Sunday
May032009
Short shorts
Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 12:59PM How did we ever manage to wear those ill fitting shorts during our difficult years?
Found some black and whites from 1980...
In case of any doubts, the dude on the right is me.
After starring at these photos for some time, started thinking, will Jr. and the little one will ever understand what it means to be poor? You can always start poor and climb up in economic strata, but the other way around is very difficult to deal with. San and me have been promising ourselves to take the kids to local soup kitchens to volunteer and it keeps getting postponed.
Then again, does one have to live in an asbestos shed to understand the concept or is it enough if you watch others living in difficult times?
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Reader Comments (6)
sundar:
define poor :-).
- s.b.
ah.. trust s.b. to come up with such good questions..
poor is relative.
right now, Jr. and the little one get everything they want.. (they get it a few months later because of the economy, but get it nevertheless)
when we were growing up, over a four year patch, it was always new school uniforms for birthdays and diwalis and no clothing purchases the rest of the year.. then things changed for the better after the LIC union strike ended and all the folks got to go back to work possibly for better pay..
there was also no coaching classes to learn music, dance, math or swimming or whatever, no matter how interested you were..
the poor is purely being expressed in this context..
not to insult the rich or the poor, richer or poorer.
it is a question of a kids ability to adapt to "not having stuff"...
which brings us to
define stuff :).
:)
Its really about teaching kids that they are not permanently entrenched in a particular class based on money.
This was how we grew up.(I am almost 60). And I find that this was easier to do in our time. Being in the US, it is even more difficult.
But doable....
Hmmm..... I am no expert but when my daughter wastes food, water or breaks or just is not understanding the value. I always tell her there are ppl in the world with out food and water and home. It's up to you to be how you want to be in life. I am hoping she will understand it one day and appreciate life.
I think soup kitchen will be a good experience too.
V
sundar:
that sounds poor indeed. i guess "stuff" can be split between "wants" and "needs", and that is a whole new can of worms*, isn't it?
- s.b.
*one man's can of worms is another man's rosogulla! :-)
take them to a kids home - they will understand better than a soup kitchen - it might scare them
you will get too many questions though - but u can get them to eat better then ;)