Title: This Is The Harsh Reality Of What It Means To Be Poor
Headings: The Realities Of Being Poor
The Realities Of Being Poor
Not everyone on welfare is “working the system.”
Poverty is not self-imposed.
Poverty is not easy to escape.
People who aren’t poor cannot possibly “get it.”
“Luxuries” are an important part of life.
It costs money to be poor.
Poor people don’t need sympathy; they need compassion.

Content: Nobody says “Hey! Let’s struggle to obtain even the most basic of needs!” People are poor for many reasons, and financial devastation can happen to anyone. Before my parents’ marriage fell apart, we were an average middle-class family, with a home and two vehicles, going out to eat, watching our cable TV, and enjoying weekend trips. Afterward, I was the child of a single mother, getting my dinner from a food bank instead of a restaurant. Nobody asks for this type of circumstance. Nobody. Poverty is not easy to escape. If “poverty is self-imposed” were a train, then “Why don’t they just do something about it?” would be the caboose;