“That’s the funny thing about being poor. Everyone has an opinion on it, and everyone feels entitled to share. That was especially true about my husband’s Mercedes. Over and over again, people asked why we kept that car, offering to sell it in their yards or on the Internet for us.

“You can’t be that bad off,” a distant relative said, after inviting himself over for lunch. “You still got that baby in all its glory.”

Sometimes, it was more direct. All from a place of love, of course. “Sell the Mercedes,” a friend said to me. “He doesn’t get to keep his toys now.”

But it wasn’t a toy — it was paid off. My husband bought that car in full long before we met. Were we supposed to trade it in for a crappier car we’d have to make payments on? Only to have that less reliable car break down on us?”

— This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to pick up food stamps - The Washington Post

Because I’ve actually seen people make arguments against poor people keeping tools - since that is exactly what this is. If you have a paid off car, you KEEP it, because it works and gives you a survival tool you will no longer have if you get rid of it. Then what? Buses? Not THAT reliable, not at all flexible if you have groceries to carry, or are disabled and doing anything but moving your body to and fro. Cheaper car? That breaks down all the time and sucks away money you don’t have? Maybe it’s even older and more of a gas guzzler. Walking? Not if you have kids you need to bring with you. Thinking the poor don’t “deserve” or that they should “suffer” for their being poor is such complete bullshit. (via jadegordon)