chunesWhat normally pleasant thing has poverty ruined for you?
For me it’s the sound of rain on a rooftop. First thing is internal panic as I wonder if all the buckets are in place, and dreading the prospect of discovering a new leak. Then wondering how long before the roof collapses. Worrying about how I could possibly cough up the money for a new roof, and worrying about being forced to suddenly move out into a bad situation… again.
I wasn’t even consciously aware I felt this exact way until I ready this comment, living in a shitbox where it rains 160 days of the year will do a number on you
Fyi, that’s not necessarily a money thing. I’ve liven in a relatively well off family, went to an apartment in the good/expensive neighbourhood of town. House was old tho, and we has to suffer through reparations. Issues with the reparations, resulting in repeated amount of leaks.
Now I live on the second floor of 4 and the sound of rain and drops of water on the handrail and window borders that are transmitted via walls when I’m on the bed make me go panic mode. I know I’m fine, I know that it’s outside, but fuck. I hate this.
Traveling to cities.
These days I can’t think of a time I haven’t gone into a city and seen people begging at intersections, signs with sad stories, etc. Really wish there was more I could do to help them get back on their feet but also have to be weary of the fact that some of them are just posing and scamming.
And lots/most of them aren’t.
but also have to be weary of the fact that some of them are just posing and scamming.
The amount of people doing this is infinitesimal compared to the actual homeless population. This is basically a right-wing talking point to undercut empathy with people who are experiencing homelessness.
Also you should never feel bad for not giving a panhandler money, but if you feel called to do more, just find an organization to volunteer with. There are people facing homelessness right now or in the near future in every urban and rural area in the US
panhandlers may not even be actually poor themselves, and some actually refuse to work or get help(the worst ones are probably upper middle class with no job), that delegitimizes the actual downtrodden people.
I’m not sure why you’re downvoted.
I live in a country where I make roughly 85€ per day. My job is close to a mall in a touristy area and there is this woman, clearly foreign-looking, begging with a little board claiming she has 4 kids and needs to feed them.
Thousands of people walk into and out of that mall every day, and I’ve seen that woman get money from begging several times, 5€ bills and shit.
Months later she’s still there. Makes me wonder, with that amount of money people are handing out, she’s probably making more money than me in a day just from sitting on her ass.
TonavaIt depends a lot where you are, really. I’m from Finland and if someone is begging in the street corner, they’re always non-natives, usually from Romania, and they’ve been brought here by criminal gangs to collect as much money as possible. Even with the worsening flaws in our system (thanks to right wing extremists), begging is still something you don’t do to get by, so this is easy to spot. Giving them money just makes the criminals use more people
ProdigalFrogJust to offer my own anecdotal experience, in all the homeless people I’ve given care packages to (info on how to make your own here), I’m fairly positive none of them were faking it, since it’s pretty difficult to fake sun burns, sun tanned leather-like skin, missing teeth, etc.
I’ve only had one person turn down a care package (which have no promise of money in them), and that’s only because he already had enough supplies at the moment and couldn’t carry more (he also wasn’t asking for anything or holding a sign, I just offered).
The rest were very clearly extremely grateful just to receive shelf stable food, water/flavored drinks and some toiletries.
All that to say, most are not faking it (especially with how many people are losing access to housing due to how insanely expensive it is now, plus all other cost of living), and it is very much worth assuming the best instead.
SLRPNK Community Discussion - August 2025 - SLRPNK
Each month, we create a post to keep you abreast of news and happenings regarding the server, discuss recent events, and to act as town square for the community. This August, we’ll be keeping it short, as you are probably enjoying the summer time ☀️ --------- #### 🌟 Community Highlights 🌟 - [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] [/c/[email protected]] - A community to discuss ancient archaeology, history, philosophy, etc. - [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] [/c/[email protected]] - One person’s trash is another’s treasure! A community around the topic of rescuing things thrown away. - [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] [/c/[email protected]] - Letting go of the ideas of conventional schooling and instead letting the child lead by following their own interests. - [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] [/c/[email protected]] - Community for the appreciation of the small web / the indie web / or even the non-www internet (gemini, gopher, etc). #### 🔌 Technical updates from the servers 🪫 As promised in the last monthly update, we started to look into ways how to improve the resilience of our servers against DNS issues and other unexpected problems. For now we got a nice RasberryPi based hardware KVM that allows to remote control and restart a server even when completely stuck in a failed state and will attach it to our new main router and firewall server once we have finished migrating all the services over. We also found a less buggy option to automatically update the DNS entries should a similar problem occur as earlier last month, but we still need to test and deploy it. As for future upgrades: the new router will allow 10gbit connectivity and native IPv6 support in the future, should we decide to upgrade our main connection. #### 🥄 Piefed migration status update 🥧 We are still committed to eventually migrate our Lemmy instance to Piefed, but so far there has been little change in the main blocking issues [https://codeberg.org/rimu/pyfedi/issues/713] identified last month. However, the very nice Photon frontend [https://photon.slrpnk.net/] got experimental support for Piefed, so people using our local copy of it will feel right at home even on Piefed. There are also a few other frontends and apps [https://join.piefed.social/docs/piefed-mobile/] experimenting with Piefed API support, but the API is still under construction and far from complete. #### 🎒 Aiding those in need with Direct Action 🫂 Housing costs skyrocketing across the globe due to an epidemic of mega-corporation landlords has left hundreds of thousands of individuals and families without access to housing, who are ultimately left to twist in the wind as the corporate landlords march ever onward with price fixing and gentrification, all for the profit of the dear shareholder. While government programs and non-profits can offer some help, punks like us rendering aid with direct action is still incredibly beneficial to those in need. Here are some ways you can help: Most cities often have a group that renders mutual aid directly to those most in need, and they would love your help. Food Not Bombs is the most well known, and they have an index you can search [https://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/volunteer.php] to find one local to your area. If you don’t have one in your area, perhaps due to being in a more rural area, you and some friends could start your own Food Not Bombs chapter instead! Alternatively, even if you’re not religious, a local church may be a good place to render aid with an existing group. For people in need while on your way to work or the grocery store, assembling Care Packages can allow you to immediately render useful aid. The contents of a care package will be determined by your area and the needs of the people you’re looking to give them to. Chatting with a person in need and asking them what would be most helpful to them is one of the best ways to narrow down the essentials, and avoid things that won’t actually be of much use. But there are generally a few universal things that will always be appreciated. ::: spoiler 🔻 General Care Package Contents 🔻 1. Socks! - This is often the most requested aid, as they prevent blisters, and wear quickly due to constant use and frequent walking. Used socks are fine as long as they’re washed and clean. For colder or wet climates, wool socks are vastly preferred, as they have anti-bacterial properties, and still provides warmth even when wet. 2. Hygiene supplies - Things like a bar of soap (with sealable bag to store it when wet), deodorant, babywipes, a washcloth, toothbrush and paste, rinseless body wipes, comb. 3. Menstrual hygiene supplies. 4. Over-the-counter Medical supplies - Painkillers, bandages, antibiotic ointment, rubbing alcohol. 5. Calorie-dense non-perishable food - This often takes the form of canned foods (ensure they have a pull tab!), protein bars, or dehydrated fruits. Try to avoid hard or crunchy food, as it’s possible the person you’re trying to help may have active dental issues that may not allow them to chew those types of foods. Softer foods are preferred. 6. Electrolyte drinks or drink packets - Especially needed in hotter climates where electrolyes will be constantly lost through sweat, and can be life threatening if not replaced. Ones with sugar tend to have more calories, but may not be usable by those with diabetes, so it may be a good idea to have some with alternative sweeteners as well. 7. Money - Cash can drastically increase the quality of life of someone without access to an income, and allow them to obtain the things they need most when they need it. Any amount you can afford is useful. 8. Backpacks - If they don’t already have one, a backpack is generally much appreciated to help carry around the supplies in your care package. You can often find them used at thrift stores. 9. Petfood - Catfood is preferable to dogfood, as catfood can be eaten by either dogs or cats, while the same can sometimes not be true for dogfood. People with a pet companion will be quite grateful. 10. Resealable Waterproof bag - Something like a large ziplock so that they have a waterproof place to protect their supplies. If you keep water in your car trunk, try for canned water in metal containers to avoid giving people water that has toxic plastics leeched into it from the heat. Also, If you have the means, buying these things in bulk can help reduce the cost. Lastly, if you have access to a printer, include a page of resources such as a list of local mutual aid groups where they can obtain more help in the future, along with their address and times that they operate. On the opposite side, a map of your area and any local public transit routes and timetables would also likely be useful. ::: #### 💬 Open Discussion 💬 Now it’s your turn to share whatever you’d like down below; your thoughts, ideas, concerns, hopes, or anything related to the server. If you have a new community you’d like to shine a spotlight, shine away! If you’re a new user wanting to say hi, feel free to post an introduction :) -------- SLRPNK Community Resources: Community Wiki [https://wiki.slrpnk.net/] - Moderators, you can create your own Wiki here for your communities! Movim Chat [https://movim.slrpnk.net/] - Open to all members (use your SLRPNK login credentials) Etherpad [https://pads.slrpnk.net/] - Collaborative document editor
ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠Eating.
I’ve always liked to eat. And I haven’t been impoverished for years now. But even though I was only homeless and impoverished for a little over a year, it destroyed my relationship with food.
If I have food in front of me, I have to eat it. My brain is convinced I might not have anything else to eat for an unknown amount of time and so I need to eat as much as I can while it’s available.
I can recognize that this is not true, and actively stop myself. But it’s an active intervention every time, and it’s exhausting.
I grew up the exact way you’re describing. It’s a struggle I’m working on right now. Best of luck to
Same. I grew up poor so when we had food, we ate. Now I have a good job, decent income, and I over eat all the time. Currently doing low carb (again) to lose the weight I’ve put on. I’ve had eating disorders my entire 49 years, or at least as far back as I can remember.
RebekahWSDMy grandmother grew up during the great depression. We’re not the worst off, yet, my twin works at a grocery so we get a discount. But that shit was passed down to me. I can’t not finish food. Especially if it tastes good, my brain is just EAT NOW EAT BEFORE GONE and man. Fucks a body up.
Leaving the house.
I used to take my family out to do things like go to the zoo or the movies and get some dinner while we’re out, but with the prices how they are, we can only afford to go out for dinner once or twice a month, let alone tickets for anything.
Same, never want to do things with my parents in case they freak out at how much it costs, barely want to go on big trips myself in case i never financially recover 😁
This hits. I used to love hiking. I used to hike all the time. It’s free. But I have to drive there. That takes fuel. And the more I drive my car, the more likely it is that something on it will break. I can’t afford a repair bill right now, and I can’t afford to be without a car. I have a one hour commute to work with no public transportation available, and I have zero friends or family to help me, so if I’m without a car, I can’t get to work, now I lose my job, I can’t pay rent and lose my home, and I’m homeless.
All I want to do is go back to hiking to relieve some of the anxiety of life, but just thinking about it sends me into a doom spiral of “what if something happens and you ruin your life because you wanted to go walk in the woods”.
HuudaHarkitenwe can only afford to go out for dinner once or twice a month
Only twice a month! When I was growing up, my family went out for dinner maybe twice in 20 years haha. Though that’s a bit of a culture difference, I’ve noticed that in America its very normal to out to dinner. Over here it’s more of a special occasion thing, someone turned 50 years old or retired etc.
I specifically remember those two times. I was maybe 6 years of age and I was so confused and unsure about everything. I was just thinking, why are we going out, I don’t know the food there, I don’t know what everything tastes like, I don’t know if I’ll like things. I don’t remember what I ordered but I do remember feeling awkward for telling the waiter what I wanted and then she asked me questions of how I would like the food to be! I didn’t know lol. It was a horrible experience.
The next time we went out to eat, I was maybe 14 or 15. That was more relaxed from my part, I just ordered a stake, I had watched enough Gordon Ramsay to know not to order it well done. So everything went fine on that occasion.
But to be honest, I don’t wish we went out more. I feel like going out is just a unnecessary hassle. I mean.. theres other people there, yuck.
What I do remember fondly is the times we went to my grandma’s place for Sunday dinner. Nothing fancy, just some potatoes, some sort of gravy, whatever. The food was not important. The important bit was to see my cousin, going out to the woods/playground while the adults had prepared the dinner. I remember how our family was in charge of bringing the potatoes, or maybe it was our turn to bring the salad stuff and whatnot.
Anyway, this turned into a ramble. I’ll stop here before it gets even more incoherent.
Omg, do you remember as a kid thinking “When I’m an adult I’ll have the money to get really into lego - i’ll have a seperste room for it and displays and storsge systems, and I’ll be able to buy all the sets i need”
Well, i’m waiting on being able to afford my own place. I’ll still be waiting on that for a while. And I’m waiting on being able to afford my own new lego sets, lol. Haven’t treated this as an achievable goal in many years
_deleted_Just being comfortable and peaceful when nothing is evidently wrong. People taking things for granted bothers me because I can’t. Permanent fight or flight.
I was talking to a friend years ago and I mentioned this same thing. I tried and couldn’t imagine feeling relaxed even if I won the lotto or something. We were wondering how long it would take to relax, if ever.
darkenergyMostly everything. Poverty prevents most leisurely activities, and can provoke depression, which compounds and prevents one from even wanting to do things they’ve traditionally enjoyed. Vicious cycle.
venusaurDumpster diving. That used to be MY thing! Now I gotta compete with every Bryson and Zayden for rock hard scones and the least soggy Gruyère and prosciutto muffin. Poverty sucks.
Thrifting as well in the last year. I used to be able to walk into a thrift, drop $60, and with a little bit of work and repair and cleaning I could turn that into $300 resale
I haven’t had a profitable find at a thrift store in 6 months. I haven’t found anything at thrift that’s even worth looking at.
Spent the past decade too poor to pursue romantic interests, led to me ruining two potential relationships by being so stressed about not being able to provide even enough for myself, let alone supporting or going out on dates with another person.
Gardening.
I just liked that I could grow things but now if I have a bad year where something doesnt grow it means more stuff to buy and I don’t feel like I can try planting something that might not grow well just to try it.
Also concerts.
Didnt have the money for them my whole life until recently and now they are overpriced, impossible to figure out logistically with Ticketmaster and when you go its mostly wealthy people sitting and not dancing or seemingly enjoying themselves past the overpriced drinks.
Just a thought. The concert goers might be more of an audience age bias than a whole cocnert trend. I’m guessing you’re seeing older bands from your younger days. Their audience is aging the same as you. Might be a venue thing as well, with currently-touring older bands drawing larger crowds, necessitating larger venues that come with more seats and less pit. I saw Rob Zombie at a mid-size venue and the crowd was pretty tame. Same for Disturbed. Meanwhile, I saw Jinjer at a small venue with no seats and the crowd was rocking. Not much of a pit, but far from dead. Same for Highly Suspect, though no pit at all as everyone crowded to the stage. All 4 were after 2020, for reference
Hahahaha… Oh no… Oh. No. From my younger days? I go back a decade and I’m in high school, and the bands I listened to then were all dead already (Journey, Eagles, Jim Croce)
No I saw Mammoth recently and 3 people were bobbing their head in the front and there were people sitting on the floor in the back.
Basically true for AJR, and others. Only true pit experience I got was The Wrecks who split the audience in 3 groups to make us compete against each other and then ran around trying to find people in the audience to dance with, but even then it was the minority position to dance.
FRYDSpending money in pretty much any capacity. My financial situation is a good bit better than before; so I do have money to spend on non-essentials, but it’s a struggle every time.
Last week me and my partner went to an aquarium, it was $50 a head for admission. I paid the $100 and spent the next 10 mins pretending to enjoy the aquarium while I ran the numbers in my head to make sure this expense wasn’t going to be the end of me. The anxiety never really went away and as we left I checked my bank account and my budget. I still had like $600 of unallocated funds.
Every time my friends want to do anything that would cost me over $20 I’m apprehensive and I get serious anxiety if I spend $20+ more than like 3 times a week. It’s exhausting.
CatZoomiesHere is what I do: Host your friends at your place for sports, grilling, video games, playing touch football or soccer in your backyard, etc. Much better activities, make memories, and a lot cheaper, more intimate, and better for everyone’s relationship.
Ah unfortunately that would require a place more substantial than a small bedroom in my dad’s apartment 40 minutes out in the boonies. So I have to essentially wait for my ADHD friends to make plans at their bigger places, which is pretty infrequent since they’re way more happy just hanging out on discord every night than I am.
How do you feel about D&D?
ah, that’s tough. what I’ve done in a similar situation is get the group together to have a chat about the best place to hang out and give people roles to fulfill. that way hangouts go smoothly and everybody is happy with the contributions and effort from everybody else.
also, I am decently financially secure now, and I still get anxious when I spend more than 20 bucks a few times a week. it just goes away more quickly when I can justify it. but I still don’t like to “waste” money on impermanent things like overpriced dinners or activity tickets to something I could have done at home.
what I can say is that a friend group that hangs out, even remotely, on a regular and frequent routine is a pretty great thing. it gets harder as you get older and people’s families and responsibilities grow especially if you’re in different cities
Taking days off work. My housemate works from home so when I’m off I still have to be respectful of that fact and not do anything too loud when he’s on the phone. Wouldn’t be an issue if I could afford to live alone.
leojDo you and your housemate pay the same rent for the space? Not trying to start anything, just curious how that part of the deal works out.
No, he owns the place and I am renting half the basement and he’s giving me a very good deal. Like I would have been pretty fucked if he had not come along and offered it when he did. I also don’t really think it’s unreasonable to not be loud and annoying when you’re sharing space with people. There’s just times where it’s like “damn I wish I could just use my circular saw right now instead of waiting for the afternoon” or shit like that. It is what it is. It’s more frustrating that I’ve been working and advancing in my field for 15 years now and still can’t afford a fucking house of my own than anything he’s doing.
🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞Holidays. I’m 50 and I have absolutely come to hate them. Can’t really afford to celebrate or get gifts, so I resent them for existing and I hate hearing about others’ pleasant experiences with them.
Last year when I was hitting the food bank so I could survive, an obscenely rich friend sent me a text message “I’m heading for a 2 week cruise this Christmas, where are you going?”
I’m so very glad my dad can go for cruises, but I’m so tired of hearing about them. heh
mojofrododojo“I’m heading for a 2 week cruise this Christmas, where are you going?”
going to your house to eat the food sitting around while you’re at sea.
She buys a full $32 cut fruit platter, eats one chunk of pineapple, puts platter in fridge until it rots into slime and then has her maid discard it. She’ll buy a 12 pack of bagels, eat a quarter of ONE bagel and throw the other 11 straight into the trash.
Really.
gross
No. Just ludicrously rich as her father started a nation-wide retail giant. She’s never worked a day in her life, upwards of $60M in personal assets. Utterly delusional as it relates to how the world works and how others live. Buying an entire X, having one bite and throwing the rest out is her default.
Playing video games. I have no time or patience anymore to enjoy playing, it just feels like I’m wasting my time and losing money. I’m not in poverty, but most of my waking hours during the week days are spent working. I feel like to do a lot of things I used to enjoy I would have to be paid to do it.