poor

20 Ways to be #PositivelyPoorInLA

Published on March 27, 2014July 8, 2015 by thewholeruth1 Comment

When you can only afford water at the bar, you can say you’re on “a cleanse.”
When you can’t afford shampoo and your hair gets clumpy and wild, you can say you’re from Venice Beach. ‪
When you’re wearing the same clothes you wore decades ago because you could never buy new ones, you can say you’re being “retro”.
When your hair is greasy, your clothes are dirty, and you’re too skinny from hunger, you can say you are a “hipster”.
When you need work, the tranny hookers in your neighborhood are a reminder that there are always jobs out there.
When you can’t afford a gyno and Google’s advice is fingering yourself with tea tree oil, you can say you “like holistic healing.”
When becoming homeless feels like a possibility, you can take solace in knowing everyone has a car to live in.
When you start selling marijuana to pay your bills, you’re not alone.
When acne takes over your face from being in survival mode, you can say it’s because you’re going to be the lead in an acne infomercial.
When you have to ride the bus, the other people on the bus are a bright reminder of how sane you are.
When you are biking because you can’t afford gas, you save money on gas.
When hitchhiking seems like a good idea, you can say you are into “innovative networking.”
When you’re late from walking miles to get somewhere, you can blame it on traffic.
When you arrive somewhere sweaty from walking, biking, chasing the bus or from anxiety during your hitchhike you can say you “just got back from Runyon Canyon.”
When you can only eat rice and beans, you’re “gluten free.” And dairy free. And soy free. And meat free. And nut free!
When you eat other people’s food left on the table at a restaurant, you can call yourself an “adventurous foodie”.
When you get caught eating out of a trashcan, you can say you’re putting together your audition tape for Top Chef.
When you’re starving, you can call it “fasting.”
When you become too hungry to respond emotionally to life, you can say you’re really into this new “natural botox.”
When you write about how poor you are on social media as a cry for help, you can say your manager told you to strengthen your online presence.

Thank you to Christopher Schram and Shane Portman for their contributions.

3 Things I Learned on Tuesday: Part 1 Debt

Published on May 15, 2013May 26, 2015 by thewholeruthLeave a comment

Dollar Cleveland TheWholeRuth 5.15.13 — #dollabillsyall #makestheworldgoround #orisitinertia #creepyfloatingeye

1) Donald Trump’s companies have filed for bankruptcy 4 times.

While reading the highly trustworthy and classy Examiner, maybe for the first time, and without knowing how I ended up there, I saw a link for an article about people going from riches to rags. I hesitated to click on it because I didn’t want to give any energy to stories about people who finally made it somewhere and then lost it, thinking that I may read something that would make me anxious later. But I clicked it anyway and it wasn’t very scary or life-changing, just people’s natural ups and downs, some from being frivolous, some from injuries, some from negative life events who bounced back even higher… But Donald Trump’s story gave me new perspective. I was shocked to find out that four of his companies had filed for bankruptcy, because they were millions, sometimes billions of dollars short.

I’m short. By inches. And debt wise, I’m barely making it each month, but I am. I sometimes think about how filing for bankruptcy would be helpful, but then I think, “No, no, you can pay back that $15,000 and if you didn’t, the world would end.” Continue reading “3 Things I Learned on Tuesday: Part 1 Debt” →

Duck Banter

Published on May 14, 2013January 20, 2015 by thewholeruthLeave a comment

#nosyneighbor #statefarm #wherearethetrannyhookers #hollywood #potsibilities

The other day, while I was home working, I heard a man and a woman arguing outside. Like really yelling, back and forth, with the speed and intensity that only a couple that has been together for a while could organically volley. Being a good neighbor, I went to the window to be entertained, and/or make sure everyone was all right. And there was a tan man, probably 5’10” with gray hair, fit, with a thin woman, who was shorter than him, with dark auburn hair, and he was saying, with complete sincerity, “Yes, I love you, but you’ve been pushing for a long time, and now I WANT TO PUSH THE CART!” And he was pushing a red shopping cart filled with garbage bags filled with recyclables down the very center of our street.

Ha! This homeless couple, who may be thin from hunger or Meth, seemed like a pair of ducks who mated for life, and despite the actions they were taking, their words were said in the exact same manner that any middle class sweet pair of ducks would argue. I loved it.

It makes me wonder if incredibly rich people banter in the same way too. “Yes, I love you, it’s just that your space butler/chaeffuer/secretary has been managing the family business for the past hour and I want MY space butler/chaeffuer/secretary to manage the business now!” Or whatever incredibly rich people may argue about. Maybe they will come have a conversation outside of my window and I’ll find out.

Thank You for Keeping Ruth Outta Jail

Published on May 10, 2013April 30, 2015 by thewholeruthLeave a comment

I want to thank all these people below. They gave me hand-me-down clothes at one point in the last 12 years and I’m still wearing them.

Thank You Cards TheWholeRuth 5.10.13 — It’s not that I don’t have the Thank You cards…

I’ve been thinking about how when someone gives you new clothes, you think to write a Thank You card. And if you are an asshole, like me, that is as far as you get. Other people follow the thought with the action.

It’s hard enough for me to write a Thank You card when I know I’m supposed to, but when people give used clothes, I think there is a national understanding that donating is kind and quick, maybe you’ll get a hug or a tax write-off, but never a Thank You card. Maybe because if you drop-off at the Good Will, you never know who is going to receive it, and the receiver doesn’t have an address with which to send a card, and the good deed goes by in a woosh. But even when you give clothes to a friend, there is joy, and gratitude, feelings of Yay! But never a Thank You card.

I might be wrong about that. I haven’t asked enough hand-me-downees about their card giving rates…

Anyway, you guys, my dear friends who have given me clothes, I don’t know if you know that I think of you all of the time when I get dressed (dirty) and that when you casually and generously gave me an item of clothing, it really helped me out!

(Also, you may not know you gave me clothing because you may have given it to a friend who gave it to me, or you may have put it in a bin on the sidewalk for homeless people and while needing the bin, I discovered the clothes and kept them as well… But that second scenario person knows I have her clothes because she is my neighbor and I told her about it. Because I knew that inevitably one day she would see me wearing a full outfit made entirely of her wardrobe and it’d be weird for both of us. If I didn’t prep her beforehand… “So don’t be weirded out,” I texted, “…or DO be weirded out, but don’t be surprised.” She’s cool with it.)

Today I felt like you should know the impact you’ve made so I’m writing you this virtual Thank You card and yelling a loud belly “THANK YOU” to you.

Continue reading “Thank You for Keeping Ruth Outta Jail” →

Why can I buy avocados?

Published on May 5, 2013March 23, 2016 by thewholeruthLeave a comment

So I’m hoarding avocados now. It’s really fun. I feel like I get all the beneficial feelings of being a crazy cat lady, without the pre-packaged judgement 🙂 But give it time, the world will soon have a new breed of stereotype: The Hoarding Avocado Woman.

This morning, while cleaning the kitchen, I looked at my pile of four avocado seeds sitting in a puddle of water on the back edge of the sink. I leave them there as a visual to-do list and because this is the best thing I’ve thought of so far to keep them alive until I can plant them. The water from washing dishes each day splashes on them and kinda forms a little life-nest beneath them, giving me the time to come up with another glass jar somehow.

Everything in the store in a glass jar has a new meaning to me. I want to crouch down and surprise-leap onto my prey in Trader Joes, and flailingly leave it’s contents strewn wherever just get to it’s magnificant glass hide and display it with pride along my window sill. Continue reading “Why can I buy avocados?” →