Tonight, JimDad and I were talking about a few unrelated things, and started remembering our time doing a year of full time service (in a faith based Americorps program). We worked 40 hours a week at a non-profit in St. Pete (FL). In exchange, we were part of a cool group of people who gathered for retreats and fun. Oh, and we received a 2 bedroom apartment with utilities, health insurance, and a stipend of $400 month (each).
Now, we didn't get to choose the apartment. It was in a.... er, sketchy neighborhood. The walls were so thin, sometimes we debated if we should call the cops on our neighbors (do we smell pot? is he hitting her?). We didn't have to call the cops, since they made a drive thru of our parking lot every weekend. One weekend, we saw ambulance lights and went outside- turns out some guy was drunk and tried to jump/flip from the 3rd balcony to the 2nd balcony- only he missed, and fell into the bushes on the ground floor. Amazingly, he was okay. We found all this out by neighbors calling back and forth between buildings. Quote of the night? A neighbor remarking "who needs cable when you've got entertainment like this!"
It wasn't awful, by any means. Our eat in kitchen was in the back, and the window over the sink looked out onto a fenced in Buddhist Temple - no lie! We could watch the monks walking the property or praying next to the amazing huge backyard pond. One weekend, there was some kind of festival where they had canoe races! Yes, a boat full of monks tipped over! I've always regretted that we didn't walk around the block and say hello...
And the health insurance was pretty basic- it covered us fine, but we did need to visit the Health Department once or twice. Not a place anyone willing goes. And the stipend worked okay, as long as we thought about it (we started making Christmas gifts in October!). We didn't have much to splurge, but we didn't have car payments either- and we had worked for a year or so to build up some savings so we had a cushion. Which was awesome since our very first weekend in "the city"... our car was broken into and we had to replace the window.
Anyway, we weren't talking about all this specifically. What we were remembering the most was how we could tell what general economic plane people were on, just by their reaction to what we were doing. Generally, we got to know folks (co-workers, clients) before the volunteering thing came up. And it's not *exactly* volunteering, since we were being reimbursed in other ways! .
There was one of two reactions to our situation. One: Wow! How can you survive on just $800 a month?
Two: Wow! You don't have to pay rent or electric the whole year?
The first reaction was from comfortable folks. You wouldn't know they were comfortable, per se. They might be complaining about lack of money, or maybe they were a refugee from another country, or had some other rough upbringing. But they were definitely used to a certain standard of living! Some of the other volunteers were in this strata too- the ones who had trouble not eating out with co-workers, or who kept their monthly hair and nail appointments. Once we get used to something, it's hard to give up for any reason (health, finances, morals, whatever).
The second reaction was from folks who were struggling. They might not talk about it, or maybe they did complain about money too. But they were just amazed at thinking what they would be able to do with $800 a month if they didn't have to pay for rent or utilities or health insurance. You could see them calculating in their heads, a little smile on their lips, before they asked for more details about the program.
Anyway, we were just talking about all this to help us put this last year into perspective. And then I remembered this website I had seen, where you could enter your annual income and it would tell you where you ranked on the world's "richest people" list. Try it yourself- http://www.globalrichlist.com
We don't do it often, but it's a great tool for perspective. That, and remembering the fun of the crazy, young, newly married days. Things seemed less complicated, which definitely tells me I'm getting old. But knowing that we had little in the way of 'stuff' and lots in the way of fun/ fulfillment/ friends and family... it's a great boost for any current slump. That, and the blessing of having friends older that we are, who can write a short note to say "we've all been there, it will be fine, YOU will be fine."
So how much money do we got? Enough. Enough for now, and enough to share again. Thanks be to God.
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well" - Julian of Norwich
