A man featured on Facebook's HONY yesterday lamented the rising prices of apartment rent in New York City. Currently, he works at the post office. Many people assume that working under the U.S. government is stable work, but he cannot find a suitable apartment for his family under his salary. He wants more time to spend with his son, but he can't afford the apartment for the whole family and lives separately. On the other hand, he can't afford low-income apartments because his salary is slightly higher to apply the low-income apartments. This story certainly shows today’s apartment situation in New York.
The satisfaction of the human lifestyle is varied depending on each individual. If stable jobs can be found only in the city, people need to live in the city. Consequently, the housing situation becomes worse. In rural areas, there are many empty houses that are abandoned. We may live there even if our incomes are low or we cannot have a convenient lifestyle. Some people say they can't live in such places because they don't have work and very inconvenient, but they think that way because they do not want to change their own standard lifestyle that they currently have.
Over 30 years ago my mother lost her husband who was 57 years old at that time. When my father passed away, my mother received a very small amount of the widow's pension every three months. It was too small to live on; therefore, she asked her children to send some money for help. She rented a small house in a rural area near her hometown. I started sending $500 for more than 5 years. My 6 siblings did the same. The amount was up to them, but I know two of them sent the same amount that I did. After 6 or 7 years of sending money, my mom suddenly told us that we didn't have to send money anymore. She said she decided to build a new house in the current old house where she was not able to live because no one had lived there for 20 years. I asked her how she could pay. She said she had already paid. That was a real surprise for us and we, her 7 children, were so delighted. But, how could she save such large money? She had a small vegetable yard and grew some vegetables and rice for herself. She was always grateful for everything that she had and took great care of them.
My mom said that she saved all the money that we had sent her, and she also saved her widow's pension as much as possible. She also got free vegetables where she lived. Plenty of badly shaped eggplants, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc. were dumped on the roadside. The farmers couldn’t sell these vegetables even at a very cheap price. In addition, if they wanted to sell, they had to pay the transportation fee to the town, therefore they left these vegetables on the roadside. They were all free, so my mom picked them up almost every day and ate them for many years so that she was able to save money.
With these savings, she negotiated with a carpenter that she knew, and built a wooden house. I don't know if I can do the same thing that my mom did 30 years ago if I am in a similar situation. A couple of years later when she built a new house, my mom started living with her eldest son, his wife and their children. My mom took the rent from her son and saved money. With this money, she built an additional room for her grandchildren. Then, she renewed the kitchen and bathroom for her daughter-in-law and put the solar panels as well and earned a small amount of money every month.
I understand that human beings can do anything if they truly wish for. I observed my mom for many years, so I truly understand the power that we human beings have. But, a question is: Can I grow my own food to live and pick any food on the street like a really poor person?
My mom could do that because she was in a desperate situation, in other words, there was no other choice. I've never in that situation. In addition, I still attach quite many things in my current life.
Returning to the first story of the post office person, I understand the struggle of his housing situation. Many people also understand his struggle and posted various comments and opinions, but one message that impressed me a lot was as follows:
“You're obviously doing all you can to keep it together! But while reading this I notice your little boy coming in to kiss his daddy. You're his world (along with his momma). You're doing the best you can with what you have and your child is not lacking in love! Wishing y'all the best!”
I believe this post office person has raised his son very well. I hope the current housing situation in New York will improve soon and become affordable. Meanwhile, we have to change our way of thinking about our lifestyle. Thank you very much.
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