I grew up in a middle class home. My mother was a Licensed Social Worker and my father was a civil attorney, then a municipal court judge and then a criminal defense attorney. It was expected that my brother and I would go to college -- Both of us did and we have 4 college degrees between the two of us.
After I finished college, I settled down and got married. Though I've never been rich, we earned enough for several years to continue in the middle class. Even when our financial situation started to nosedive, Della & I have always had enough to get by and to donate to others. Over the years, we've both volunteered lots of time and donated oodles of nonperishables to local food banks to help those less fortunate.
Today, for the first time in my 50+ years, I went to a local food bank, not as a volunteer or to make a donation, but as a recipient. I was vaguely uncomfortable.
It's the same sort of feeling I had the first time I received Food Stamps. I was in grad school and my meager pay as a Graduate Teaching Assistant simply wasn't enough to get by on. I remember going to the local grocery store very early in the day in the hopes I wouldn't see any of my classmates. I was also very self-conscious about what I selected because I didn't want anyone to think I was using my food allotment on junk.
Back then, it was a lot worse than it is now. Food Stamps looked a lot like Monopoly money. As soon as you handed over the fake cash, everyone in your line KNEW you were one of the po' folk living off of government handouts. Today, I don't have to flash the funny money; we're given a ATM-like card.
So, I've seen and lived on both sides of the aisle. I liked it better when I was the making the donations, not the one receiving them. But my life is what it is and I have to learn to accept it...humbly.
After I finished college, I settled down and got married. Though I've never been rich, we earned enough for several years to continue in the middle class. Even when our financial situation started to nosedive, Della & I have always had enough to get by and to donate to others. Over the years, we've both volunteered lots of time and donated oodles of nonperishables to local food banks to help those less fortunate.
Today, for the first time in my 50+ years, I went to a local food bank, not as a volunteer or to make a donation, but as a recipient. I was vaguely uncomfortable.
It's the same sort of feeling I had the first time I received Food Stamps. I was in grad school and my meager pay as a Graduate Teaching Assistant simply wasn't enough to get by on. I remember going to the local grocery store very early in the day in the hopes I wouldn't see any of my classmates. I was also very self-conscious about what I selected because I didn't want anyone to think I was using my food allotment on junk.
Back then, it was a lot worse than it is now. Food Stamps looked a lot like Monopoly money. As soon as you handed over the fake cash, everyone in your line KNEW you were one of the po' folk living off of government handouts. Today, I don't have to flash the funny money; we're given a ATM-like card.
So, I've seen and lived on both sides of the aisle. I liked it better when I was the making the donations, not the one receiving them. But my life is what it is and I have to learn to accept it...humbly.
You gave to the system, now you get something back. It all evens out.
ReplyDeleteTake care and hang in there!
Namaste...
If society exists for any reason at all it is for the give and take care that you have described.
ReplyDeleteIt is astonishing to think that the myth that we would be better off than our parents isn't necessarily true.