Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Thai Society and culture, Living in Thailand.
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parrot
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Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by parrot » December 1, 2017, 6:07 pm

I'm confident that my wife didn't marry me for my money......40++ years ago. We joke today about those early days of being 'poor', a valuable lesson to us in appreciating the value of a few coins rattling in our pocket.
So, last night we were yakking about degrees of poor......I told my wife that, when I was young, I considered our family poor.....6 boys, a factory-working dad and frequent holes in the bottoms of my shoes. I commented that my degree of 'poor' was nowhere close to her degree of 'poor' (father died young, no electricity, no source of income other than what was earned on a small piece of land). She piped up, 'when I was young, I never thought of myself as poor. We always had food to eat.'
So I asked her who she considered to be poor when she was a young village girl. She said there were several kids in her village that relied on the dregs of the monk bowls for their daily sustenance (unlike those who eat the leftovers for blessings' sake). She reminded me that back in those days, monks in her village were lucky to get enough to eat themselves.......so leftovers were not very (if at all) appetizing. But when that's the only food you get, you eat it.
So, now I have a new appreciation for the word 'poor'.



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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by ytrewq » December 1, 2017, 6:22 pm

Poverty is relative.

The best time/place to be poor is amongst other poor people. As your wife correctly stated, one does not "know" one is poor while around other poor people. One could actually be happiest when poor for a laundry list of reasons.

On the flip-side, the worst time/place to be poor is amongst wealthy people. The wealthier they are, the more one "KNOWS" one is poor. Most are most miserable and depressed in this situation.

Just life's observations...

...and someone had a job in your family and parents (plural?). You are disqualified from the poor game on those alone. Compared to my upbringing, for example, you had it GOOD!

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by jai yen yen » December 1, 2017, 11:52 pm

What is the definition of a rich man? I would say it is someone who is happy and content with what they have.

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by Hoopoe » December 2, 2017, 6:28 am

Interesting post this one , Poor by definition for me is the person defining who is poor , ( compared to Who )for me ,one parent family , i left home at 15 , put myself through an Apprentiship first then onto other education ,whilst holding down a full time job ,in the early day's my wage just covered the rent on bed sit i lived in, so food ,clothing ,electric etc , i had to find ,(this was in the Hippyish day's ) I look back and realised i was just surviving basically day to day , BUT this was a fantastic ,happy time of my life , And people used to say i was Poor , my reply was alway's , "According to who " look into the depths of the big city's ,or even the darkest parts of Africa etc there you will find Poor / Poverty but you will always find some content ,Happy people there , So Poor is ACCORDING TO WHO

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by glalt » November 30, 2018, 11:53 am

parrot wrote:
December 1, 2017, 6:07 pm
I'm confident that my wife didn't marry me for my money......40++ years ago. We joke today about those early days of being 'poor', a valuable lesson to us in appreciating the value of a few coins rattling in our pocket.
So, last night we were yakking about degrees of poor......I told my wife that, when I was young, I considered our family poor.....6 boys, a factory-working dad and frequent holes in the bottoms of my shoes. I commented that my degree of 'poor' was nowhere close to her degree of 'poor' (father died young, no electricity, no source of income other than what was earned on a small piece of land). She piped up, 'when I was young, I never thought of myself as poor. We always had food to eat.'
So I asked her who she considered to be poor when she was a young village girl. She said there were several kids in her village that relied on the dregs of the monk bowls for their daily sustenance (unlike those who eat the leftovers for blessings' sake). She reminded me that back in those days, monks in her village were lucky to get enough to eat themselves.......so leftovers were not very (if at all) appetizing. But when that's the only food you get, you eat it.
So, now I have a new appreciation for the word 'poor'.
That's interesting. My first serious girlfriend was from a village near Yasothon. We would go to her parents house once in a while. That was years ago when they still used buffaloes for farming. I was always amazed that they didn't know they were poor until the small village bought a television. Watching soap operas on the community television showed them how some people lived in the big cities. Until then they thought everyone lived the same as they lived. The important thing was that they all had enough rice,eggs, chickens and fish to eat. The nearby river Chi had good fishing.

