During this whole ordeal of not having rent, I mentioned in a tweet to Chris Hayes that, I too, had dreams and ambitions. The perception, which I feel is woefully undeserved, is that poor people are rudderless, lazy, and don't want to improve their situation.
That just isn't true. I do think many poor people reach a point where being poor for so long has sapped their energy. If you treat someone like a prisoner, they will begin to act like a prisoner. If you treat someone like they are not good enough, then eventually, they will begin to believe it.
Someone on twitter asked me to 'sell myself' to him before he would consider donating. It felt a little demeaning, considering the guy only had about 70 followers and less than 900 tweets to his name. Of course, I was begging for money...
But I do have dreams and ambitions.
Ultimately, I would like a creative career. My strengths are in retaining technical knowledge, coming up with ideas, writing, editing, and saying inappropriate things. Ok... not sure if the last thing is a huge selling point, but I my speech is not muted by fear of ridicule.
My education is in the food industry, operations management, and food science, so I feel I should try to incorporate that into my career. The 2 directions I come up with is R&D and marketing. Both are what I consider creative careers. I like thinking about possibilities, brainstorming... meeting, I love meetings. I like environments where I can display my thoughts on a particular subject.
When I watch shows like All In with Chris Hayes, I imagine myself on the panel, adding my two cents to whatever is going on in the world. Of course, that seems a lot less likely. The point is that I like to think about an issue and offer my analysis or solutions. As far as that goes, I don't have a preference between doing product development or proofreading a weekly grocery ad.
GREAT NEWS!!! I have hit the amount of money I set out to raise - $1,040! That amount is what I need to cover December and January rent. It was a colossal effort that has left me very emotionally drained. I was raised(mostly) on a hog farm, living in an old farm house with a wood burning furnace and no indoor plumbing, so asking for help is not very easy for me.
I honestly don't know how politicians maintain sufficient guile to continually fundraise.
A big thanks to the following for RT'ing my tweets:
Chris Hayes - Being mentioned on his show was huge.
Ed Schultz - Many RT's came from his followers.
Keith Olbermann - Honestly, nobody increased my page views more from a single retweet. That man is a force of nature. MSNBC should regret losing him.
Lawrence O'Donnell - Big fan of his. His RT garnered page hits and much respect.
Ana Marie Cox - Not only did she RT, but she donated as well. Someone get her a show! My cat, Ms. Teschmacher thanks you...
Tracy Clayton a.k.a. @BrokeyMcPoverty
My next step is to call up the building manager, Rick, and see if he'll stop the eviction if I give him all the rent. If not, I'll have to take the money I raised, and scramble to find another apartment.
Last special thanks to my great friend, Shane Chaney. We grew up in the same town and now live 1 street away in the Clifton neighborhood in Cincinnati. He has bought more dinners for me than I can count, and thanks to him simply being there, I have maintained my sanity. He also loaned me the money for November's rent, which I hope to pay back sooner than later.
Shane is an accomplished freelance Audio/Video engineer who can think fast on his feet, direct, and consult on anything from home theater set up to coordinating sound/video for a major convention.
If you need someone that fits that description, please look him up.
Thanks to everyone. I'll update you all with what the building guy says later.
I would like to see more organic and non-gmo foods in regular supermarkets simply because such foods taste better and look more natural. Food for thought.
ReplyDeleteI, too, fantasize about appearing on MSNBC. I'd like to be on The Cycle or on Disrupt.
Neither is true, it is simply a trick played on the minds of people who feel those foods are superior in some way. In blind taste panels, organic food fare no better than conventional.
ReplyDeleteI am truly glad that you raised the funds for your rent. I am poor by federal standards in Columbus, GA. I've never felt like a poor person but yet society likes to remind me that I am. When people say that I speak well or when people ask me when am I going to move to a “better” community, I get annoyed. Define better, I would like to ask. I've lived in public housing for 16 years. I am legally blind and use public transportation. I was married, now divorce and I have an Xbox 360, a stove, refrigerator and a television that has the knobs on it, you know the kind that go tick, tick tick. By the Heritage Foundation standards, I'm not really poor because I have these things.
ReplyDeleteI receive SNAP, $127.00 ,for my son and I. My yearly income is under 10,000 and I live by skipping meals, getting assistance, help from other poor people in the community,friends and family. You see, Sam, I'm the boogey woman. Single, Black mother on welfare. Oooooooo!, I'm coming to drop your property value. I spend most of my time fighting stereotypes rather than fighting poverty. But you Sam are different, you're the face that no one likes to acknowledge but your face gets poverty notice because you are not the stereotype and you look like most of American and that is scary for a lot of people.
Being poor is different for you and me because of race and gender. It's different if you live in a rural community or an urban one. The “Help me not be Poor” over the donate button offended me as someone who is poor, by federal standards. I'm being honest here. You are in the process of maybe losing your home and that is scary for anyone but you didn't lose your dignity. From one poor person to another; Sam, you have to understand that we are held to a different standard. I once brought two employees from United . I told that I don't sit around crying and holding my head in my hands. I keep it moving.
Sometimes the victimization I see of poor people boils my blood. Yes, life is hard but everyone struggles in one form or another.
I have been advocating to bring awareness to the issues of poverty and how it is a paradox for millions of American all of my life. I live a life that most people either don't know exist or pretend that it does not exist because they made it “out” or it makes them sad (boohoo). News flash, people in poverty don't need your sadness, they need opportunity to achieve without having to subcome to stereotypes.
I don't want anyone to help me not be poor and neither should you. I want people to stop stereotyping poor people and just give them the same opportunities they would give someone else of a “higher”social status. I want you to keep your home Sam and I want you educate yourself about the social programs in your community that are helping people keep from falling deeper into poverty. Find out which churches and organizations help with utilities and rent. Your blog should not just be about being poor, it should be about how your physical standings do not determine your mental one.
You blog says one thing but that statement over the donate button speaks louder.