“Why don’t they just get a job?” “That’s her fault for having so many kids.” “Why don’t they eat healthier?” “I don’t give poor people money because they only use it to buy alcohol and drugs.”

These words sound familiar don’t they? Too many times I’ve heard these words come out of people who criticize the poor and homeless. Linda Tirado eloquently explains in her article the very question as to why poor people make the “bad” decisions that they do.

Tirado was pregnant herself when she was homeless. However, she points out that poor people don’t always have the choice to go to Planned Parenthood for birth control, condoms, an abortion, etc. Planned Parenthoods can often be miles away, and that’s a lot of gas money. Not only that, but in many areas simply walking into a Planned Parenthood is looked down upon. Tirado states, “Nobody likes poor people procreating, but they judge abortion even harder.” As a poor person you must make the choices that are best for the present time.

Tirado goes on to say that the food choices are limited for poor people. The reason they don’t make healthier choices is because they don’t have the luxury of buying vegetables and fruit. To buy groceries and cook meals you must have a kitchen, pots and pans, cooking utensils, etc. If you are homeless you have no access to this, therefore as Tirado puts it, “It makes more sense to get food that you know will be palatable and cheap and that keeps well.”

It’s important to have perspective. It’s easy to judge quickly when you have it all, but there are reasons worth knowing as to why poor people make “poor” choices. This article illuminates the struggles of the day to day life of homeless people.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html