I was on welfare as a child. I got free lunch, food stamps, charity baskets for the holidays, and certainly lots of other assistance I didn’t know about. I was also pretty, smart, and knew how to talk to adults. I used those gifts, coupled with a strong work ethic and a bit of luck to change my life. It wasn’t easy or romantic. It was hard and scary. I am still afraid of being poor. I may always be. Poverty smells bad, feels unsafe, and is so hard to escape.

Linda Tirado wrote an amazing essay about poverty. She explained things better than I ever could. Although not every part of her description applies to me, much of it does. The next time one of my friends asks me why people don’t just ______ (insert any version of make different choices), I’ll refer them to this post.