WhatItMeansToBePoor
For several years, I lived on 2-acres near a small town in southern Michigan. The original house was framed with post and beam construction, bark still on some of the floor joists. The foundation was a 4' (not 4") thick wall of piled rocks. Handwork and nails indicated construction about 1860-1870. In the 1950s, a western addition was added to include a new kitchen and fireplace. In the 1970s, a southern wing was added with lowered ceilings to save on heating expenses. When I moved into the house late 1990s, we weren't poor, but we did live on small amounts of money. Since the summer of 2006, other life conditions caused me to live on about 1/8 my prior income. It isn't all bad...I don't know the original author of the following story:
One day a father of a wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Oh Yeah" said the son. "So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they have four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond sight.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
With this the boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are."
Created by brian. Last Modification: Monday 01 of March, 2010 11:28:21 CST by brian.