Growing Up Poor

As my friend and I were leaving work, we walked together with another co-worker. We teased him about eating an apple on the way to get our rides home, 'only getting your lunch now?' we had asked. Our friend Sean told us that he found he had left this apple in his desk drawer and that if he didn't eat it today, it would not be edible for much longer.

You see, he explained, he had grown up poor, and even though he had a good job in another department where we worked, the habits he learned when poor were still with him. Nothing was wasted or thrown out. He bragged he still had a few shirts from 20 years ago that were in good condition, and just could not force himself to throw them out.

My friend and I agreed with him, neither of us had grown up in abundance either, but at least the consensus was that if he did part with them, they had to be given to someone else who could use them. We recycle, we reuse is nothing new, it's just the really correct thing to do now.

Sean thought he needed to change some of his longstanding habits, but we thought maybe he should teach some of those habits to others so they too could stay a little farther out of debt.