We deal we people who for one reason or another have fallen on hard times. We work very hard to be polite and empathetic to all, most of us today are one event from being in the same boat. We found out many things, but one thing is for certain and I’ll try to explain it the best way I can.

Lets say you take food to someone’s home – and notice a large-screen TV. You give them money – and they buy groceries at the nearby convenience store (where prices are much higher). You help them get their car fixed and find out its a Cadillac. Whenever you visit, they are watching TV. Why? Let’s try to put ourselves in their shoes. You are thinking about cleaning the garage or basement. Actually you have been thinking about it for weeks. Well, to tell the truth, you have been thinking about it since last winter when you were trying to find room in the garage for the snow blower. It is a hopeless mess, but today is the day you are going to tackle it. Getting started is the problem, because with a mess like that, there is no logical place to begin. So you decide to have a beer first, and watch a couple of innings of the ball game. Hold that thought. Right there, in that moment, you are in their shoes. You may spend only half an hour watching the ball game, and you will eventually get to your task- but in those 30 minutes of doing nothing, you know exactly how they feel all day each day. At least with cleaning the garage, there is an end in sight. But for the poor, the task seems to have no beginning and no end in sight. They can’t get enough together even to get started- a down payment, transportation, protection from an abusive spouse, an education. Their life is like that all the time. It is too big a mess even to know where to begin. So they try to forget it by enjoying some “luxuries”, having a beer, watching TV, etc. A good mental note we have tried to keep in mind every day Don’t judge their “laziness” too quickly.