Checks Cashed, Liquor, Beer, Wine, Lottery Tickets Sold Here!

Ah, another payday rolls around, but I have thus far held out admirably on my weekly shopping. I've only gone to the store up the block that's having a clearance sale, 50-75% off, and got 1 kind of sparkly, moss green blouse for going out, 1 purple and black tweed skirt, and 1 black and purple larger print wool blazer for $60! I rock at bargain shopping. Still giving serious thought to that rock bottom shopping blog . . . But anyway, thoughts of payday bring on another kind of thought for me.

All over this fine city in the, shall we say, less than middle class neighborhoods you will see storefronts with signs in neon in the front windows proclaiming to all and sundry: Checks Cashed! Liquor, Beer, Wine! Lottery Tickets Sold Here! Now, does this bother anyone else like it bothers me? Here's how it works: The people get their government/state/social security/welfare check. Okay, a few of them get a real paycheck if they are lucky enough, or not too fucking lazy, to have a real job. But they've been brought up in a culture that doesn't trust banks. See, the banks represent The Man. You can't give The Man your money, knowwhatImean? So they take their checks to these places to cash them instead of depositing them into a bank account like most people we know. Of course, everyone gets their checks at the same time, and they're all from around the 'hood, so they get to talking. And since they're all hanging out talking, why not just have a drink? So they buy some Liquor, Beer, Wine! And they hang out and drink. And drink some more. And then they think, Hey, I'm gonna get me some Lottery Tickets. And they spend more money from their check, which wasn't large to begin with. And guess what? Surprise, they don't win! So they buy some more Lottery Tickets. And they lose again. So they say, Fuck this! and buy some more liquor. And by the time they make it home, they might have a little money left for food, but where's the rent supposed to come from? Oh, yeah, they drank it and played the lottery. So they end up evicted and on the streets.

And we wonder why some segments of society just can't seem to get out of poverty? Why it's such a vicious cycle? Well, I see it all the time, played out right in front of me, a miniature, concentrated version of the socioeconomics of urban poverty in our city. It sucks.

These places should not be allowed to have all of these functions in one place. It's like they are dooming an entire segment of the population to generation after generation of poverty.

So to make myself feel better, I think after I pay our bills and rent, I'm going to get a new laptop. Because I can. Because I get direct deposit. Because it's better than spending it on Liquor, Beer, Wine! and Lottery Tickets Sold Here! And because I know that nothing but an accident of birth kept me from such a fate.