⌛ the new america

This is part of oprah show (02/25/09) that i just copy and paste

Inside a Tent City
[B]Tammy is a 47-year-old who says she has been living with her husband in this tent city for a little less than a year. "My husband's job fell through," she says. "He was a tile setter ... [but people] weren't buying houses anymore, and there was no need for tile setting. We lost our car and our home, our apartment. We lost everything we had."

Though Tammy and her husband are both actively looking for work, they say it feels impossible in this economy. "That's where we're going this morning," she says. "To get cleaned up and go out and try to make our best appearance."

The hardest part about living in a tent city is losing the everyday amenities most people take for granted, Tammy says. "Taking a shower when I want, walking into my bathroom, turning the light on. Fixing my hair and doing my makeup," she says. "I miss looking like a girl."[/[/B]B]

 

At least Tammy's got a tent :( .....

I don't think ten's of millions of Pinoys living under cardboard boxes & eating out of garbage bins are going to have much sympathy towards her dilemma

 

what? they live like that in philippines and still watch Oprah? i doubt many have seen the program, let alone be happy with you, telling all "how they feel" on the subject!!!

get real..... living in those conditions all your life is NOT the same as having a good lifestyle then going down to that.

if you can't sympathise with both situations, ur not human?!!!!!

some people just seem to talk b4 engaging brain...... i also do, but writting normally gives me the pause to think b4 i spout hateful stuff.

as for "ten's of millions" that'd suggest 1 in 10 live under cardboard? i'd argue that...bamboo maybe, i've stayed in a native house and to be honest, it was comfortable, with many resources around that you can use to make life a tad more comfortable, i doubt the same is possible in down town New York or Detroit!!!!

 

In Hawaii, on Oahu - from Nanakuli up way past Makaha - west coast of the island - there would be many hundreds, if not thousands, living in tents along the beaches. Most local people, some islanders from the rest of the pacific, that can't afford the rent anymore. Pretty dismal for the island paradise.

But if you really want to see something nauseating:

Foreclosure Alley - SoCal Connected

 

You are right about that, its not too comfortabe sleeping on a paved over lot or under a concrete bridge. If your lucky enough to get in a shelter you will be sharing the space with sometimes hundreds of others. I have always said I could live comfortably in a tent and I would be enjoying it. I would pity americans in that situation because I know the majority of them would not be prepared for such a life.

 

arf arf...

Coyote, you need to calm down here. There's nothing unsympathetic nor hateful in my statement---please read it again. I simply made a couple of comments & not everyone has to agree with me. So far, the only hate in this thread I'm sensing is coming from you...towards me on some statement I made that you've taken completely out of context. However, for someone that lives in the Philippines you are actually quite ignorant about poverty level within your surrogate country. Do you know what the total population is in the Philippines? Do you know what percentage of that population is living in extreme poverty? I'm talking about people making less than 1 dollars a day. Once you gather the facts, you can do the math & figure out how I came about "ten's of millions". Next time I recommend that you do a bit of research before you shoot off on a fellow member. BTW, even those living in extreme poverty have access to TV from time to time.

 

The good note in that is in the PI most are willing to share what they have with others. Try watching the TV of your neighbor through an open window in the states and see where that gets you.

 

A shotgun barrel staring down on your face?:D

 

On the subject....

23 million Filipinos living below Asia-Pacific poverty line - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

 

i really can't see how i took you wrong, if i did i appologise, as for looking for the facts about actual population of the PI, it is documented at around 90million! and any other figure i'd guess is specualitive as even the government don't know.


As for poverty being if sum1 earns less than $1us a day, i'm not so sure that's true either, as people who sell tuba get more than that, i have never even commented on poverty here, that was your comment, i actually notice it, how many others just walk past it, like it's something not to step in?

i'm sure the tribes people are fairly happy, the ones that move away in the hope that greater things await them in the cities are possibly the worst off.

i could quote figures as there readily available via the internet on unemployment also, but thats just statistics.

My whole point here isn't the fact that this country has poverty, it's the quip about the poor sods who have to live in tents now,the differential of their standard of living is far greater then most peoples and i for one wouldn't joke about it, as everyone, no matter how rich they are, is only one disaster away from homelessness, this shouldn't be joked about by anyone and is basically the fault of people that have massive payouts by there companies for doing the worlds worst job, (performance wise) and were all suffering as a result of it.

As for me not understanding the filipinos, i don't agree, most i know are decent people and defo would have sympathy for someone in trouble, no matter what there previous situation was like!