Soda for Food Stamps

One of my mother's friends was a single mom - divorced from an abusive husband. She and her daughter, who was my age and a class mate in middle school, lived in the trailer park a mile up the road from us. The trailer was missing all the interior doors so they had hung sheets up for privacy. I was scared to go in it. She had a car, but it was ancient and frequently broke down and she'd have my mother come pick her up to go to work on those days.

Oh, she was the very definition of working poor, all right. I don't think they had any television, not even a black and white one.

And yeah, they also volunteered at the food bank, now that I think about it, in addition to being on food stamps. What little cash the mother had at the end of the month went to things to help the daughter do better in life - she was in my Girl Scout troop and our school's drama club.