When parents can’t afford essential things, life can become tough.
Having little money growing up affects everyone involved.
Even after becoming adults, those who experienced such circumstances often recall particular situations that stayed engraved in their memory.
Lunchtime came. Her mom had set the table for sandwiches, with everything laid out: three different breads, various meats, condiments, and fruit. At my house, lunch was a sandwich with day-old white bread, peanut butter, and jelly.
Sometimes we would have thin-sliced meats. We were only allowed two slices of meat per sandwich.
So, at this friend’s house, I made my sandwich with one slice of ham because it was much thicker than the stuff at home.
The mom kind of freaked out and yelled, “What kind of sandwich is that? You need to put more on it; that’s not enough.” I explained that’s what we do at home.
They were horrified and ended up sending me home with a “care package” of food.
My parents never let me go to her house again because they were embarrassed I told them we were poor. © OriansSun / Reddit
They were super-duper ugly, and I whined, saying, “Jessie says that she gets $50 at the beginning of the school year to buy her clothes, and she can buy whatever she wants.
Why can’t I do that?” My mom burst into tears and said, “Because I don’t have $50 to give you.”
I have still never felt as guilty as I did when she said that, and I made sure that I never said another bad word about the clothes she made me. My mom was a rock star of a mother despite all her flaws. © chantilly_lace1990 / Reddit
Now that I am older (and as a father myself), I don’t think he actually loved all these things that much.
Instead, my parents just didn’t have the money to buy all that expensive food to feed three growing boys. They sure made the best of it, though. © Rebelsoul3480 / Reddit
Throughout high school, I always gave him my paychecks while working two jobs.
The money was supposed to be “for college,” but it was actually to help pay rent. I didn’t know that until I turned 40. © jawshoeaw / Reddit
The next day, she told me her parents uninvited me because I lived in the trailer.
That was a new thing I learned I was supposed to be embarrassed about. © ohnoooooooooooooooo / Reddit
I pretty much dreaded the holidays altogether growing up because I knew I wouldn’t have the things they did.
Also, never getting to build long-lasting friendships due to being switched schools every other year because we were always being evicted.
When other kids would say, “That’s my best friend since preschool,” it filled me with jealousy. I never got to have that because of the constant evictions. Instead, I was always the new kid. © Sl***ed_out / Reddit
There was no shower.
Sometimes, we’d get some kind of algae in the well, and have to dose it with chlorine bleach. Then, we couldn’t drink it or cook with it for a while, but would still bathe in it.
After I left home, it was a real shock to have long showers. © DontCareTo / Reddit
We stopped on the way to the game to eat, but of course, I didn’t have enough money to eat.
I just told everyone that I wasn’t hungry. It was fine; I was just happy to be going along.
I kept waiting to give her the money for the ticket, but she ended up never taking it from me, even though I offered a few times. © aswoff / Reddit
My mom also used to cry during nights because we didn’t have any money.
Then, my mom didn’t eat much for a few months because she wanted to buy me an Atari, so I could be a programmer.
I’m now a successful programmer. © Unknown user / Reddit
Turns out, they couldn’t afford to feed my sister and me dinner, so we’d pop in on some close friends that had enough. © beegeemeegee / Reddit
I had just gotten a new pair of glasses when I bent over, and one of the lenses fell out and shattered.
I was too terrified to tell my parents, and a friend of mine suggested that I remove the other lens and just wear the frames until we figured out how to get them repaired.
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