Poverty. It’s not something you think you’d encounter in university. I mean, everyone knows that university is for the elite. The fees alone can set you back more than R50 000 a year. So, only rich people go to varsity, right? Um. Sorry. Wrong.
You can’t generalise like that. Poverty is a real issue everywhere: no exceptions. You need to learn to be sensitive to others. Don’t go around bragging about your holiday in Italy or the new car that your daddy bought you. You just make it harder for those from underprivileged backgrounds. How can they compare with your lavish overseas holidays, when their mother is a domestic worker and they’re only at varsity because they worked so hard at their under-resourced school that they landed a scholarship? People become ashamed of their parents and their history: they start to lie to others, so that they can fit in with the spoiled Sandton snobs. You never want to cause anybody to do this. To be embarrassed about a mother who probably works really hard to give them everything she can.
I was in Pick ‘n Pay yesterday, and I was complaining to my friend while the cashier rung up my groceries. I was telling her how I was annoyed with my dad because he’d given me a bigger advance on my allowance than I’d asked for, and now I was probably going to spend it all in Jeffery’s Bay this weekend instead of saving it like I should be (I’m terrible with money: if it’s in my purse, I spend it. If it’s in my savings account, I don’t). The cashier just looked at me like I was crazy. I could see what she was thinking: This girl is complaini
ng because she’s been given too much money? What is wrong with her?! I quickly picked up my groceries and walked off. But I felt terrible. Money is so important to so many people. You really need to be very careful what you say, so that those who are not as fortunate as you do not feel emotionally inferior as well as economically inferior.
So. What am I saying here? Just this: some people aren’t as fortunate as you. At the risk of sounding like your high school principle, be grateful for what you have. Some people live on the streets, wondering whether someone will be kind enough to provide them with a meal today. Being at university is an amazing opportunity: appreciate it!
Well, that’s my lecture for the day!
*Meat_is_murder*
You can’t generalise like that. Poverty is a real issue everywhere: no exceptions. You need to learn to be sensitive to others. Don’t go around bragging about your holiday in Italy or the new car that your daddy bought you. You just make it harder for those from underprivileged backgrounds. How can they compare with your lavish overseas holidays, when their mother is a domestic worker and they’re only at varsity because they worked so hard at their under-resourced school that they landed a scholarship? People become ashamed of their parents and their history: they start to lie to others, so that they can fit in with the spoiled Sandton snobs. You never want to cause anybody to do this. To be embarrassed about a mother who probably works really hard to give them everything she can.
I was in Pick ‘n Pay yesterday, and I was complaining to my friend while the cashier rung up my groceries. I was telling her how I was annoyed with my dad because he’d given me a bigger advance on my allowance than I’d asked for, and now I was probably going to spend it all in Jeffery’s Bay this weekend instead of saving it like I should be (I’m terrible with money: if it’s in my purse, I spend it. If it’s in my savings account, I don’t). The cashier just looked at me like I was crazy. I could see what she was thinking: This girl is complaini
ng because she’s been given too much money? What is wrong with her?! I quickly picked up my groceries and walked off. But I felt terrible. Money is so important to so many people. You really need to be very careful what you say, so that those who are not as fortunate as you do not feel emotionally inferior as well as economically inferior.So. What am I saying here? Just this: some people aren’t as fortunate as you. At the risk of sounding like your high school principle, be grateful for what you have. Some people live on the streets, wondering whether someone will be kind enough to provide them with a meal today. Being at university is an amazing opportunity: appreciate it!
Well, that’s my lecture for the day!
*Meat_is_murder*
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