Whatever: Being Poor

I've been asking, "why didn't they evacuate?" but this puts things into perspective. My mom was on welfare when we were kids so we ate government cheese and collected bottles for redemption to have an allowance, but reading these draws a distinction for me between just being poor and living in poverty. We always went to the dentist. The bottles brought in enough money to afford He-Man and Transformers toys. We didn't get food from the dump (though my dad's infamous porno magazine collection did come from the magazine recycling). There was always heat AND food (can't imagine how you'd live without either in Maine).