While playing games online someone makes the statement, "I'd rather have no money than too much money." I told him that he obviously had never been dead broke, kitchen empty, about to be kicked to the curb poor then. To which he replied that he had. I dropped it.
I dropped it because I know that it was almost certainly a lie. At least not a full truth. For anyone who has ever found themselves in that situation, where the money is gone, the rent is due, and the gut is wondering if it will ever see anything better than rice and water ever again (and glad that the rice no longer tasted good or else we'd probably run out of that as well), there is no question. Ask any person in that situation, any one of them, EVERY SINGLE LAST GODDAMN ONE OF THEM. Ask them to choose between having no money, or one billion dollars. No other catch. Just one or the other. For every person in that situation, there is only one answer. Yes it is a broad generalization, but I would challenge anyone out there to hit the streets, find such a person, and make them that offer with cash in hand and find a single one of them that wouldn't take the cash.
Yeah, I'd rather have loads and loads and loads of money than to have none at all. Any day, any night, 24/7, 365. I say that as a person who once found himself in that situation on a cold and lonely Christmas Eve, breaking down in tears long distance. I say it as a person who grew up with less than most but always enough to get by. I say it as someone who once bought a bag of dog food because it cost the same as a couple of loaves of bread and would last 5 times longer. So don't talk to me about the piety of poverty. Hard times, hard times, come again no more.
God I love getting angry. Good cardiovascular workout
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5 comments:
Frankly, none of us reading this have been any where close to being as poor as the majority of the world population. Compared to them we're the rich girl. Even if things got really desperate, we could always go live in our parents' basements.
Come to Latin America with us sometime if you want to see real poverty. Oh, and I'm sure you're right, they'd take the money.
Yeah, I've only had scrapes with poverty American style. Even at my poorest I still had a car, the better part of a tank of gas, and a stereo and guitar I could have taken to the pawn shop. And I did buy Purina.
It just seems that it takes someone utterly oblivious to what poverty is actually like to say something as blatantly stupid as, "I'd rather have no money than too much money." Just take the too much money and give it away until you have the right amount. If you're afraid too much money will turn you into an asshat, build a fortress of solitude so nobody is around to accuse you of being an asshat. Or just don't be an asshat. In fact, if you have too much money you can pay me to follow you around and slap you on the back of the head every time you start acting like an asshat.
I like the last option.
Jake I concur. I know what it's like to have 1 week to go till pay day, kids who want to eat and a car that needs gas to get me to work so I can get that paycheck. Thank god for pawn shops and overtime when it's there. I'd love to try being spoiled with "too much money." Go ahead universe see if I turn into an asshole...just try me once...please!
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