way.
Food stamp paper change.
When I was a kid , if you used food stamps they would give back the change in food stamp form. My Mom was too “proud” to publicly use them so she would make up a reason to leave & I would have to pay using them – I was 11 or so. She did it every time…I had to learn to keep my head up.
When someone breaks into your house but doesnt take anything. Happened once. Still think its funny.
What hunger really is. I remember waiting for my dad’s payday for the grocery shopping trip and being absolutely ravenous when the food got there.
What it’s like to use the same bath water as your siblings because running a new tub of water is a waste.
How to cook with the government surplus cheese.
Outdated technology.
When I started college, one of my professors asked if anyone in our class remembered how you changed a channel on the TV before remote controls. I was the only person in the room who remembered turning dials and adjusting rabbit ears despite being one of the youngest students in the class, because my family had a TV from the 70s until 1995.
Mom could make a bag of potatoes last two weeks amongst five kids, her and my dad. Rice, butter, and sugar was a breakfast food. Biscuits lasted days-retoasted w/ butter and brown sugar for dinner etc..
I truly had no idea until I was in my junior year of high school taking Child Development that Head Start was a program created for children from homes of low income. I simply thought it was a place for me to get a “head start” as a kid.
I still remember my teacher saying verbatim, “No honey, your family was just poor.” in front of the whole class.
Camping is only fun when you’ve never had to do it out of necessity.
Not being able to do extracurriculars. I wanted to be in orchestra and I wanted to play soccer but we couldn’t afford it so I was told no. Couldn’t afford the uniforms or the gas to get me to practice, and definitely couldn’t afford a violin.
Knowing the cheapest thing on the menu at every restaurant, for when your friends’ family invites you out to dinner. Even though you’re not paying, you’re programmed to only select the cheapest thing. My friend’s mom said “you sure like hot dogs. That’s all you order no matter where we go to eat.”
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