I know I was not poor growing up!! But that is not what I heard all the time when I was young. When others got a new pair of shoes and I was wearing my worn-out shoes. They would show me their new shoes and say I was poor. Because those shoes I was wearing were the same ones from last year. Same with the clothes I wore. I didn’t get new clothes when school started, I just wore what I had. Again, calling me poor again. Cause my parents didn’t get me new clothes for school.
Think because of this, I always felt I was poor. Mainly cause of someone else telling me that I was, not because I knew I was. Well, I do know my parents couldn’t get me new shoes or clothes all the time. Especially the start of the school year, but I did have new t-shirts and socks and such. I would have new-to-me clothes, meaning they came from the thrift store. To me, that just meant they were new clothes to me. So I never thought I didn’t have new clothes for school, I knew my shoes were not new but oh well.
Exactly what does Poor Mean?
What is the meaning of poor being?
It just means you are lacking material possessions–from Merriam-Webster
Why Did Kids Say I was Poor when I was Growing up?
I noticed when I was young, kids said I was poor. Was it cause of how I dressed or was it because I was First Nations. I always thought it was because of being First Nations, many thought we were dirt poor. We didn’t deserve to be on this land, we were only here temporarily. Being a child I had no idea what that even meant. Yet, what they said to me-to be honest hurt me. I started to not like going to school or even being around other people. Because it was not just kids that said the hurtful things to me, or around me-thinking I didn’t hear them speak to their child. Why are you hanging out with her, you may catch something.
Kids can be so mean when you are just a kid in school. Depends on how their parents/family raised them. How their up bringing was at that time. It could be many different things that have kids say things that they think are alright. They have no issues on saying what they say, even if they see that is hurts your feelings. Come on now, they are just kids. They are probably following someone else who does the same thing and thinks they are doing no wrong. I wonder if that is where the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree saying it also comes from. Or is used actually?
I Still Think I Am Poor, but I know I am Not!
I still think I am poor, but I know I am not. I think it comes from thinking of my little child self and how she was brought up. What I had heard in school and society to be honest. Made me think and believe this to be true. I know I was not poor, I had a roof over my head. I had food and heat and lights at my home, I lived with my Mom and Stepdad. I had clothes and school supplies and food for lunch. I even had Cable TV, which so much of my friends did not. But they thought that didn’t make them poor, but I did.
I didn’t have a family car, my mom didn’t drive. But hey, we had many channels on our cable TV. I had a big floor-model TV, I was so proud of it. Oh and better yet, my cable box came with a wired remote control. Wow, I was living the dream!!! Even had my own stereo in my own room, and let me tell you I even had my own entry door. You could go to school from my door, and not need to go to the front door. That made me feel so special and of course I was the only one in my class that had their own outside door.
Everyone of course, thought I made it all up, and they did not believe me. Most didn’t even believe I had a tv with cable tv. But I had them both, making me feel rich because I had something they did not have.
No need To Take On Other People’s Views As Your Own
Other people’s value’s and opinions are theirs and not yours. Remember that, and keep going from here on out. Knowing you are you and no comparing yourself to others. As long as you are true to yourself and you know who you are, you will be all good. After I have thought all about this, I have come to realize that I was not Poor growing up. It was the belief of the kids in my school and they believed themselves to be better than me. That is what made them feel better and they were just following what they were told from others. When I thought of my childhood, I would say something on how I grew up. Then I would say it was like that because I grew up poor. But in reality I did not grow up poor.
I believe I had more than others. Not in everything, but I had the one thing that was important. I had two parents that did the best they could, with what they knew. My parents were both Residential School Survivors and were taken from the home they loved. With no parents to raise them, they grew up with things they knew, which the love of a parent is one they lacked. With that, I have said to my children that they will know that I love them and will tell them often. Anything I knew I lacked I was gonna make sure that I gave to my kids. They never would feel like they never got everything they needed. To not feel like I did feel. As I said I felt like saying I was not poor growing up, even though I felt like I did.
