As a four year old child, during a summer stay in a town in Mexico, I remember being drawn to the warmth and unity of the families I met on my cobblestone street. While they lived in crowded homes with dirt floors, rustic roofs, and spartan furniture, I did not think of the smiling adults or boisterous children as disadvantaged. Instead, I noticed their camaraderie, closeness, and conviviality - all of which were lacking in my own life as an only child in a quiet California neighborhood far from my loose-knit family.
A man from Louisiana whom I met during my travels (who was on the run from the law) described how, as children, he and his friends felt perfectly contented with their lives until social service agencies found their way into his community and informed his family and neighbors that they needed help. “You’re not poor until someone comes and tells you you’re poor,” he said, remembering the change in attitude he observed once his life was categorized as lacking.
Of course, I understand the deprivations, hardships, and struggles people like my childhood neighbors in Mexico face. And I recognize a need to strive for a more equitable world. But I can’t help but feel that being constantly told that one is “poor” (through images of “normal” life on television, for example) devalues the positives of the life experience of the majority of the world. I do believe that’s an antenna, in this picture from Colombia, connected to the back of the house…