Oh God!! My first job. I lasted 3 days and dropped from exhaustion. I was way too skinny and hungry to do that kind of work. It was at a Syrian bakery making pita breads. 8 hours straight, half hour for lunch and NO Breaks. You were constantly in motion the whole time, flipping dough onto a conveyer belt standing up. I just didn't have the strength. My second job was at the snack bar I ate lunch at. That lasted all summer. I did much better there. I got to eat a little more.

I think growing up poor has given me a better sense of empathy and a preparedness for the things that have happened to me throughout my life.

I can remember drying clothes in the oven for school after washing them in the tub. Tomato soup for Christmas dinner one year because my grandmother canned her own. Heating dinner on a fire in the back yard because the gas had been shut off.

I learned to be grateful just to be able to pay a bill as I got older. A roof over our heads, utilities on and food on the table.

My 16yr old son who spent most of his time with his grandmother getting whatever he wanted as he was growing up just can't seem to understand the concept when he is at home that we don't have the money for him to run out and get the newest CD or video game let alone the newest console. Clothing the boys is a struggle in itself and I can't remember the last time I had a new wardrobe. Maybe a new shirt once or twice a year. Maybe.

My first job was at a motel, cleaning rooms. Worth it if you got someone who actually understood that you can tip the staff but a lot of them were people who wanted a place to party for the night and left nasty messes. Worked approx. 15-20 rooms a day and it was top to bottom. Doesn't sound like much but you would be surprised. Exhausting work.

I've been poor!

My parents had very little but they got by. I don't know how, but they did, and my mother always made a meal out of nothing. My father went fishing and hunting as often as he could and I even remember my mother scraping the bones of large fish to get enough meat off the bones to feed us 4 children.

They grew vegetables and fruit trees, and never said no to a free hand out. I can even remember picking up the peas and beans that fell off the trucks as they went around the corners close to the house we lived in.

My young daughter and I experienced great poverty when I left my first husband. I remember having breakfast cereal and toast for Christmas, because that's all there was. Many, many times she ate, but I couldn't. There just wasn't enough to go around. I got down to around 95 pounds during this time.

Thankfully things have picked up now. Not a whole heap... but at least we can have 3 meals a day, if we want.

I grew up in a working class home. My Dad had a factory job and always had one or two side jobs. In the summer he had a landscaping business on top of the factory job. There were six of us kids so as hard as my Dad worked, we didn't go without the basics, but there was little extra for fancy foods or lots of toys for us kids.

My first bike was an old rusted thing with training wheels, it had gone through the five kids before me, but I learned to ride with it.

I was the youngest, so eventually after the three oldest were gone, I finally got a new bike. I remember as a child going to school and having my next door neighbor point out loudly, that I was wearing her shirt. My Mom had gotten it at their garage sale.

But I was a pretty happy kid nonetheless. I inherited my Dad's work ethic. I'm a workaholic, and though the MS has slowed that down, it still keeps me going. My Mom worked hard too. She raised six kids, and started doing part time jobs when I was about 12 years old. I started working at about age 10 or 11 with my first paper route. I always had a job thereafter.

I'm very good at stretching a dollar. When my parents divorced when I was in my teens, I saw my Mom struggle and helped her pay the bills. I can live on next to nothing if necessary.

I grew up in what my grandma called "flour-sack panties" poor. Yep she made many pairs of undies for the girls from cloth flour sacks. Most of my clothing was hand-me-downs from cousins.

We farmed cotton, corn and hay. Raised most of our own food. My first job was at 5 yrs old picking cotton for 50cents for a 10 lb bag. I bought school shoes with that money. I have hoed cotton, picked corn and hauled hay. I did a lot of baby sitting along the way.

The biggest thing my parents taught us, was to save when the times were good so we could manage during the lean years.


CAME BACK TO ADD: Those hard-knocks in life inspired me to go to college. My family was very supportive in helping me fulfill that dream.