We were so poor the cockroaches were bringing US food
~E~
When I was a kid I had a few classmates ask me if we were 'poor'. I felt vaguely ashamed and I really can't remember what I answered. It seemed, though, that more than a few of my classmates were in the same economic class.
Looking back, damn straight we were poor. I really don't know how my parents coped. My mom added up the price of food as we went grocery shopping so she would stay in her budget; even a candy bar was a big deal to us back then and it was a rare treat, as was fast food.
Dinners often consisted of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese dinner. Period. Or pancakes, or rice-a-roni with a few breakfast sausages tossed in. My mom had a few really horrible recipes that I could barely choke down but it was either that or nothing. One thing she called "Collinsburgers" was especially gross. She'd mix cheap hamburger with catsup and mustard, spread a thin layer on a bun and broil it. Gag. She also did this thing where she'd line a cake pan with meatballs, pour what must have been some form of V8 juice over it, toss in some canned green beans and top it with those biscuits that come in a tube. I suppose the cost per person for these meals was next to nothing, but so was the enjoyment of the food, haha.
Milk was often powdered milk mixed with water. I can still see the blue pitcher we always made it in, and often she would realize at dinner time that we were out so we'd have to mix up a batch right then. Yum, warm lumpy milk. And we weren't allowed to leave the table until we finished it. I remember sitting there many nights wondering if they'd hear me dump it in the sink, since I was the last one left at the table.
Our snacks consisted of koolaid and soda crackers. So delicious. If I even had food to pack in a sack lunch for school, it was merely one piece of bread with jelly on it. The day we started getting free hot lunch was a banner day for me, and probably the best meal of my day. Everyone at school would complain about how awful hot lunch was, and I would join in, but I really liked them. Hot lunch back then was real actual food made at the school, not prepackaged crap they get now.
For many many years I had only two pairs of pants and a few shirts at a time. By the end of the school year I would literally be wearing rags. I think this is the reason I have a huge mental block regarding shopping at thrift stores and wearing those clothes. It's flavored too much with wearing nasty shit that embarrassed me. I wonder sometimes why my parents never noticed my rags and didn't buy me new clothes, but perhaps they just didn't have the money.
Dad worked many hours of overtime as a paint salesman, not a hugely lucrative profession. I thought it was normal to work every Saturday, but apparently it's not. Go figure. My poor pop. I know he had a lot of unrealized dreams. Mom worked part-time in retail when the older kids were responsible enough to babysit the younger ones. How we all got along is an entirely different post!
We had little in the way of toys but our imaginations more than made up for it, and kids played outside together much more than they do now. Summer nights would consist of hours of kickball or hide and seek. The neighborhood wasn't fully developed, so there were plenty of trees to climb and woods to play explorer or spy in. I remember with affection one fallen log that greatly resembled a dragon and we would ride our dear "Draggy" on endless adventures. Mom says one year we got toys from the empty stocking club. I don't remember ever feeling ripped off at all on holidays, maybe because, as I mentioned earlier, so many others were in similar circumstances.
We didn't have very good outerwear, in fact I remember wearing rainboots and nothing else sometimes as winter boots, but we still were outside a lot in the winter. A couple of years I was wearing coats that were much too small for me. Brrr, I feel frostbite coming on even now as I think about it.
One lovely and Very Important To Me regular event was the Friday trip to the local library. I could not wait!!! Even if I checked out 3 books, I would have devoured them by Sunday and would be ready to go again right away. I am so incredibly grateful to my parents for instilling this love of reading and all of us (all six of us) continue to read to this day. It's a huge part of our lives. See? It's possible to have great fun for free.
It amazes and humbles me to look back on those days and to realize how good I and my kids have it now. It leaves me with even more respect for my folks for getting through that and I certainly appreciate the advantages I now have.
Looking back, damn straight we were poor. I really don't know how my parents coped. My mom added up the price of food as we went grocery shopping so she would stay in her budget; even a candy bar was a big deal to us back then and it was a rare treat, as was fast food.
Dinners often consisted of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese dinner. Period. Or pancakes, or rice-a-roni with a few breakfast sausages tossed in. My mom had a few really horrible recipes that I could barely choke down but it was either that or nothing. One thing she called "Collinsburgers" was especially gross. She'd mix cheap hamburger with catsup and mustard, spread a thin layer on a bun and broil it. Gag. She also did this thing where she'd line a cake pan with meatballs, pour what must have been some form of V8 juice over it, toss in some canned green beans and top it with those biscuits that come in a tube. I suppose the cost per person for these meals was next to nothing, but so was the enjoyment of the food, haha.
Milk was often powdered milk mixed with water. I can still see the blue pitcher we always made it in, and often she would realize at dinner time that we were out so we'd have to mix up a batch right then. Yum, warm lumpy milk. And we weren't allowed to leave the table until we finished it. I remember sitting there many nights wondering if they'd hear me dump it in the sink, since I was the last one left at the table.
Our snacks consisted of koolaid and soda crackers. So delicious. If I even had food to pack in a sack lunch for school, it was merely one piece of bread with jelly on it. The day we started getting free hot lunch was a banner day for me, and probably the best meal of my day. Everyone at school would complain about how awful hot lunch was, and I would join in, but I really liked them. Hot lunch back then was real actual food made at the school, not prepackaged crap they get now.
For many many years I had only two pairs of pants and a few shirts at a time. By the end of the school year I would literally be wearing rags. I think this is the reason I have a huge mental block regarding shopping at thrift stores and wearing those clothes. It's flavored too much with wearing nasty shit that embarrassed me. I wonder sometimes why my parents never noticed my rags and didn't buy me new clothes, but perhaps they just didn't have the money.
Dad worked many hours of overtime as a paint salesman, not a hugely lucrative profession. I thought it was normal to work every Saturday, but apparently it's not. Go figure. My poor pop. I know he had a lot of unrealized dreams. Mom worked part-time in retail when the older kids were responsible enough to babysit the younger ones. How we all got along is an entirely different post!
We had little in the way of toys but our imaginations more than made up for it, and kids played outside together much more than they do now. Summer nights would consist of hours of kickball or hide and seek. The neighborhood wasn't fully developed, so there were plenty of trees to climb and woods to play explorer or spy in. I remember with affection one fallen log that greatly resembled a dragon and we would ride our dear "Draggy" on endless adventures. Mom says one year we got toys from the empty stocking club. I don't remember ever feeling ripped off at all on holidays, maybe because, as I mentioned earlier, so many others were in similar circumstances.
We didn't have very good outerwear, in fact I remember wearing rainboots and nothing else sometimes as winter boots, but we still were outside a lot in the winter. A couple of years I was wearing coats that were much too small for me. Brrr, I feel frostbite coming on even now as I think about it.
One lovely and Very Important To Me regular event was the Friday trip to the local library. I could not wait!!! Even if I checked out 3 books, I would have devoured them by Sunday and would be ready to go again right away. I am so incredibly grateful to my parents for instilling this love of reading and all of us (all six of us) continue to read to this day. It's a huge part of our lives. See? It's possible to have great fun for free.
It amazes and humbles me to look back on those days and to realize how good I and my kids have it now. It leaves me with even more respect for my folks for getting through that and I certainly appreciate the advantages I now have.
Comments
My parents worked hard to make sure that I had the advantages of other kids (my dad worked three jobs so that my mom could stay home and read to me, participate in the PTA, drive me to the rec center for gymnastics classes, etc.).
As a result, I grew up in classes with mostly wealthy kids, which has led to most of the advantages I have (the difference between my life and the lives of most people in my family / childhood neighborhood is astounding), but has also led to a lot of weird issues I have with money.
Strange.