Email: Well done

If you really are 13, then you have got to be one of the most perceptive and intelligent 13-year-olds in the country. You hit the nail on the head. I'm the father of a 2 year old little girl. I am the main provider in our home and I would do what it took to make sure I was able to support her. If I lost my job for any reason, I'd be flipping burgers and cleaning out deep friers if I had to to take care of her, not let every tax payer in the country provide for her. That aside, I find myself classified as "below the poverty level". All my utilities are on, I have a smart phone, an Ipod, a PS3, an XBOX 360, the internet, an HD tv and a DVR recorder. My cupboards are never bare, and my family never wants for anything that they actually need. All of this, and I'm nothing more than a sales manager at a retail chain. I'm not sure how this all classifies me as below the poverty level, but I sure don't feel poor and I definitely have no complaints. If a time comes when I make less money for any reasons, I'm going to have to give up some or all of those things to get by because they are luxuries. People don't realize how good we have it in this country. If by their definition I am poor, then they need to take a much closer look at the rest of the world and understand that they have no clue what poor really is. I see 'Help Wanted' signs all over my town, but for some reason a great number of people still pay at my store with unemployment debit cards. The solution here is clear to me, but somewhere along the way a good portion of Americans have forgotten what it's like to work hard to earn the things they want, let alone the things they actually need.