Real Life Talks

The speaker expresses concern about the lack of basic education and the limited opportunities for many people. They share their personal experience of feeling left out and embarrassed due to their financial situation. They discuss the challenges of saving money and using coupons, as well as their mother's struggles to find employment. They also express frustration with their father's laziness and irresponsible spending. The speaker calls for accountability and change in the government's approach to poverty. They discuss the difficulties of budgeting for medication and express frustration with inflation. They conclude that the government's assistance does not make a difference when the cost of living keeps rising. It's concerning that a significant percentage of people lack basic education. That is so horrible. I feel so lucky to be able to go to school, but I've always hated going to school. However, listening to how limited the opportunity is, I kind of feel selfish for always ditching school. I know it sounds bad, but listen, I frequently felt left out. My friend group in middle school were all extremely wealthy. They hang out often to eat or play and always had the most trendy items. Me and my hand-me-downs and my mom were never able to give me money for going out made me feel like I had a barrier between my friends. I go quiet when they talk about money and their family because I feel embarrassed. I went all through middle school hiding my address and not allowing anyone in my house. I've always wished to host sleepovers, birthday parties, or have friends over, but my mom would always tell me, no. Why do you want to show people our slump? I envy rich people and their ability to not experience the misery of missing meals and downloading a bunch of apps for coupons just to save a few dollars. It's so upsetting to think about how your mom degrades you or shames you for the money that she makes and thinks it's probably wrong to have that kind of money because she's probably not the only one. There's so many people in this world as we saw with those rates. I totally agree. I use coupons just to save those couple little bucks because it goes a long way. I feel like people that are richer just never understand because those are the people that shamed me. My rich friends. Me too. They would shame us for using coupons just to save money, but we need to save money. They really don't need to save anything because they can just afford it right on the spot. Daddy's money. Literally. And then they said it's always been an embarrassment so they kind of distance away from me so when I'm using them, it doesn't go on their reputation, but maybe it's hurting their ego I guess. And then it's also because I get a lot of money on holidays, so I feel like I really save that money and I use that towards presents, maybe myself sometimes, and I feel like those also go a really long way, but it's definitely not a lot to go for a long period of time. I totally understand you. During those big holidays, we would save our money and we would always have to budget ahead of time, like friends' birthdays and so we would always have to budget our money. I feel exactly the same. My mom has always encouraged me to use coupons, but because she's an immigrant, her communication skills in English are very poor. It often leads us to holding the lines to figure out just how to use them. It's so embarrassing. However, I understand how hard my mom works for my family. My mom was forced to be a stay-at-home mom by my dad because of his religious beliefs, but when my parents divorced, she knew she had to get a job. By that time, she was 35 and had no past full-time work experience, and she couldn't get a prestigious job. Her bosses always took advantage of her, whether because they knew she would overwork herself just to have a job and pay the bills, or because her English skills were just not enough. When we went outside to McDonald's, it always felt like an award. Like eating outside, going to restaurants, it always felt like an award, but I always feel bad inside because I always just see my mom watching us eat instead of buying something for herself. However, my dad is different. He has so much potential, but would rather stay at home. He spends so much of his money on food, alcohol, and what my mom calls his useless, expensive junk. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. When I think about his income, I feel enraged knowing how much he makes, but is just too lazy and would rather stay at home and drink. Maybe I could get back later on. You're such a good big sister. And then there's also medication. I have my grandma who the government pays for half of it, but I guess it's still quite a lot. And then I have my own that maybe we need to budget for. And it just gets very hard sometimes. I understand. The raw emotions I feel surrounding the government's neglect of poverty is such an enraging reality. We need a call for accountability and everyone to demand change in our systems. Inflation is too much. It's too much now. And I feel like the government just sees they're helping us out, but they're just giving us money and raising the cost for everything else. Yeah, it does not make the difference. Yeah, it just cancels out. Yay!