Author Topic: Being poor (Read 1443 times)

Questor · « **on:** May 01, 2009, 02:13:47 PM »

I've been about as poor as it is possible in this country to be. It wasn't bad at all. I had a good life. Actually less aggravating than it is now, when I've got the responsibilities of supporting a family.

ironglow · « **Reply #1 on:** May 01, 2009, 02:38:09 PM »

Questor;
Right you are! I was much poorer..but much more free back in those days. We seem to have traded freedom off for comfort..and folks are doing it today at an ever increasing rate...

...And many don't even seem to notice it !

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 01, 2009, 02:41:24 PM »

im very proud of my children who have achieved wealth,at least by my standards.. im just as happy with the ones that don t make that thier goal..
my dad never aspired to have great wealth ,but he had two brothers that accumalated millions in worth..niether ever took a dime withum when thier time was up..
ive enjoyed life but some suffering is ahead im afraid.. but thats just life.. my prayer is the good lord see me thru it..he is a benevolent,wonderfull lord an creator..he sure has seen me thru a lot ..slim

DDZ · « **Reply #3 on:** May 01, 2009, 02:48:53 PM »

True wealth is everything that money can't buy, and death can't take away.

Cement Man · « **Reply #4 on:** May 01, 2009, 02:52:06 PM »

I was blessed with a decent career that allowed me to send my kids to college, pay for my home, and have a reasonable retirement. I look back on my younger days when I worked two jobs and struggled to buy a box of shells for duck hunting with great fondness. It seems the more we get, the more we want - but that is not necessarily the path to fulfillment and happiiness. Often its quite the opposite.

teamnelson · « **Reply #5 on:** May 01, 2009, 02:54:19 PM »

Questor, you and I may disagree from time to time, but your post is one of the wisest things I've read on GBO. I wish I could implant it into the minds of the younger generation.

My family was the wierd one in Seminary ... we had extra. That may be a pastor joke that not many get. And I came in straight out of the USMC with nothing in the bank, 2 toddlers and a champion of a wife. I could fill this thread with stories, but here's my favorite. Me and a buddy used to pulpit supply for small country churches in NC and SC mostly to give the preacher a break or if they were sick or injured. Did it for free, but we're always blessed. After spending a weekend with one really little country church (we did like 5 services, youth rally, baptisms) they gave us each a cooler full of venison ... enough meat for a semester for each of our families. That meant more to me than I can describe here. Sometimes I find myself praying for a little poverty in our society just to recapture that moment.

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 01, 2009, 03:06:42 PM »

you right on there.. i do believe we gonna get that poverty you mentioned.. but a hungry needy person is easier to controll .. im afraid thats gonna be the seed reason for more poverty by the masses..jmo slim

Foxxtrot · « **Reply #7 on:** May 01, 2009, 03:55:14 PM »

We haven't seen poor like 1933 poor....yet! Just think of all of the things we can still do without that our grandparents never had.

City folks will suffer the most if we do see a Depression.

kennyd · « **Reply #8 on:** May 01, 2009, 04:13:19 PM »

Quote from: Foxxtrot on May 01, 2009, 03:55:14 PM

We haven't seen poor like 1933 poor....yet! Just think of all of the things we can still do without that our grandparents never had.

City folks will suffer the most if we do see a Depression.

What worries me more is the things we don't have: a model A you can fix yourself(Dad's was actually a dodge), chickens in the backyard, slow freights to travel on, family still on the farm, family that is close enough (both ways) to help with crises. Mom & Dad married in 34, and used every one of these things to get by, and taught we children values they learned doing it.

powderman · « **Reply #9 on:** May 01, 2009, 04:48:09 PM »

When my leg was broke in 86 one of the boys said, I hate being poor. I said, we have a home, food every day, a warm dry bed to sleep in, and the love of God in our hearts. We aint poor son, we jes don't have any money. POWDERMAN.

chucky52 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 01, 2009, 04:53:01 PM »

Our young people of today are not prepared for hard times.

Heather · « **Reply #11 on:** May 01, 2009, 05:02:23 PM »

I have never had a whole lot of money in my life, but I have always had a roof over my head, warm food to eat, a soft bed to sleep in, and a family that would do anything for me. I am the richest woman in the world.

Heather

ironglow · « **Reply #12 on:** May 02, 2009, 04:55:47 AM »

Love the attitude of everyone here..why do we disconnect with a large portion of society ?

One correction should be made to a glaring misstatement Obama made to plumber Joe.. He told plumber Joe that he wanted to "SPREAD THE WEALTH AROUND".

I guess a young feller like that might make such a mistake, due to inexperience.

However, Socialism/Marxism has never once worked that way, but rather it always manages to "SPREAD THE POVERTY AROUND"

magooch · « **Reply #13 on:** May 02, 2009, 04:57:52 AM »

Heather, by your standards there are a lot of rich people in this country. Let's keep it quiet; you know the government we've got now, only wants to tax the rich.

