Life lessons at a Coffee shop, part one

I realize that most people have, at some point in their life, been in debt. A few days ago I woke up and found out that I had negative money in my checking account. I had come face to face with a reality I had been teetering on since graduating from college and working for Americorps.

I had been stressing over debt and money for months. This all-consuming panic and stress really eats at a person. I spend the day in question trying to figure out how I could make it through the summer. I‘ve already been working 50ish hours a week at two different jobs – so I really was struggling.

At work this day I had an incredible experience that put everything in perspective for me. I work at a café in a bookstore in a rather wealthy part of Washington DC. Part way thought my day a ‘regular’ came in. T is a younger man, perhaps in his mid-thirties. He comes to the café every day with his worn out gym bag and reads books about religion and spirituality. He has a great big toothy smile. In between his much needed naps he eats cinnamon-raisin bagels and oatmeal-raisin cookies, if he has money.

This day Tony didn’t have money for his bagel. So, I bought him one… even though I know I don’t have enough money to be doing it and I’m sure it is against some corporate capitalistic policy. He doesn’t know either of these things so the gift wouldn’t make him feel bad.

After work I was walking home (About a 30 min walk) and he was ahead of me. I caught up to him and we started talking. He told me his story (ex-Navy, plan after getting out fell through, grew up without a lot of opportunities, has no family). I ended up having him over for dinner (leftover spaghetti), he sat and talked with a few of my roommates and I.

The whole experience was really humbling. He told me his story, and there is so many intricacies I can’t write here. However, it has just all made me realize that what I have been studying and reading about class, privilege, and the struggle of people in poverty is not even close to what it is really like. Yesterday I felt an ounce of the stress most people go through. I don’t know how I’ll pay my credit card bill when it comes, I don’t know how I’ll pay for food, but I know I’ll find a way and, if I can’t, I have people to rely on. In the books I’ve read it has explained this as privilege. Now I know what that feels like even more.