Lifting Small Boats: Being Mentally Wealthy
During a social studies class at my parochial elementary school, I first learned the history of Head Start. According to benefits.gov, “Head Start is a Federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from birth to age five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development." Wow, it hit me; since I went to Head Start, our family must be poor. I never felt poor. My sisters and I had pretty dresses, black patten leather shoes, and fancy hats to wear to church on Sunday. Never was I hungry, although the food did quickly disappear from the refrigerator since we were a family of seven. My family was part of a family business which meant I started working as soon as I could walk. I started getting paid ten cents an hour when I was three years old. It doesn't sound like much, but it adds up when you don't have any expenses. I learned to count coins since we practiced math with a cash register drawer in first grade. My parents taught us about tithing demonstrated by their weekly checks to the church. So what does being poor mean?
Consistently, the Census Bureau reports that more than 30 million Americans are considered poor. According to the government’s data, “the average American family or single person, identified as poor by the Census Bureau, lives in an air-conditioned, centrally heated house or apartment that is in good repair and not overcrowded. They have a car or truck. The home has at least one widescreen TV connected to cable, satellite, or a streaming service, a computer or tablet with internet connection, and a smartphone. By their own report, the average poor family had enough food to eat throughout the prior year. No family member went hungry for even a single day due to a lack of money for food.” This scenario sure doesn't sound like what the media portrays and crime-ridden, drug-infested, homeless camps. Although homelessness is genuinely a problem from my research, it just isn’t the norm for those classified as poor. The government definition of poverty is if “money income” lies below a certain threshold, not homelessness.
With that definition, maybe my family was poor. We didn't have air-conditioning, widescreen TV, or Smartphones, but that was because of the era, not from the level of wealth. Our family also had the support of grandparents and relatives. My aunt would always offer us a fifty-cent piece when we would visit, or food from the family store—the family business allowed for the pretty dresses, shoes, and hats. My grandparents also drilled the idea that if you went to college, you would be successful; otherwise, you would be on the streets as a homeless bum—pretty strong words from grandparents who only had a high school education. But even though we were poor, mentally, we thought of ourselves as wealthy. We went to private schools and graduated from college. It wasn't a poor mentality, but one with the mantra, "The World is Yours."
My grandparents came from Poland, which was not a land of opportunity back then. They came to America because they knew it could be a better life for themselves and their families, and it was. They started a family business where even through the Great Depression, they were able to feed their family. They struggled to succeed, but their Pursuit of Happiness, much like the movie, didn’t have a poverty mindset.
While living in a free country pursuing their dreams, they also felt obligated to Lift Small Boats back in Poland. The concept is that if you help those struggling financially, everyone benefits. My family would sew U.S. dollars into the hems of clothing and send it to relatives in Communist Block Poland. U.S. cash at the time could get you goods that weren't available with Polish currency. They also assisted other family members in relocating to America to pursue their ambitions. As a close neighbor, now the Ukrainians need our help to fight back against the same powerful country, Russia.
Through my childhood and into adulthood, the lessons my parents taught me I would like to teach my grandkids. Work hard, have a growth mindset, and believe in yourself. But more than anything, believe the "World Is Yours" and "Lift Small Boats Along the Way."