Personally, I don't ever remember being poor and I sure am not now. I was one of the chosen who was born in the best country in the world. I was educated in public schools and college that hardly anyone outside our county has heard of. I managed to serve my country, get a job (a union job), made very good money, inherited, invested and managed to avoid losing it all.

In short, I've been very lucky and I did what was necessary to come through it all in super fine shape, but now I really worry for the first time in my life that it is in extreme jeopardy. If someone, or something doesn't stop this "third world idealogic idiot"--we're screwed.

ironglow · « **Reply #14 on:** May 02, 2009, 02:09:40 PM »

A reminder;
"For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.. (Mark 8:36)

billy_56081 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 02, 2009, 02:12:39 PM »

As an old coworker fron Botswanna told me, America, what a great place this is, even the poor people are fat.

rockbilly · « **Reply #16 on:** May 02, 2009, 02:35:20 PM »

Heather, your husband should consider himself to be the luckiest man in the world to have someone so young, so beautiful and so smart. In a world of "gotta have it now", your attitude is commendable.

Heather · « **Reply #17 on:** May 02, 2009, 02:53:07 PM »

And to think I thought I was the lucky one to have someone so mature, handsome, and wise. Thank you for your kind words rockbilly.

Heather

powderman · « **Reply #18 on:** May 02, 2009, 04:54:13 PM »

HEATHER. You have my wifes outlook too. I thank God everyday for her. TODAY, is our 29th wedding anniversary. Would I do it again?? you bet. POWDERMAN.

teamnelson · « **Reply #19 on:** May 02, 2009, 05:02:18 PM »

29 years ... you are truly a rich man! Yet another lesson I wish could be instilled in the next generation. Have a young marine divorcing his wife of less than a year because she won't let him spend their money on his toys (xbox, Jeep Rubicon, LCD TV ...). He's giving up the chance to experience 29 years of marriage because he doesn't know the value of anything.

Cement Man · « **Reply #20 on:** May 02, 2009, 05:55:20 PM »

It was 39 years for my wife and I last month. In February, we "accidentally" found out my(non-smoker)wife had lung cancer. She had part of her right lung removed and she is doing chemo now, outlook is very good - but I can tell you, it is a life-changing event. "Rich" and "poor" are terms that take on new meanings, or maybe lose their meaning altogether - because you start realizing that you cannot put a price on what really matters. Dollars are not even in the equation anymore. And the things that God and friends do for you, and what you can do for each other.... are "free" and priceless.

Gun Runner · « **Reply #21 on:** May 02, 2009, 07:05:32 PM »

Made it thru ww11 as a small child. ration stamps and etc...in latter years after my mom devoriced she married a guy that worked in the gold mines in N Calif. During the winter the mines had been known to shutdown because of the water and snow. I can remember more than one deer out of season as a kid. We would trade crops with couple of folks around and looked out for te old folks. (the mines closed in1956) Went in the service the following year, spent 20 yrs and some months there. Saw a lot of the world (navy), and how some folks lived. Am now old enough that I draw S/S and my wife draws SSI. Have 3 boys from 2 marriages. One boy is a lying thief, his brother thinks the world should support him. my youngest is due to retire from the C G in about a year and a half. I'am not rich or famous just one of the folks. We get by on what we have. Garden will be going in next week. My step daughter and her husban are having a tough go of it right now, as he got layed off at cristmass, and last week they had a new baby girl. Wont let them starve or anything and there both country raised so they have a clue on how to get by.

Gun Runner

rockbilly · « **Reply #22 on:** May 03, 2009, 04:59:19 AM »

If we make it until June 30, that will mean we have survived two years of wedding bliss and 48 years of mortal combat. We were married June 30, 1959 in Jefferson, TX, raised three children, have six grandchildren, and have seen plenty of hard times. My career in the military took us around the world; we lived nine years in Europe and all over the USA.

I joke about 2 years of wedding bliss, but even though it has been very trying at times it has been a wonderful 50 years, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Questor · « **Reply #23 on:** May 03, 2009, 05:10:54 AM »

Rockbilly:

You will make it to June 30, and beyond. Good for you.

If you don't mind, could you post some of the things you've learned about keeping a marriage happy for that long? I'm a relative newlywed. Our 19th anniversary will be June 30, 2009 (we just squeaked into June so my wife could be a June bride.)

Syncerus · « **Reply #24 on:** May 03, 2009, 06:01:20 AM »

There's a big difference between being broke and being poor. I've been flat broke a few times, but I've never been poor.

At least according to Hillary Clinton.

