I come from wealth. Certainly not Donald Trump wealth, probably not even Your Boss wealth, but compared to the majority of my neighbors, I come from wealth. If I lost my job and couldn’t pay the bills, if I lost my house and my truck, if I couldn’t fully support myself for a season… I’d have a million places I could temporarily call home. Because I have wealthy connections. Because I come from wealth. (See the cycle?)
But what if I didn’t have such a past? What if I grew up in poverty? Without stable parents? What if my parents didn’t put my butt through college, or teach me how to manage money at a young age? Then what would I do if I lost my job and couldn’t pay the rent? What if all of my connections had no means to help me? I’d have no place to turn. Because all of my connections would be impoverished. Because I came from poverty. (See the cycle?)
I bitch and moan about all kinds of stuff. But I’m filthy filthy filthy filthy filthy rich. I have utilities on in my house, two paid-for vehicles, food in my fridge, a few guitars, cash in the bank…
Robyn and I recently met a woman who has been living in her car for the last several months. There is no reason for us to believe she is a deadbeat, or an alcoholic, or a drug addict, or a loser, or mentally ill… there is no reason for us to believe that there is anything wrong with her. At all. She’s well-spoken, kind, respectful.
An uncontrollable past and present circumstances — many of which she cannot control– have led her to be homeless. I need to set all of my misconceptions behind and realize that she’s just down on her luck, and she doesn’t have anyone to fall back on. And she isn’t a unique case. There are many like her, probably some even within a stone’s throw of my front porch.
In many ways, from the day I was born, I had it made. My parents weren’t perfect. But they stayed together, they cared about me, they taught me about life, and they had income that they were willing to use to put me in a position to have income so that I could have resources once I was an adult.
Not everyone was born with the silver spoon. Not everyone has a viable fall-back plan. I guess we’ll just have to be who she falls back on. And that’s fine with me.
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