Poor Often Make Common Yet Inappropriate Choices

Wed., May 27, 1998

Scott Cooper Special To Opinion

Women and children first. It takes a village to raise a child. How about cars and TV before food on the table?

Our priorities say a lot about us, don’t they? At the St. Vincent de Paul Social Services Office where I work as director, we try to address the emergency needs of over 1,200 low-income households in the Spokane area each and every month.

First of all, let’s dispense with the euphemism “low-income.” Many of our clients are far too poor to be thought of as having incomes that are merely low. Labeling people “low-income” allows us to think of them as just having less, rather than facing the more brutal reality of the choices the poor often must make between, say, the rent and groceries.

“Poor” is a much more emotionally charged word than “low-income,” and I think it more accurately describes their wrenching situations.

But I am not a universal apologist for the poor. All too often, I see clients whose situations are the result of an inability to make good choices, to prioritize.

As an example, we require current proof of address for many of our services. It is always surprising and a little awkward when clients bring a cable TV bill as proof. Sometimes there’s a desire to confront them about that, to remind them that for some people this is a luxury.

The same is true when they pull up in a car newer or more expensive than any of ours. They may have chosen these items over the ability to put food on the table, perhaps because they know they can get food help from us.

This is not to judge. I have not walked a mile in their shoes. But for many people there’s not a lot of cheap entertainment. I believe that the priorities they follow are simply those set by the society around them. Who can blame them for mirroring the behavior of the rest of us?

If they are at our food bank, we usually give them the benefit of the doubt that they are actually hungry. And if we had a public transportation system that made it easy and practical for families with children to get around, I would be less understanding of the all-American three-cars-in-every-garage culture that leads everyone to the expense of wanting/needing a car.

But I can not help my curiosity at the larger choices we are all making: cars and TV before food on the table.

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