Comments | dreamsreflected: LJI Friends and Rivals Episode 4: The Death of the Penny

dreamsreflected

LJI Friends and Rivals Episode 4: The Death of the Penny

Jan 08, 2016 14:13

The penny died off up here some years back, the Canadian mint declared it cost more to make a penny than one was worth. I'm not sure what the exact logic was when they went from $1 bills to coins as that was before my awareness of money, and when the $2's became coins, well that was just a giant joke all around, but that's what we tend to be with ( Read more... )

poverty, personal history, painted pennies, ljidol

Comments 17

halfshellvenus January 9 2016, 22:42:09 UTC

I so wish everyone who rails against public assistance could read this. When you are stuck and there is no one to helpy you-- and the person who should simply won't, you are caught in a seemingly endless juggling act of what to pay when, not being able to make better long-term choices (because they require short-term funds you don't have), and yes... being grateful that there is a food bank and other assistance.

You kept your daughters safe and fed, and you made it through. Not everyone does.

m_malcontent January 10 2016, 22:55:18 UTC

Perfectly stated.

rayaso January 9 2016, 23:03:27 UTC

I agree with halfshellvenus. People who oppose public assistance should first live the life. I'm sure there are abusers of the system, but the good so far outweighs the bad!

dmousey January 10 2016, 20:43:51 UTC

Single mothers learn so many tricks to survive "Robbing Peter to pay Paul." becomes a necessary skill, along with using coupons, and finding day old bread stores. What gets me is when people tell you how resilient it makes you, I always want to (punch)ask them if they'd like to try it! I was lucky, I had a stable job and a craft, but we are always one paycheck away from losing everything.

Social assistance and raising the minimum wage woud help so many.

Thanks for writing! Peace~~~D

poppetawoppet January 9 2016, 23:21:35 UTC

I've never been quite this poor but oh I felt like I was on that bus with you

dee_aar2 January 10 2016, 17:56:35 UTC

I haven't been at the other end of the spectrum , but I could almost feel what you went through there ... Powerful narrative. I am so happy that you and your family made through that phase. And yes ... change is always good. :)

muchtooarrogant January 10 2016, 19:00:11 UTC

Yes, this was something that occurred to me as well while listening to people complain about the "useless penny." I can still remember times as a student in college where I needed those extra pennies for bus fare or a taco over lunch, and had they not been there ...

This was a great piece, very raw and full of real life experience.

Dan