Thursday Thoughts - April 14, 2022: What's Up With Those Large Televisions?
An unhealthy trope gets examined
The Tax Man Cometh
On Monday, federal tax (and state and local tax) revenues are due to be postmarked. It’s that time of the year where if you were due a refund, you probably have already filed and are waiting for your refund. If you are one of those unlucky ones (like myself this year) and you owe, you probably wait until the last minute to get your taxes filed. Personally, I find it a little weird that the government (who already has this information) requires me to hire someone to help fill out these complicated forms just to pay more money to the government. Wouldn’t it just make sense for Uncle Sam to give me a bill? But, I digress…
Tax Season at the Food Pantry
For those that aren’t aware, my day job isn’t sitting behind a keyboard pounding out materials for the newsletter. Rather, I lead a team that runs a faith-based non-profit and our flagship ministry are two food pantries that we operate in a rural/suburban county in Western Ohio.
Tax Season at the food pantry is a time of year where we see fewer and fewer people coming through our doors. It’s not that these folks we would have seen have a better employment situation, but they do tend to have more money, thanks to income tax returns. Programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit and other refundable tax credits for children, often allow many families to get large income tax refund checks in the first quarter of the year. And it’s not a secret, people that have deep pockets (even if it is temporary) tend to stay away from the food pantry.
The One Question That Always Comes Up
And just as Tax Season come, so comes an unhelpful trope, which usually goes like such, “Why do people in poverty spend all that money on big screen televisions? I don’t have a television like that.”
I deal with people in poverty on a consistent basis and when I hear this question asked, it makes me think that there is a huge gulf between the middle-class people who ask the question and those that are in poverty, in which the question is asked about.
I don’t claim to speak for individuals in poverty; they certainly have experiences that I don’t have to go through. But, after working closing with them for the last few years, I can see some behaviors and attitudes that I can describe (not explain) and it’s those descriptions that might help explain why inanimate objects like televisions become a flashpoint in culture war battles between the classes.
Poverty Sucks
Let’s be frank, poverty sucks. And while the outcome of poverty is generally the same (lack of resources), the road to poverty can vary greatly. Job loss, incarceration, health crises and divorce are just some of the precipitating events that can cause people get into poverty. Some of these events can be temporary, some end up being permanent. Some of these events can even translate into poverty that is passed down through generations.
And even while the road to poverty maybe different, there are some general aspects to those in poverty that can be generally universal. A lot of that universality comes down to the fact that poverty sucks and it’s hard. Ever try to get the kids to school on a car that is running on fumes and bad brakes? Not always an easy proposition. The things in life that middle- and upper-class folks in life take for granted become a universal challenge for lower-class people everyday.
Even getting help isn’t always an easy proposition. Needing copies of birth certificates, social security cards and other important paperwork can be hard to families that are consistently transient. Spending time in waiting rooms of largely well-intentioned social service agencies can be long and heaven forbid if you forget that aforementioned of a birth certificate for a youth that might be living with you, but isn’t relation.
In other words, navigating poverty isn’t easy.
Enter the Television
I remember as a kid, my dad would come home from a hard day at the telephone company and he’d sit in his recliner and after reading the newspaper, he’d watch the television. For someone who had worked too hard and had too little time, the television became an escape from reality.
It’s the same for folks that are in poverty. Poverty can be physically and emotionally demanding. If there is anyone that needs to escape, it’s probably folks in poverty. I am certainly not going to look down on those folks that try to get some sense of peace and relaxation in their lives. These folks probably don’t have the resources to take their families to Disneyland, maybe a television is the best they can do.
I’ve had my say, what’s yours? Feel free to comment and share and also shoot me an email at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com. If you have enjoyed the piece, please feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues.
Stay Well,
Bill