I was reading an article and this part struck me as particularly enlightening:
"There is a famous anecdote about Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is reported to have remarked to Hemingway, "The rich are different." And Hemingway replied, 'Yes, they have money,' Fitzgerald had much the better of the exchange. He understood that being rich was not a simple fact, like a large bank account, but a way of looking at reality, a series of attitudes, a special type of life. If this is true of the rich, it is ten times truer of the poor. Everything about them, from the condition of their teeth to the way in which they love, is suffused and permeated by the fact of their poverty. And this is sometimes a hard idea for a Hemingway-like middle-class American to comprehend."
~Michael Harrington in The Other America, 1962
This resounded with my own life circumstances and seems like a very good illustration of the difference between the rich and the poor. It really isn't just how much money or wealth one has, it's a whole way of life and looking at the world. It's a mindset that one grows up with and one that is hard to escape. I may be middle-class later on in my life, but I will never be free from the mindset of being poor, of always worrying about having enough money or how to make it through the month. That is a major and often overlooked difference between the rich and the poor.
It also reminds me of this poignant story I read when I was young--"Oranges" by Gary Soto. While the rich can lavish people with flashy gifts and lots of money, the story is about an understanding between a young boy and a grocer. This boy is taking his love interest to a candy shop to buy her something. When the shopkeeper rings up the items, the boy is short two dimes. He then takes two oranges out of his pockets, lays them on the counter, and smiles up at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper just smiles back, takes the oranges, and rings up their transaction as complete. The boy and the girl walk away with their candy.
See? It's little things like that to which I can empathize and relate. I remember being poor and not being able to afford expensive gifts and extravagant vacations for my loved ones. I remember feeling guilty any time I had to have someone pay for me all the time. It really made me feel helpless and weak, highlighting my financial dependence and deprivation. What was worse was that I knew there was nothing I could do about it. I was born poor, grew up poor, and still am poor. I will be poor for a much longer part of my life yet. It may be many years, possibly even longer than a decade, before I am able to pull myself out of the financially precarious position in which I live and be able to feel self-sufficient, like I'm my own person. I'm one of those who have to make gifts for my loved ones because I can't afford to buy them anything. I'm one of those who have to measure out my life in coffee spoons and save the napkins I get at restaurants. Maybe one day, it will be different, but for now, I wait. I work and learn and wait.
"There is a famous anecdote about Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is reported to have remarked to Hemingway, "The rich are different." And Hemingway replied, 'Yes, they have money,' Fitzgerald had much the better of the exchange. He understood that being rich was not a simple fact, like a large bank account, but a way of looking at reality, a series of attitudes, a special type of life. If this is true of the rich, it is ten times truer of the poor. Everything about them, from the condition of their teeth to the way in which they love, is suffused and permeated by the fact of their poverty. And this is sometimes a hard idea for a Hemingway-like middle-class American to comprehend."
~Michael Harrington in The Other America, 1962
This resounded with my own life circumstances and seems like a very good illustration of the difference between the rich and the poor. It really isn't just how much money or wealth one has, it's a whole way of life and looking at the world. It's a mindset that one grows up with and one that is hard to escape. I may be middle-class later on in my life, but I will never be free from the mindset of being poor, of always worrying about having enough money or how to make it through the month. That is a major and often overlooked difference between the rich and the poor.
It also reminds me of this poignant story I read when I was young--"Oranges" by Gary Soto. While the rich can lavish people with flashy gifts and lots of money, the story is about an understanding between a young boy and a grocer. This boy is taking his love interest to a candy shop to buy her something. When the shopkeeper rings up the items, the boy is short two dimes. He then takes two oranges out of his pockets, lays them on the counter, and smiles up at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper just smiles back, takes the oranges, and rings up their transaction as complete. The boy and the girl walk away with their candy.
See? It's little things like that to which I can empathize and relate. I remember being poor and not being able to afford expensive gifts and extravagant vacations for my loved ones. I remember feeling guilty any time I had to have someone pay for me all the time. It really made me feel helpless and weak, highlighting my financial dependence and deprivation. What was worse was that I knew there was nothing I could do about it. I was born poor, grew up poor, and still am poor. I will be poor for a much longer part of my life yet. It may be many years, possibly even longer than a decade, before I am able to pull myself out of the financially precarious position in which I live and be able to feel self-sufficient, like I'm my own person. I'm one of those who have to make gifts for my loved ones because I can't afford to buy them anything. I'm one of those who have to measure out my life in coffee spoons and save the napkins I get at restaurants. Maybe one day, it will be different, but for now, I wait. I work and learn and wait.
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