[Kona_Silat]

And I don't mean middle class poor like I am sure 90% of you will contest is actual poor.

And I don't mean for a few years, I am talking like, you were poor as fook when you were born, and when you left home your parents are still poor as fook.

If so lets here your circumstances. Like guesstimated net income of parents. Number of siblings. Lack of food, warmth, healthcare etc.

Also I want to hear how you lifted yourself out of your position, assuming that you have done so.

[shadha]

I just can't get over how ugly your avatar is.


shadha-

[Ilikemyscarf]

Originally Posted by shadha

I just can't get over how ugly your avatar is.


shadha-

LOL, I think it kinda looks like him in a really weird way.

[Ibn Abu Ibrahim]

A robber broke into our house once, and we robbed him.

[Variable]

Something tells me you're not gonna get too many people writing in here Kona.

[WarriorAndWiseman]

Originally Posted by Kona_Silat

And I don't mean for a few years, I am talking like, you were poor as fook when you were born, and when you left home your parents are still poor as fook.

I'm more interested in hearing the stories and circumstances of the rich as filth sorry filthy rich (English isn't my first language) people here.

C'mon no one likes a poor SOB...

[ChotooMotoo]

We didn't get really poor until after my parents divorced. After that we were really poor. I'm not nearly as poor now, and it's mostly by the grace of Allah (swt) who provided me with a better job, rizq to pay my bills on time and things like that.

[Revert]

I grew up in England in a majority Irish community and the vast majority of people were living way below the breadline. However unlike the USA we have free healthcare so it wasn't as bad as some places.

ONe I got out of school and got a job at 16 i never looked back. IM nto poor now but im not exactly middle class either.

[A_Muminah]

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah,

SubHana-Allaah. Baraka-Allaahu Feek Kona, Im loving your threads nowadays because you give me some of the greatest reminders (indirectly). Thanks

Actually, I was born on a refugee camp and those of you who have seen the Afghan refugee Tents provided by UN on TV, thats pretty much it. I didnt live there long though (I dont even remember hardly any of it) but we moved to another city when i was around 3 years old. I still hear my parents and older siblings talking about how life was then. They say stuff such as how they would live on nothing but boil potatoes because they didnt even have oil to fry it in and how sometimes they would just put bread in water to eat. My eldest brother starting working since he was like 5 years old (way before I was born).

Its pretty amazing how SubHana-Allaah, my family was one of the higher-class governor families in Afghanistan and we went to being nothing and now SubHana-Allaah, we have so much to be grateful for. No one can even imagine us being in such a state but alHumdu-Lillaah, everything from Allaah is a test.



Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuh

[WarriorAndWiseman]

We weren't exactly rich growing up but in Pakistan where there's so many different shades of rich and you've got a lot of poverty everywhere I always felt we were comfortably well off.

Ever since my parents divorce two years ago, I've got a lot of financial burden on me and I'm the furthest from being comfortably well off then I've ever been.

[MasterONaniFiqh]

refugee kid wins.

[Struggle4Peace]

You cannot be poor if you live in the west. In western dictionary poor == not having a t.v. in one's room or not been able to afford swimming lessons. I don't know how things are in usa but being in the uk, people get all sorts of benefits and it anger me when people moan about how little they get...hang on us british are born moaners. You'll find very little stories like...'In pursuit of happyness'.



When I was at school I used to get £10 a week whereas my friend got £50 a month...I always thought it was because we were poor. I was a smart arse

[PhDGirl]

Originally Posted by Struggle4Peace

You cannot be poor if you live in the west. In western dictionary poor == not having a t.v. in one's room or not been able to afford swimming lessons.

That's a misconception. There are all sorts of places where poverty runs rampant and I am thankful not to have had that experience first-hand. I was in New Orleans recently for a conference and took a "Katrina tour" and the poverty was appalling. The living conditions of low-wage workers don't lend themselves to tvs and swimming pools - they are just trying to survive.

[ChotooMotoo]

Originally Posted by Struggle4Peace

You cannot be poor if you live in the west. In western dictionary poor == not having a t.v. in one's room or not been able to afford swimming lessons. I don't know how things are in usa but being in the uk, people get all sorts of benefits and it anger me when people moan about how little they get...hang on us british are born moaners. You'll find very little stories like...'In pursuit of happyness'.

When I was at school I used to get £10 a week whereas my friend got £50 a month...I always thought it was because we were poor. I was a smart arse

the USA is not a socialist country, they don't provide a safety net for the poor. There are next to no social services. If you're on welfare, there are tons of doctors who won't see you. You can be very poor in the west. Food stamps do not cover the cost of your groceries. Housing subsidies don't pay for your rent, or electricity bill, and in most of the USA you can't live without electricity or gas (especially in winter) since you will freeze.

After my parents divorced, we couldn't afford our groceries. We lived off church charity off and on (they even had to pay our rent a few times), and in winter time, when it was really really cold, the power company decided to shut off our electricity for non-payment. My sisters and I all slept together in the same room becuase it was -15C outside, and we had no heat except for a small fire box in the kitchen. The wood for that also came from our charitable neigbor.

In the USA, a car is a necessity. You can't get along without one. You can't have a job, go to school or anything without a car. TV is not a luxury item (at least ours wasn't) we had a TV, and it was 15 years old, bought when my parents were seeing better days. Mind you, we had the crappiest cars available, and many of them were free, given to us by people who were going to take them to the junk yard.

I had another friend who was also really poor (in the USA) she had 2 pairs of shoes, one for church, and one for school. Rest of the time she went barefoot. They had 5 kids in a trailor which had no electricity, an no running water. They actually used a modern outhouse. In winter, they had a generator, and once a week they went to their uncles house to take baths.

Don't tell me you can't be poor in the USA. The standard of living is different, but poor is poor. Having a car or a TV doesn't make you rich. Those things are dirt cheap here. Would you call someone in India with a motor scooter and a cricket bat rich? Of course not.

Just becuase someone doesn't live in a refugee camp doesn't mean that they aren't poor, and haven't experienced poverty.

[WarriorAndWiseman]

Originally Posted by MasterONaniFiqh

refugee kid wins.

When people tell you their stories they do it so they can share their experiences. Not so you can rate their lives. Jack@$$.