Poverty Scars

I realized some time ago that people get themselves into all sorts of danger in the name of saving themselves a buck, or because they don't have the buck to do it any other way.  I think of the number of times I worked on my own car, and the scars on my hands that are there to forever remind me I didn't have quite the right tool, or I really needed to use a lift, or just because something was old and rusty and wouldn't budge and had to give it everything I had.  One false slip and you smash your hand or skin a knuckle or something far worse happens.  Maybe the jack collapses and you're crushed or maybe it just fucks your knee up for life.  All because you needed to fix your junk car that one time.

Of course it doesn't have to be cars.  It can be any of a thousand other things gone wrong while working on something you couldn't afford to replace or have someone else fix for you.

And every time I'm in a situation like this I think "these are poor people problems."  Wealthy folks must, on average, live longer, healthier lives just based on the fact that they don't put themselves in these types of situations.

Then I realized there are rich people problems, too.  They may not crash a car, but they crash a plane.  They die trying to outrun paparazzi.  They get kidnapped and brainwashed.  They eat the expensive sushi that was cut the wrong way.  They get in ski accidents.

That's what I tell myself anyway.