I have lived below the poverty line.
I have also lived above the poverty line.
I have had years where I haven't paid income tax.
I have had years where I have paid income tax.
My husband and I met and married while we were in college. We lived so far below the poverty line, looking back I don't know how we paid for rent and groceries.
We both earned bachelor's degrees and graduated together.
We both got jobs completely unrelated to our degrees so that we could support ourselves - my husband as a roofer and myself as a part-time teller.
No one handed us jobs. No one gave us jobs that fit our degrees.
We have worked hard to find better jobs, but neither of us are working at jobs that fit our degrees. We are still applying for jobs we studied for. But in the mean time, we're not sitting on our bums collecting unemployement and waiting for our ideal jobs.
When we first graduated, we lived in a 5th Wheel Home-Sweet-Trailerhome so that we could save money and pay back debts. We are now living in an apartment with cheap rent. We don't travel extensively. We don't live extravegantly. We try to keep our shopping to a minimum and buy what we need.
When we graduated, we had credit card debt and student loan debt. We got jobs so that we could pay back our debt, but it has not been easy. We have had to buckle down and live frugally to pay back our debts. We still have debt, but we are making conscious efforts to pay off our debts and be debt free.
I would love to have a job in the theatre field. D would love to have a job as a firefighter. We would love to be making more money. We would love not to have debt. We would love to not have to worry about finances.
But, no one is entitled to a job.
You make choices and there are inevitably consequences. If you choose not to work while you wait for your ideal job, there are consequences. If you choose to work at a job that is less than ideal, there are consequences.
Nothing is going to be accomplished by crying about how things aren't going the way you expect.
No one is entitled to anything so get up and go work for the life you "deserve."
Amen, sister, A-freakin'-men!!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI understand what you're trying to express, and I absolutely agree that people should be willing to work hard. But I would like to point out that you received student loans to help you get through school---and that IS assistance on one level, right?---and then you were fortunate to have family who owned a trailer they were willing to let you stay in so you COULD save money. I think it's fair to say that we all need some help sometime, and I wish that idea would show up more in all these discussions.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you're saying too. Yes, everyone needs assistance at some point, and receiving that assistance isn't wrong. But feeling that you're ENTITLED to that assistance is what I have a problem with. I think there are a lot of people who feel entitled to help from their parents, from schools, from banks, from government. Receiving help from student loans and from family came with strings attached - it wasn't a free ride. We do all need help some times, but there are always consequences. And I've been on both sides - where I've needed help and where I've been able to give help. What I've learned is that sometimes you have to take a job you don't like or live somewhere that's not ideal. I don't really side with the 53% or the 47%. I just think a lot more could be accomplished if we'd just get to work! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree. Feeling entitled is not appropriate. But in these kinds of discussions it seems like all people who ask for / receive assistance get lumped in to one big "lazy" category. And I just think we could all stand to be a little more generous in our views of other people's situations.
ReplyDeleteps. I'm glad you're not in the trailer anymore! :)
Agreed. Love it all.
ReplyDelete