Weeds (December 10, 2011)

That Poverty Guy's grandmother, Florence Harback

When I was about 11 years old my Grandma Harback came to our house and looked after my brother and I.  My parents had gone on a trip to Wales.  On the very first day, we were in the garden digging up some potatoes and pulling some weeds when Grandma let out a squeal of delight.  She was gazing at the pile of weeds my brother and I had accumulated and exclaimed, "Oooh . . . we're going to have a fine salad tonight!"  My brother and I looked at each other questioningly, then at the pile of weeds, and then at Grandma.  "But Grandma," I said, "those are weeds!?!"

Weeds.  From my point of view, weeds were anything that wasn't a pretty flower, grass, tree, tree, shrub or something that you didn't specifically plant in order to eat.  Those things in the pile at our feet were definitely none of the above, and so by default they were weeds.  Of course, I had never gone hungry in my life.  Grandma had.  While growing up on the farm during harsh economic times, she and many like her learned which naturally occurring plants could be eaten and which could not.  Much to our chagrin, my brother and I had yanked a whole whack of the edible variety.  Lucky us . . . Grandma was going to feed us weeds.

Never before in my life had I knowingly eaten what I considered to be weeds.  I never had to.  It makes me wonder what other sorts of things I haven't done because of the relative affluence in which a majority of North Americans are raised.  Trust me, I'm not lamenting not having previously had the opportunity to eat weeds.  As a kid I found it revolting.  However, as an adult I find it interesting . . . but also distressing. I can't tell you what "weeds" are edible (. . . or mushrooms . . . or berries . . . or lots of other things that poke up through the dirt).  Sure the information is out there, and a few know it very well, but my point is that such things used to be common knowledge and now they are not.  What other knowledge has been lost because the relative affluence of the past 60 years has made such information obsolete?

Ever see one of those movies that depict life after nuclear apocalypse?  In our age of relying on technology and such, I fear many of us have lost the ability to care for ourselves properly in the event of massive disaster.  In fact, I think despite our "advances" our grandparents would have fared many times better.  However, you don't need to go to the lengths of a nuclear apocalypse to find a situation in which our ancestors were better equipped to handle life.  You simply need to look any number of poor families living in our communities.

In some cases, families living in poverty have had to re-invent the wheel and re-discover ways to live with little that previous generations knew very well.  In other cases, malnutrition and missed opportunities abound because such knowledge has evaded some families.  In other words, I would venture to argue that being poor now is actually worse for many than being poor 60 years ago.  This is because the skill sets of many are lacking the ability to cope with poverty as well, and the gap between rich and poor is now so great that the relative poverty of those in poverty is that much greater.

Am I blaming affluence and this society's prosperity for the suffering of those in poverty?  Sort of.  Not "blaming" in the sense that affluence is bad.  Quite to the contrary, I believe that affluence is good and I have nothing against those who have plenty.  However, there is no doubt in my mind that as a result of the general affluence of society we have lost some survival skills.  Therefore, in conjunction with our advancement, I think we should use a portion of that affluence to ensure that no one is left behind in the void that has been created.

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Phase II - Struggles of the Working Poor Daily Report
Day 39 - Day 40 (December 9^th – 10^th)

Weight at Beginning of Project:  233 lbs
Weight at End of Phase One:  216 lbs
Weight at Start of Phase Two: 221 lbs
Weight at Start of Today:  215 lbs

Available Funds:   $31.27 (leftover) + $7.50 (Dec 9) + $9.00 (Dec 10) = $47.77
Funds Spent Today:  $36.84 (purchases)
Remaining Funds:   $10.93

New Loan:  $0.00
Loan Payment Due Today: $0.00
Loan Payment:   $0.00
Outstanding Loan: $101.25 (originally $135.00) @ 2% per month (non-compounding) . . . payments due as follows:  $34.38 due Dec 8^th PAID); $34.22 due Dec 15^th; $34.07 due Dec 22^nd; $33.91 due Dec 29^th.

Items Purchased:   $10.07 Lunch & Tea (Meeting) in Calgary, 2 Lemons & a Lemon Meringue Pie (my contribution for a dinner to which I’ve been invited on Sunday night), 7 Apples, 7 Bananas, Purple Onion, Head of Lettuce, 7 Sm. Roma Tomatoes, 6-Pack of Beer, Small Bag of Ju Jubes (little sweet treat each day), 600g of Red Skin Peanuts, 6 Buns

Free Stuff:  Several Packets of Ketchup/Mustard/Relish/Salt/Pepper from a Fast Food Restaurant in Calgary, Packet of Hot Chocolate (gift), Leftover Sausage Filling (that I helped make today)

Gas Purchased* & Remaining:  $0.00 (i.e. 0.0 litres @ $1.089 per litre . . . 0.0 km @ 10 km/litre) + 2.92 litres (gas remaining) = 2.92 litres (29.2 km)
Driving Today:  8.0 km (i.e. 0.8 litres)
Gas Remaining:  2.12 litres (i.e. 21.2 km)

*Will not include any fuel or driving related to work that is paid for by work.

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