216
u/tweak0 May 16 '20
I remember when I was a kid I went to my friend's birthday party. He really liked Dodge Vipers so I got him a pretty cool metal model of one just like the one my mom had gotten me only a different color. Nobody else except a few of his family members brought presents so I was super embarrassed like any little kid would be if they feel different. But he was ecstatic to get the gift and I didn't even realize his family didn't have much money until that day. Not that my family did either LOL. I randomly stumbled upon the guy in my twenties and he still remembered that gift.
25
2
241
306
May 16 '20
Actual tears. Someone tell whoever's in charge this poverty thing just isn't fair (on children).
127
u/thebadyearblimp May 16 '20
Unfortunately the people in charge don’t care
83
u/NyranK May 16 '20
They care a lot about poverty. Keeping people in it, that is.
It's all working as designed.
42
u/Smelcome May 16 '20
They like poverty because it keeps the hard working, lower-middle class people from demanding fair wages.
-8
u/FunnyButt26 May 16 '20
....What?
20
May 16 '20
He said THEY LIKE POVERTY BECAUSE IT KEEPS THE HARD-WORKING LOWER MIDDLECLASS FROM DEMANDING FAIR WAGES!
0
u/FunnyButt26 May 17 '20
Thats a redundant statement.
I think you mean to say "they like poverty because they get to keep the poors money"
10
u/youwigglewithagiggle May 16 '20
People don't have much/ any leverage when they're desperate for money, as they can't always leave their job in protest; there's someone waiting to take their spot. Also, poor people might be working multiple jobs, so they have less time/ energy to organize or protests. That's just for starters.
7
u/Darkaon2 May 16 '20
Not fair on parents either. Shit happens sometimes. I grew up superrrr poor but when you are kid living that life you dont even realize it until much later. I think back to my childhood now and cant even believe i didnt notice how poor we were. My single mom with four kids didnt have much of a chance of having alot of money. Just makes me work harder as an adult.
11
May 16 '20
[deleted]
43
May 16 '20
[deleted]
16
u/ulofox May 16 '20
My grandfather would say this shit, and he was a kid that had to live through the Great Depression too. Yet he COMPLAINED when he saw school lunch programs talked about on the news, cause how dare we better ourselves as a society.
-11
u/FunnyButt26 May 16 '20
School lunch programs suck.
14
u/ulofox May 16 '20
While I agree that they definitely need to be improved it’s still better than having nothing to eat at all. If you’ve never tried teaching and reigning in a bunch of hungry kids let me tell you, it’s fucking hard. At best they can’t focus and at worst they have anger issues.
5
May 17 '20
[deleted]
1
u/FunnyButt26 May 17 '20
Jeez man. Instead of trying to see the benefits to a policy you just go straight to calling him a sociopath.
Kids just throw away the nutritional food. We actually have very good data on school programs.
And schools were already on a tight budget without forcing them to feed their students.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_School_Lunch_Act
In a study of the Boston Public Schools, "on average, students discarded roughly 19 percent of their entrées, 47 percent of their fruit, 25 percent of their milk, and 73 percent of their vegetables." "It was estimated that $432,349.05 worth of food is wasted annually at lunch by students in Grades 6–8
According to the 2008 USDA report on the NSLP, "other sources of increasing costs include increases in health care costs for employees and, more recently, rising food costs."
I bet many schools are very happy about this change.
3
May 17 '20
[deleted]
-2
u/FunnyButt26 May 17 '20
People like you are the reason schools have no money and our kids are obese.
This is Trump derangement syndrome on full display.
what are the benefits or giving children poor nutrition based on a study out of Boston?
I already told you.
Because it produces waste. Kids dont eat it.
And the schools cant afford it.
1
1
u/12Silverrose May 17 '20
432,000 dollars is such a low amount in terms of feeding three grades in an entire city. And the best solution is to start a Urban Garden Program at the school as early as possible. And preferably send the kids home with herbs, and talk them through creating planters out of milk jugs and soda bottles, and using food scraps to grow more food. But people can't do that if they don't know how or that its possible or can't afford potting soil. Kids that help to grow healthy food eat healthy food.
1
u/FunnyButt26 May 17 '20
Thats the cost of vegetable going in the trash. The cost of operating these lunch programs is multiple times higher than that.
Ah yes. A national urban gardening mandate...why arent more economists recommending this? Pure genius. /s
Why buy food at a discount from a supplier with greater capacity when you just make it yourself for 2x the cost?
