The 99%

I once had a cold that lasted a year. I didn't notice it so much by the third month. What bothered me were the sweats. I had to sleep with the fan on and woke up with the same raw throat every morning, from sucking the dirty air of that apartment all night. We lived on top of a car lot, and changed the locks so the man downstairs who lived in the "office" would not have access to our restroom.

I dropped out of classes and tried to get a job at a fast food place a few blocks away. The money I had saved would do for a few months of rent. Sometimes my girlfriend would bring us food from the restaurant she worked at as a hostess, a burger and fries, or chicken strips and fries, something and fries. I'd bring home boxes of Rice Krispies Treats from the Student Union. It was kind of like food.

Being poor is romantic when you're in your early 20s. It's tiring by your late 20s, and intolerable by your early 30s. It's all in the circumstances. I have always been poor by choice, which is pretty insulting on the whole, considering most people have no say in the matter.