It hurts to be poor.

"Ang hirap maging mahirap."

The direct translation of this in English is "It's difficult to be poor.", or to make it sound more poetic, "It hurts to be poor." as shown in my title.

Do you agree? I think it's agreeable, especially when you experience it in your face. Now, I am kind of experiencing it, without the intent of experiencing it.

It's just funny because in the last article that I've written, I talked about people saying that money can't buy happiness... but it actually can, in a way, by coming to Japan...

But what if the situation is not driven by trying to be happy but merely trying to get by to survive the day. Plain and simple. How can you survive without money to help you get through the day? If you're the breadwinner, or the head of the household, whether you be a parent, the eldest child, or just part of a big family facing financial difficulties, what can you do to get by? What can you do to save yourself so you can save a sinking ship where your whole family's in?

Yes, sure, you may say, there are more poor people out there - the victims of natural calamities who literally have nothing left, the homeless, the victims of famine, etc. Of course, I do not disregard their situation... what I'm telling you is, that I sympathize, no actually, I emphatize with them.

It's just sad that some people judge poor people and blame them for being poor. Here are some examples of the bad stuff being told about poor people:

1. Poor people are lazy. This is not actually entirely true. Though I have to agree that some are indeed lazy, many poor people are the very ones who work hard, night and day. They are the ones who do jobs that are physically dangerous, some jobs which require heavy and dangerous machinery. They are the ones who toil the land and grow the crops on the field, but due to natural calamities such as typhoons, drought, and infestations, end up not reaping what they sow. They are the ones who go to work every day with an empty stomach. So you have to think twice before you say that they are lazy.

2. Poor people choose to be poor. Who wants to be poor? Who wants not to give his/her family their needs, and sustenance? If all people were given the same opportunities, do you think there will be poor people? Maybe only by choice. We can't completely say that they choose to be poor, because there are the ones who have big goals for their families, to get them out of poverty, yet, continue to struggle. Me, for instance, I graduated with my bachelor's and my master's even, but I can't tell that I've gotten my family out of poverty. I don't have my own family yet, but still, the salary that I am receiving monthly is only enough for myself, not to build my own family, most especially if my own family is struggling.

3. Poor people don't do anything about it. As I've mentioned before when they are given the opportunity, will they not grab this? I am not justifying why poor people do miserable things like stealing. I'm not saying that those things are okay. I'll be clear, it's bad and unacceptable, I know, but come to think of it, what drives them to do that? Will they steal something if they have money to buy their food? Most often than not, the poor people are the ones who were not given a chance to go to school, again, let's go back to the thought that not everyone has the same opportunities.

4. Poor people don't save that's why they're poor. Can you tell that to a minimum wage earner who has to feed his children every day, but the amount of his/her salary is not enough for the day. Some may argue, why are poor people having more children, more than what they can support? I know that's unacceptable, but let's get back to one of the reasons why this happens - lack of education due to lack of opportunity. If they're properly educated, they can at least be more mindful of their decisions in life. Let me give another example, a breadwinner of the family is working long hours, doing overtime jobs, and even part-time jobs here and there, but is not able to keep some for savings, emergency funds, life insurance, travel fund, etc. He is still poor, because everything that he earns are for his family's day-to-day expenses.

Right now, I am in Japan, yet I still feel like I'm poor. I chose to be here, to get ta chance to look for a job that might help me and my family get over poverty. However, during the second quarter of 2022, mishaps happen. I thought we are slowly beginning to move above the poverty level, but, I was wrong. I feel like I fell into an abyss without end... I can rant, I can blame people but also, I can be calm and look for an alternative. I have to remain strong because even if I'm poor, I am a fighter. I will fight and I will conquer, hopefully, in the soonest possible time.