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by parrot » November 30, 2018, 1:31 pm

Back in NKP daze.....1972.....my wife would drag me to the theater for a 3 hour Thai movie.......torture. Bruce Lee movies, on the other hand, were the best!
One Thai movie.....villager husband and wife trek to Bangkok for one reason or another......never been outside the village before. Time for sleep at the hotel, the wife tells the husband to turn off the light......and the husband stands up on the bed.....and tries to blow out the light.
I didn't have to understand any Thai to laugh at that. That's bahn nawk (บ้านนอก)

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by AlexO » November 30, 2018, 2:57 pm

I was having a wee moan at the missus one day about the amount of food she was contributing to the local Wat's. I said to her why dont you take this to some of the poor, frail ladies I see in the village. She informed me that the Wat is where these frail old ladies are fed and she herself had needed feeding at the Wat's sometimes when she was young (better say younger,she will kill me) Kinda shut me up a bit as never realised they were almost a community soup kitchen as well. Thais can be very poor but I hate the Libtards in the west telling me 25% of Scots kids live in POVERTY

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by dunroaming » November 30, 2018, 3:30 pm

Most of us don't know what real poverty is.

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by Giggle » November 30, 2018, 3:43 pm

When I was young, we were so poor we'd eat cereal with a fork to save milk. We'd go to KFC and lick other people’s fingers.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by dezzer111 » November 30, 2018, 3:51 pm

dunroaming wrote:
November 30, 2018, 3:30 pm
Most of us don't know what real poverty is.
I do fed up eating best steaks drinking best champers cleaning the porches counting what im down to in my last millions paying the maids butlers cooks gardeners it pretty grim reading i think i will stop there im welling up,i like to clean my fleet of porches gives me a sense of satisfaction have a nice day lol
"You'll Never Walk Alone"L.F.C.

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by dunroaming » November 30, 2018, 4:23 pm

Haha was beginning to believe you were serious it wasn't the lol that gave it away it was not being able to spell porsche 5555

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by 747man » November 30, 2018, 5:27 pm

dunroaming wrote:
November 30, 2018, 4:23 pm
Haha was beginning to believe you were serious it wasn't the lol that gave it away it was not being able to spell porsche 5555
What Did you expect ?? Afterall HE Is a Kopite & Of Irish Extraction..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by dunroaming » November 30, 2018, 5:41 pm

So he has the wheels only then

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by Lone Star » November 30, 2018, 5:43 pm

The poorest I ever witnessed were in the Philippines. Squatters everywhere one could imagine. Crime everywhere. Military presence everywhere. Scammers everywhere. "Rugby Boys" around every corner.

My last image is of all the plywood leanto shacks lined up along and well past the airport runway in Manila -- as far as the eye can see.
AMERICA: One of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » November 30, 2018, 7:27 pm

The poorest people I have seen are in Burma. Lone Star's description of the Philippines fits Yangon to a tee. The people seem a bit better off in rural areas but much of urban Yangon looks like a cesspool with makeshift homes nearby.
You only pass through this life once, you don't come back for an encore.

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by 747man » November 30, 2018, 8:48 pm

dunroaming wrote:
November 30, 2018, 5:41 pm
So he has the wheels only then
NO, Only the Hubcaps I'm Afraid......( It's An Old One I Know !! )

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by dunroaming » November 30, 2018, 9:52 pm

Was in South Africa during the white rule days was in Angola during the civil war was in Nigeria all had areas you just don't want to think about even past couple of years in China mountains was also very poor, but one thing that struck out was they were happy people!

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by dezzer111 » December 1, 2018, 4:15 pm

747man wrote:
November 30, 2018, 8:48 pm
dunroaming wrote:
November 30, 2018, 5:41 pm
So he has the wheels only then
NO, Only the Hubcaps I'm Afraid......( It's An Old One I Know !! )
Watts rong with me spelin
"You'll Never Walk Alone"L.F.C.

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Re: Poor, Poorer and Poorer Still

Post by dunroaming » December 1, 2018, 4:34 pm

nuffin mait

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