Curtis · « **Reply #25 on:** May 03, 2009, 02:23:59 PM »

This topic reminds me of something a coworker of mine used to say: "When I was young we were so poor my daddy would only give me one rock to go squirrel hunting. After the first kill, I had to use squirrel heads!" LOL

Curtis

Dee · « **Reply #26 on:** May 03, 2009, 03:09:15 PM »

I started out my life with my Cherokee dad, and white mother, with neither having a high school education. We lived in a 2 room house, with a tin roof, and no plumbing AT ALL. The ole outhouse out back and well with a bucket.
An old worn out John Deere tractor that we called a Poppin Johnny, and an old Minneapolis Moline with a crank in front.
My Dad, and my Cherokee Grandad were share croppers in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. They planted corn, and cotton, and both were picked by hand, into a wagon pulled by a team called Slim and Shorty.
We raised our own beef, our own hogs, our own vegetables, and Granddad hunted with a very old single shot 12 gauge, and very old Marlin octagon barreled 22 lever action he found when he was a kid. He found it and a skillet, and a lantern in a clay cave on the Verdigris River in Rogers County Oklahoma. Probably someone left it there that was riddin the owl hoot trail.
We bought flour, sugar, coffee, and tea in town if it wasn't too muddy to get there in an ole worn out Chevy. If it was, Dad rode a paint horse to town with two tow sacks tied across the pommel.
Poor? Hell, it was the best times of our lives. If Grandad were alive now, he'd be 103. Dad would be 80. A lot of knowledge died with those two. The most valuable knowledge of all, was that we don't need near as much as we think we do, to be happy.
My Dad went on later and moved us to town, got his GED, and done very well, leaving Momma in good finiancial shape, which she enjoys today.
As my wife and I get older, we seem to be reverting back to those times, when things were simpler. I miss'em.

I've sold off almost all my guns, my boat, and motorhome, and don't miss'em. I have put the hunt back in my hunting, and the fishing back in my fishing. If I want on the water, I get the canoe out and put it on top of my Jeep. The old ways are better, and I don't need a 500 yard rifle, the latest fishing rod and reel, a 250 horse bass boat, or a $10,000.00 four wheeler to get me thru the woods to my deer stand.
I've even started eyeing my old Fred Bear recurve bow again, and am considering a tradional black powder, but I sure like my lever actions.

nomosendero · « **Reply #27 on:** May 03, 2009, 03:36:22 PM »

I grew up in rural Northern AR Ozarks & we did not have much, but our neighbors were the same way & I did not know the difference, we were happy. We had an outhouse & the house was very drafty to say the least. We worked hard manual labor & learned the work ethic well. Dad worked Const./Welding on tall structures in cities far away & me & my brothers took care of the small farm. Dad's hard work & the ability/discipline of saving money finally paid off & when I was 13 years old he bought the adjoining place which had a house with a bathroom & more pasture for our Cattle. He started a business of buying heavy equipment & repairing them & then selling them, our property was on a US Highway. He reached a decent level of success & made sure we could all get through College. We worked through College, but he was there with a helping hand. He taught me self reliance & the fact that one could make it without handouts or aid in any form. I would not call it rags to riches, but certainly starting at a low level & breaking through. It was a great gift & God blessed us by allowing us to live where this could happen. Let's pray for the young ones
starting out & our Country in general.

jim36 · « **Reply #28 on:** May 03, 2009, 03:54:50 PM »

After reading all of these posted stories about individual good and bad times, it is clear to me that GOD had his hand on every family mentioned. My life has had it s share of ups amd downs, but if I don t make it thru the night, it has been one wonderful exprerience. I have a better place to go regardless. Jim

Heather · « **Reply #29 on:** May 04, 2009, 03:28:34 AM »

I remember living in a 2 story brick house with beautiful white colums in the front. We had an inground swimming pool. I had a good job. I worked all day most days and didn't have much time for my family. I rarely got to enjoy the pool. Evan played tee ball and I missed most of his games because I was at work. Matt didnt' make it to one game because he worked so much. We had a nice house, I drove a nice car, we had all the material things we could ever want, but something was missing.

Then I can recall a time when all I had was the pjs on my body, my children, and Matt. I remember having to feed my 2 month old vanilla pudding @ 3am because it was all that was in the neighbors refriderator that was somewhat liquid as I watched my house burn through the window. The days and weeks following that I guess I should have felt poor or bad, but I felt like the luckiest woman in the world to simply be alive and well. We stuffed our family of 5 into an old mill village home with 2 bedrooms of which we only had access to one. It was cramped, it was down right awful, but it was a blessing at the time. The contributions from the fine members of this site helped to get us back on our feet.

Now we live in a moderate size home out in the woods. I don't work anymore, but I haven't miss a tee ball game this season. Matt has even made it to most of them. Lost the nice car to a wreck. Now I'm driving an old beat up 4 wheel drive passport, but it gets me from point a to b and back home again. The only pool we have now is one that blows up and fits on the front porch. It may be small, but I bet I spent more time in the 2 ft pool on the front porch playing with my boys than I ever had the time to spend in the big inground one.

Wealth is in the eye of the beholder. One could have everything and still be poor and at the same time one could have nothing and still be rich. I am blessed with everything I NEED and that in itself gives me everything I could ever want. Life is short don't sweat the small material stuff because it is just that, stuff.

Heather