I used to laugh at the losers hovering outside the dollar store begging for change. “Get a job,” I muttered and never saw the person.
I used to complain when the shopping cart bridgade made early morning raids on the recyle bins—rummaging for dented cans and plastic bottles.
I used to think it could never happen to me – I was too smart, too talented and too connected.
I used to blow money on things I didn’t need or even want. But because I could – I deserved them – I could always get more money next week…
I used to throw away food because it didn’t look good, wasn’t the right color or cooked the way I liked it.
I used to go out with friends for drinks, cover charges and food we didn’t eat so some guy might ask for my phone number.
I used to be rude because I didn’t need help – I could take care of myself and I wasn’t a slacker or a moocher.
And then
it all fell to shit
I had nothing and no one
Pride stopped deciding
what work I would do
what food I would eat
who mattered…
It was the worst thing that ever happened to me and and yet somehow the best.
copyright 2010
Christine is kicking her can
Clancy’s can is rolling…
Anita Rodgers Mystery Writer 
Pride stopped deciding. I love that. The lyric of the line and the idea of it. You paint such a clear picture, we see the after in the before.
Hey Clancy,
It’s funny, I had three different pieces written for this prompt – but this one stuck for some reason.
Annie
LikeLike
By the grace of God- we just never know. So many people forget.
What I like best about this piece is how the speaker considers the worst time the best time. There was a time, growing up, when things became very tight for my mother, sisters and I. We had to make due with what we could afford- which wasn’t much. And we worked hard to make very little into enough. Though it was difficult- most of us being teenagers, a time of materialistic fever- it is a time I recall my family being at its closest and most powerful.
And the creativity! Necessity is the mother of invention, right?
Very good work, Chica.
Hey Chica,
Yes, but for the grace of God. I remember times when I was a kid when things were tight too. Funny, but I don’t think I really realized it at the time – not til years later. My mother was a genius at making very little seem like a lot.
Annie
LikeLike
Hi Annieo,
I’m with c here and this piece touched me greatly as I watched the roller coaster coastering along with in you and might I say you rode it beautifully.
One in a million, me thinks.
Love Di x
Hey di-di,
I guess it was/is a roller coaster. I think we get so caught up in our own lives that we rarely look around anymore. And therein may lie the problem, eh?
Love and miss you,
Annie
LikeLike