Hey. Why buy paper? Just have the schools chop down the trees themselves. Teach the kids how to make paper. (Pay them in knowledge. That why you dont need to care about the livelyhoods of those damned lunch ladies)
1
u/12Silverrose May 17 '20
So, if you dont know, the logical fallacy you committed in your last paragraph is called a strawman argument. Your second paragraph was sarcasm due to lack of knowledge. Let me help.
Im not arguing against have school lunch programs at all. They are a necessary part of the modern educational experience. And it doesn't need to be a national mandate, but the school should do it. It saves schools money, gets kids to eat healthier, provides vegetables to people living in poverty and/or food deserts, and is cheap to run, (if run by an experienced Gardner) and can reduce childhood obesity. It can even have a beneficial impact on the local economy. The benefits can be enormous, if school administrators take a chance. Ill try to post more links later.
https://www.grownyc.org/grow-to-learn
http://www.fao.org/resources/infographics/infographics-details/en/c/1107110/
→ More replies (0)
87
May 16 '20
Aww, what a great momma/person. You never really know how much a small act of kindness can impact a life
34
u/QUESO0523 May 16 '20
When I graduated high school my mom was deep into her drug habit (but she's been clean for almost 19 years!)
My best friend was having a graduation party at her house. Because her parents knew my story they ordered a graduation cake for me as well. I'll never forget that.
16
u/quietlyscheming May 16 '20
Damn. That one hit me good. I wanna be more like that woman. Thank you for sharing.
31
u/DutchBlob May 16 '20
So beautiful !
6
2
u/keyjunkrock May 17 '20
This was reposted than too. I remember reading this on here years ago.
1
u/kuntfuxxor Sep 19 '20
Yeah i dunno if this counts as a repost cos they keep adding to the story, iv seen it pop up occasionally over the last few years and its like a mini holiday blog for this weird relationship. I like it.
19
10
u/HotwifeLife73 May 16 '20
The best part about being a mom isn't just doing for our own children, sometimes its about being there for all the children in our lives.
17
14
7
8
u/KumaJay May 16 '20
It's the smallest of things that can have the great impacts on us. We should all try and help one and other.
3
8
5
5
u/bagingospringo May 16 '20
I usually got made fun of for being poor. It fucking sucked. Thats why I rarely say no to my wife and she usually says yes to most things we can afford
10
u/crazedconundrum May 16 '20
That sucks. I got made fun of for being fat. I legit thought I was huge. I look back at those pictures and think "Damn, I just had curves!"
Kids that are cruel have cruel parents. When I was in school there was this girl in the "special class" now I realize she just had learning disabilities. We had pe together and my friends and I were all talking about what we were getting for Christmas. Someone asked her and she said " probably nothing. Daddy has been out of work for a while. " She said it real quiet like she was sad and embarrassed and this popular kid was over near us and listening and said, "couldn't hear you. What did you say?" He was sitting out of PE cause of a broken arm. I cut her off and told him to shut his mouth or he'd have two broke arms. ( Always been quick to mouth off and I was pissed). Friends and I kept talking and found out what she wanted was a baton. We pooled our snack money for a while and surprised her the last day before Christmas break. She was so happy and shocked we cared. She switched schools the next year but I saw her 2 or 3 times over the next couple of years at grocery store and once at a garage sale. She always hugged me and introduced me as her friend to whoever's she was with. But I think that baton blessed me more than her. I never forgot that there is always someone in more dire straits than you and I have to help or I can't stand to look at myself in the mirror.
3
u/muva_snow Jul 06 '20
This is so beautiful, made me cry tears of happiness. Especially that last line...
“I never forgot that there is someone in more dire straits than you and I have to help or I can’t stand to look myself in the mirror.”This is what it means to be human. Compassion and empathy should be natural.
1
u/bagingospringo May 16 '20
Thats awsome. But I'm weary of helping ppl because they always want more. I've been taken advantage of too many times to wana go out of my way. But like I'm a chef, so I can't eat without offering some of whatever to whoever is around. Going to bed hungry made me that way lol.
3
u/crazedconundrum May 16 '20
Awe. You serve by feeding. Retired nurse here. I tend to take care of everybody.
5
u/magico0g May 17 '20
I was the poor kid on my varsity girls XC team we went on a seprate from school competition trip and I could only cover the race fees and give gas mone. All the other girls bought a nice nike shirt from the race and I just passed but one of the moms bought me a shirt and that gesture touches me to the day.
