From The Advocate November 8, 2008
The Poor Woman's Financial Crisis
“What’s the difference between a lesbian and a dyke? A dyke thinks she looks good with a $12 haircut.” The first time I heard that joke, I thought, Twelve dollars! I can’t pay more than $5! In fact, last month I cut my own hair to save a few bucks. I guess it didn’t turn out so well, because my girlfriend started calling me “Sideshow Bob.” Yesterday, when I suggested that I was going to give it another try, she screamed, “Nooooo!” Instead, we schlepped a giant laundry bag of old clothes to the secondhand store to raise enough money for a $12 haircut. We got $13.30 -- which was enough for the haircut but not a tip -- so I put on a hat and we took the cash to the grocery store to buy a pressurized can of cinnamon rolls and some tuna.
Back at home, we sat down on the bed (we don’t have a couch) with our dinner and watched the first presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama on an old black-and-white TV I got for free. But these are tough times. So tough, in fact, that I quit my teaching job six months ago because education funding cuts in the state of California made working at a grocery store a more secure job.
Here’s the sad part: Neither my girlfriend nor I have kids or expensive addictions. We both have master’s degrees and work full-time. We share a one-bedroom apartment with a dog and a cat -- we moved in together with lesbian speed because the cost of living is so high in San Francisco -- and barely make ends meet.
I don’t really believe in the myth of being poor but happy. At the poorest times in my life I wasn’t happy. I was just hungry. And the poorest times in my life can’t even compare to the poorest times of most people in the world. But I get why people romanticize poverty. I remember an argument my parents had when I was younger. My dad was fastidiously insisting he needed a certain kind of cooking bowl and my mother turned to me and said, “Your father doesn’t remember the days we were so poor we were making dinner in the coffeepot because we didn’t have a pan to cook in.” I love to imagine my parents as newlyweds, all jacked up on new love cooking dinner in the coffeepot.
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid63949.asp
Originally posted by jlillywhats this?
From The Advocate November 8, 2008
The Poor Woman's Financial Crisis
“What’s the difference between a lesbian and a dyke? A dyke thinks she looks good with a $12 haircut.” The first time I heard that joke, I thought, Twelve dollars! I can’t pay more than $5! In fact, last month I cut my own hair to save a few bucks. I guess it didn’t turn out so well, be ...[text shortened]... on new love cooking dinner in the coffeepot.
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid63949.asp
don't you get tired of spreading your obama worshipping propaganda?
But these are tough times. So tough, in fact, that I quit my teaching job six months ago because education funding cuts in the state of California made working at a grocery store a more secure job.
She quit her teaching job because she didn't think she had job security? That makes alot of sense.
Teachers are hired on year long contracts. Teachers make alot more money than someone who works in a grocery store. She may have quit teaching, but it wasn't based on job security. Personal security is a more likely reason. Of course the more common reason is personal sanity.
Originally posted by EladarYou've pointed out the problem with this fairy tale. Teachers don't quit their jobs to work in grocery stores and take a huge pay cut for "job security". People with master's degrees can generally find something better than grocery clerking.
[b] But these are tough times. So tough, in fact, that I quit my teaching job six months ago because education funding cuts in the state of California made working at a grocery store a more secure job.
She quit her teaching job because she didn't think she had job security? That makes alot of sense.
Teachers are hired on year long contracts. Te ...[text shortened]... rsonal security is a more likely reason. Of course the more common reason is personal sanity.[/b]
This story doesn't pass the sniff test. It's total BS.
Originally posted by Sam The ShamMy advise would be: Get the hell out of California as fast as possible and move somewhere cheaper...like Tijuana.
You've pointed out the problem with this fairy tale. Teachers don't quit their jobs to work in grocery stores and take a huge pay cut for "job security". People with master's degrees can generally find something better than grocery clerking.
This story doesn't pass the sniff test. It's total BS.
Originally posted by Sam The ShamYeah...I'm having a tough time with this. A teacher with a Master's doesn't feel secure in her job? Two people, fully employed, both with Masters degrees struggle to pay the rent on a one bedroom?
Two Masters degrees, living together with no kids, can't make ends meet?
Real pair of losers.
Jlilly, I'm a teacher in California, and another poster in this thread is also a teacher who I think once worked in CA. Of course our politics are different than yours, but I don't think that influences our surprise. I agree that this does not pass the sniff test.
I guess I've never bothered with my own apartment. I always rent rooms. But if I didn't buy so many luxuries and expensive medications I'd easily be able to afford an apartment with a room mate I am sure, even in SF. Or maybe these people need to move out of SF and into Oakland or something. I mean isn't one of SF's mottos "We love and embrace the homeless" or something like that? I remember seeing signs proclaiming the city's support for the homeless. That can't be easy on citizens' personal budgets.
Do these ladies have Masters degrees in Queer Studies or African American Studies or something silly like that?
Originally posted by jlilly"Yesterday was my first day off after working nine consecutive days for $13.48 an hour. I’m ignoring the piece of pink notebook paper on the refrigerator with the heading “People I Owe Money To.” My girlfriend deemed these our “pioneer months,” and it becomes perfectly clear why when I open the cupboard to find only dented cans of pinto beans and diced tomatoes. I started working at the grocery store because I get a discount on groceries and there’s an amazing free box filled with bruised organic watermelons, eggplant, apples, and bread. I easily take home $100 worth of bruised produce a month.
From The Advocate November 8, 2008
The Poor Woman's Financial Crisis
“What’s the difference between a lesbian and a dyke? A dyke thinks she looks good with a $12 haircut.” The first time I heard that joke, I thought, Twelve dollars! I can’t pay more than $5! In fact, last month I cut my own hair to save a few bucks. I guess it didn’t turn out so well, be ...[text shortened]... on new love cooking dinner in the coffeepot.
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid63949.asp
Every night when I come home from work, my girlfriend stops doing whatever it is she’s doing to meet me in the kitchen, where I spread out everything I got from the free box. “Let’s look at the booty,” I say to her. Sometimes we make entire meals consisting only of free items. One breakfast she made eggs, potatoes, and toast -- everything was free. She really loves a deal, and I adore the free box. It’s one of the ways that we’re really compatible.
In times of uncertainty -- whether it’s economic, psychological, emotional, or philosophical -- people often say that the only thing we can truly control is our attitudes. If that’s true, then I’m going to spend today walking my 14-year-old dog on a free beach and treasuring the fact that she’s still alive. Then I’m going to head to work five minutes before my shift starts and make a beeline for the free box
"
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid63949.asp?page=2
Name: James
Date posted: 2008-11-02 10:16 AM
Hometown: Houston
Comment:
I don't really understand why I actually read this crap. This is an article I guess to make me feel sorry for someone who quits their job. She quit because she was worried that at some point she might be laid off in the future and not because of some “grave injustice” in the workplace? Yeah that makes a lot of sense! No you are not having to gather free food because of the "Financial Crisis" it’s because you are stupid. If you can’t survive because you ONLY make $13.48/hr then is it time to move.