P-R-I-V-I-L-E-G-E spells privilege
I was talking with a girl from work today and she was going on about how poor people should feed their kids healthy food like fruits and vegetables and their kids would be healthier and not need health care. So I mentioned that fresh fruits and vegetables were MORE EXPENSIVE and most parents would love to be able to give these things to their kids, but when you have to choose between STARVING and eating mustard on white bread, you eat the mustard sandwich and shut up. She shook her head and said "when you factor in the costs of having to go to the doctor with health problems, it's much cheaper in the long run to feed your kids healthy produce even if it costs more."
*tears hair out and screams*
REALLY? FUCKING REALLY? Do people REALLY not realize that when poor people get "health problems" they DO NOT GO TO THE DOCTOR because they DO NOT HAVE MONEY? Does she picture people saying "fiddle dee dee, I'm going to the hospital today because I have health problems from eating poorly because it was all I could afford"? How does she not see that people aren't choosing mustard sandwiches and frozen pizza rolls because they'd rather be sick and eat crap, they're choosing those things because THEY DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO BUY ANYTHING ELSE AND THEY NEED FOOD OR THEY WILL DIE? It's not a choice between paying more for food now and not going to the doctor later, it's a choice between paying the $10 they have for food for the week now and STILL not going to the doctor later if they get sick because they don't have money? I told her my mom raised 2 kids on about $3000-$5000 a year, so all we ate were hot dogs and macaroni and cheese when I was a kid because it's what she could afford, and she said "that's why you have so many health problems now." Well gee whiz, I guess I'll go beat the shit out of my mom because it's her fault I'm sick now instead of the DEAD I'd be if she hadn't fed me at all when I was a kid. I tried to explain this to her and she said "my family was low income too, but we GREW our own produce in our garden." Yes, because poor people in the cities have access to the land and resources and time to grow their own food, they're just too LAZY to do it. AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH.
Seriously? REALLY? Did I just HAVE this conversation? I try very hard to be understanding that people who don't have the same life experiences that I have might not understand things the way I do because they haven't been there, but how can she not understand that even if she was poor, she had access to resources other people simply didn't have? How can she not see that?
*loses will to live*
*stabs self to death with rusty fork*
*tears hair out and screams*
REALLY? FUCKING REALLY? Do people REALLY not realize that when poor people get "health problems" they DO NOT GO TO THE DOCTOR because they DO NOT HAVE MONEY? Does she picture people saying "fiddle dee dee, I'm going to the hospital today because I have health problems from eating poorly because it was all I could afford"? How does she not see that people aren't choosing mustard sandwiches and frozen pizza rolls because they'd rather be sick and eat crap, they're choosing those things because THEY DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO BUY ANYTHING ELSE AND THEY NEED FOOD OR THEY WILL DIE? It's not a choice between paying more for food now and not going to the doctor later, it's a choice between paying the $10 they have for food for the week now and STILL not going to the doctor later if they get sick because they don't have money? I told her my mom raised 2 kids on about $3000-$5000 a year, so all we ate were hot dogs and macaroni and cheese when I was a kid because it's what she could afford, and she said "that's why you have so many health problems now." Well gee whiz, I guess I'll go beat the shit out of my mom because it's her fault I'm sick now instead of the DEAD I'd be if she hadn't fed me at all when I was a kid. I tried to explain this to her and she said "my family was low income too, but we GREW our own produce in our garden." Yes, because poor people in the cities have access to the land and resources and time to grow their own food, they're just too LAZY to do it. AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH.
Seriously? REALLY? Did I just HAVE this conversation? I try very hard to be understanding that people who don't have the same life experiences that I have might not understand things the way I do because they haven't been there, but how can she not understand that even if she was poor, she had access to resources other people simply didn't have? How can she not see that?
*loses will to live*
*stabs self to death with rusty fork*