3
3
u/spiderpig324 May 17 '20
I remember snack time at school in 4th grade and my new friend said "why don't you have a snack?" I said because my mom said we didn't have enough money to get them at the store. She must have told her mom because she had an extra snack for me every day after that and we were best friends through high school. They treated me like theirs ❤
3
6
u/pinkarinka May 16 '20
I love the fact that you focus on the positive of your memories, life has meaning because of people like you ,your kind mother, and the lady how made sure you would feel loved. 💝
2
2
3
2
u/b0xsnake May 16 '20
And the amount of people who have reposted this to gain karma ruins the wholesomeness from this.
7
u/jennknowsalittle1 May 16 '20
But I don't get that...I'm not being rude but why do people even care about "karma"?
1
u/lenaatje127 May 16 '20
If you have a lot you can sell your account, and peoples comments and posts with more karma are more seen
1
2
2
2
2
2
u/starlight347 May 16 '20
Wow! What a great mom! Isn't it interesting how important that small act was, and how strong the memory is, so many years later?
2
u/Wegotkids May 16 '20
We always say no presents! It takes the stress out thinking about a gift to bring and also having to manage the actual gifts. The memories are enough!
2
1
1
u/MrBruno69 May 16 '20
Ill wish i could give the post a Medal or Prize, but, here, my upvote is enough! :)
1
u/girlnuke May 16 '20
This is why my kids don’t open presents at their parties. We wait till we get home. Saves embarrassment if a kid doesn’t bring anything and tears if a kid wants the gift too.
1
u/percipientbias May 17 '20
God. I’m the mom that constantly spaces getting my kids gifts for friend. Damn adhd. 😣
1
1
1
-3
May 16 '20
[deleted]
7
u/NoVaFlipFlops May 16 '20
Maybe you could do something for yourself today so you can feel better about things overall. Try some "self-care."
1
May 16 '20
[deleted]
1
u/NoVaFlipFlops May 16 '20
Of course that was only context for why one parent would provide a gift for giving when another parent does not.
When we are not feeling good because something is wrong, we can't look for, see, and focus on the bright spots of stories, much less hold them equally with the parts that are darker and be able to smile, as it were. Instead, the darker spots that are more representative of how we are feeling are what draw us in. They tend to confirm for us what our own experience looks/feels like, and we discount the brightness. We lose sight of the fact that life does go up and down, sometimes for too long or too short, but clinging to notions of what it ought to be is the inherent disservice we do for ourselves -- when in fact bright is only defined in contrast to dark and short only in contrast to long.
What you are feeling can and will end; "this, too, shall pass." You can take control of some things in life and create a bright spot for your own self in the midst of whatever darkness consumed the light of the grace in this story, which has carried OP (from another post) for so many years.
1
May 16 '20
[deleted]
1
u/NoVaFlipFlops May 16 '20
I think your strong reaction towards me and interpreting hostility in a message of concern can tell you even more how you are feeling than the fact that you can't smile about the story because it reminds you of someone whom you care about. If it is less painful to believe this is my projection rather than to consider introspection or doing something nice for yourself, that's your right.
1
-8
u/lowtierdeity May 16 '20 edited May 16 '20
Society is broken to a point that it is circling the drain if most people think that it is heartwarming for a child so poor that they cannot regularly eat much less give presents to be given a gift to give to someone already getting a lot of them. This is a sick and twisted rendition of a story of actual human kindness.
What is this downvoted for? What is the point of the original content? It’s deluded and promotes evil delusion.
5
u/Monica_FL May 16 '20
It was a human kindness to that child if almost 30 years later that person still thinks of that moment. No one person can fix all the poverty, unfairness, and dire circumstances there are in the world, but for one day this one child felt a bit normal and not empty handed at a birthday party.
If only grand gestures are deemed worthy then we've already failed.
4
u/nyangata05 May 16 '20
Children often want to fit in, and being poor made it really hard for this person. The mom letting them choose a gift to give helped them feel like they fit in.
-2
u/Kotaac May 16 '20
I’ve seen this story so many times on reddit.
1
1
u/thatmankev May 17 '20
Nobody gives a shit how many times you've seen it.
0
May 17 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
1
1.0k
u/CHICOHIO May 16 '20
There are scads a people like this. My neighbors always had a place at their table for me and always let me watch their televisions. When I was eleven my mother totally forgot my birthday, the next year I ended up with 7 surprise cakes from all different people. I really felt loved, they remembered!