Reminders of Shame

Today was an odd day for me. The younger of my two children was invited to "shop with a cop." He spent the day participating in their activities, and they bought him some items. One was a drone. An expensive little machine that I've secretly been wanting to get myself for over a year. It will be something we will work with together.

Also, where I live brings with it benefits to holiday presents and food. I received wrapped packages for the kids and myself, as well as the traditional food for the meal on Sunday. These things are welcome additions to my life. They make things easier, all around.

It reminds me, though, that once again, if I were still making half of what I now make, people would not expect me and my kids to have the things we are getting. The idea that poor people are given gifts such as a drone, nice clothes, and a decent meal flies well over the heads of many of the bigots I encounter on a regular basis. The idea that I didn't cash in on some illegal side economy is foreign to them. I've heard the rhetoric far too often. Poor people with nice things just doesn't compute in their heads, as others wanting to give them gifts.

Perhaps it is because these people would absolutely not, on threat of hellfire and damnation, ever give gifts to the poor. The poor are people who got that way because of bad morals and worse decisions, they themselves could never make. Perhaps they are truly ensconced in a bubble where they've never been dealt a blow that took months or years to recover from. They've never had to use any service they've paid into, or that others benevolently offer to them.

I don't know what their thinking really is. I've never been there. I was born into poverty. My life was a stream of using the safety nets and charity. I pay it forward when I can. I know that side of life better. The memes that come around shortly after the holidays, when people notice someone who is struggling financially has a nice item they could not have afforded on their own salary/stipend, is foreign and abominable to me.

In defense of those who have been offered gifts beyond our own means, please try to do a little bit of research before you throw your fellow humans off the cliff of benevolence. Your cynicism is a lie. Your brain is lying to you. Listen to the stories around you, from people who have been there or have worked with enough people who've been there. Try harder. Be a human, for once, before posting that garbage meme again.