Could you survive in a public housing high-rise? Part II
Horner buildings coming down. Photo by Craig Berman.
was on the skills public housing residents often have that the rest of us don't.
We're used to talking about CHA tenants as the needy ones, but in reality, they're able to survive conditions many of us can't even imagine.
Do you have what it takes? Here's a quiz to test your skills. It comes from Ruby Payne, author of the book
A Framework for Understanding Poverty.
How many of these skills can you honestly say you have?
- I know which churches and sections of town have the best rummage sales.
- I know which rummage sales have "bag sales" and when.
- I know which grocery stores' garbage bins can be accessed for thrown-away food.
- I know how to get someone out of jail.
- I know how to fight and defend myself physically.
- I know how to get a gun even if I have a police record.
- I know how to keep my clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat.
- I know what problems to look for in a used car.
- I know how to live without a checking account.
- I know how to live without electricity and without a phone.
- I know how to use a knife as scissors.
- I can entertain a group of friends with just my personality and my stories.
- I know what to do when I don't have money to pay the bills.
- I know how to move in half a day.
- I know how to get and use food stamps or a government debit card for benefits.
- I know where the free medical clinics are.
- I am very good at trading and bartering.
- I can get by without a car.
How many did you get?
I can tell you mine. Zero, if I'm completely honest.
There
were a couple I considered checking, but then I had to get real with
myself. Yes, I can get by without a car in Chicago, but I went crazy
for a summer in rural Michigan when I didn't have a car. And even
sometimes here, waiting for the bus is too much for me to handle when
it's pouring or in the winter.
When I read this list, I feel
overwhelmed by all the things I can't do. By all the bad things that
would happen to me if I was confronted with a situation where I had to
do these things to survive. And many Chicagoans have finely honed these
skills. While many of us were perfecting our cursive or learning the
difference between "its" and "it's," other people were focusing on how
not to get caught up in a gang or keep from being homeless.
What about you? How did you do on the quiz? Could you survive as one of Chicago's urban poor?
Share this entry
Recommended for you
5 Comments
lizjoyntsandberg said:
ZERO! Man - it's overwhelming!
feliciacago said:
I can honestly answer in the affirmative to 9 of the 18, and it's not important which. Further, I'm pretty confident I could get through another 5 with a bit of finagling. I grew up in the deep South on public assistance and remember buying 5 cent candy with a $1 food stamp to get the change. I also recall vividly the disapproving stare of a pious cashier who informed me that this was illegal. I was 9. I was doing what I was told in order to help my family, and I hated feeling dirty. I carried that stare of the cashier with me and it drove me to break a circle, as so many others have done. But I also recognize that the path is not readily accessible for everyone. Access. If my access had been as limited as these generations of public housing families, that stare might have broken me.
Brad said:
This is an important story as long as it is read and not just left at "its overwhelming" (pls. Liz do not take offense, I mean none.)as long as, as readers we take the time now and learn about and from people other then those like us. And that means on a class scale to.
As I am a 43yr. old student from a blue collar back ground, I often find myself in class having to point out there is a majority in this country/this world, that do not have the chance to go to college or have jobs with vacation or insurance, and that number is growing everyday. So we can sit back and ignore them or label them a burdon or learn about and from them.
It is the very thing of community that America has lost. We are raised and encouraged to be independent and it is killing our society. Most cultures embrace family and include their community while we put our elders in homes and push our kids out as soon as possible. This is a generalization yes but I have lived in middleclass neighborhoods and learned this. likewise I have lived in poor neighborhoods and witnessed the great sense of community and more of a willingness to help strangers with out suspicion.
In my lifes experiences I have learned that the real valuable things are our experiences and the people we meet. The material things that we are conditioned to strive for i.e. condos are really masters of us.
I do not mean to put anyone down as we are all valuable as long as we are wise enough to learn the value of eachother. And, is one way better then the other? Thats not for me to decide. All I know is personally I have taken the time to learn from many walks of life, whether different classes or cultures, and have put myself in these situations purposely for that reason. And for the most part have survived poverty although not the degree as most have too.
So please don't just read this article, act on it.
"The most precious gift I can give you is to learn from you and share it someone else."
Peace. Brad Warrenburg
Craig Kanalley said:
Wow. I may be able to do 1 or 2 of those things, but definitely no more than that. Scary. That is a great list, thanks for sharing this.
BTW good to see you here Megan, as well as some of the CTDN crowd! Are you still there or no? Check out my blog on here if you get a chance - Breaking Tweets Chicago - and I'll definitely return to yours! Thanks.
Ryan Flynn said:
I sense a new reality show brewing.
Leave a Comment?
What your comment will look like:
said: