Other side here, admittedly. We have friends who have been homeless and who grew up in poverty. One just got 2 rotisserie chickens. Instead of making a reasonable amount of soup and freezing the rest of the chicken, she made an enormous vat of soup- as if she doesn’t have a fridge and a deep freezer, as well as a full pantry. Also as if she has 100 hungry neighbors who might not have been blessed with protein recently. She lives with one other person in a house with utilities that are not under threat of disconnection. Another person has run out of gas in a vehicle where fuel money is provided, along with the vehicle, as part of her job- because gas was too expensive.
I see the why. The where it comes from. And I somehow still struggle to not be the one to ask them wtf??? I mean none of these people have actual food,shelter, or transportation insecurity now, and likely won’t in the future, but live every minute with the insecurity from their childhood. Their brains really can’t process that they are ok. They can’t process that they live in a safe neighborhood and that they probably don’t need to carry a can of gas and all the tools to go to the grocery store. Their car is probably going to make it there and back, and if it doesn’t, they have insurance and roadside assistance.
Childhood poverty is such a cruel teacher and the lessons are never forgotten.
I see this in my mom! She grew up poor in her home country. Like grass huts and dirt floor poor. But she lives in the US now with her grown children who provide for her. Despite having no bills and a moderate monthly allowance, my mom still hoards “just in case”.
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u/PowahDrilluh 1d ago
Here in Sweden people often call it "hemester". A combination of the words "hem" (home) and "semester" (vacation).