Ever wonder about the difference between poor people and really poor people?
Just me, huh?
Well, lately I've been trying to wrap my mind around the sometimes subtle, other more obvious, divergences of those with wealth and those lacking.
I began my mental foray through poverty and richness with a closer observation of my habits, my preferences, my actions, and lastly, my thought processes.
See, I know realistically I'm not poor. I'm not homeless, I'm never without food, and I always have a bed to sleep in. I have Facebook, a car, and a washer and dryer. As many might say, in comparison to the majority of the world, I'M RICH!!
And yet, I feel unwealthy.
I have wants that go unmet. I have dreams I see as unrealistic in any near, or otherwise, future.
But it's more than that and I persist in this line of thinking not as an ungrateful American, but as one surverying the intricacies of the haves, the have nots, the sometimes we have but we always make do, and the we have so much we hardly know what to do!
I find myself in the "sometimes we have but we always make do" category.
Here are some identifiers if you are wondering if this is your category as well:
1. You enjoy fancy coffee drinks, but make do with a creamer and home made brew most days of the week.
2. You could really use a new wardrobe, but you'll instead choose to ravage your mom's or sister's or best friend's closet for the upcoming social event.
3. You'd love to have a pet, but realistically know you could hardly afford the shots, the food, the toys, etc. so you pacify yourself with weekly or monthly visits to Petco to pretend adoption is an option.
4. You love to eat out! And who doesn't? But you convince yourself that another homemade meal and time around the dinner table far surpasses the joy and excitement or a bustling, over-priced, stuffy, noisy restaurant.
5. Even fast food is too pricey, so you give yourself the consolation prize of having less salt in your homemade French fries.
6. You can't afford the gym, but you'll be darned if you'll let that stop you. You get your leg lifts in while brushing your teeth, you tone your calves while standing on a curb, and you always park a little further from wherever you are because you actually could use the extra walking.
These are fine distinctions that identify the lower middle class from the upper, but I'm happy I'm here.
I feel resourceful, powerful even.
Excuse me as I go and join my husband as we watch some Netflix.
Are you kidding me? Lower middle class cannot afford a regular television provider! Dream on, but remember, at least we don't have commercials we have to fast forward through!!
