Monday, May 10, 2010

Enrique's Journey

I recently read Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario for UMW bookclub. This book was based on a newspaper series which won two Pulitzers, one for writing and one for photography. It was an emotional read for me because it deals with mothers leaving their children to immigrate to the United States.
In the book, Nazario says "A World Bank study in in 2000 found that 42.5 percent of Mexico's 100 million people live on $2 or less a day."
As someone who is always cutting coupons and finding the cheapest way to do or buy anything, this hit home to me. I rarely go to Starbucks, but last week I spent $8 at the drive-thru. That was four days in a poor Mexican's life.
Yesterday Adam and I bought drinks at Outback. $22 or a day's worth for 11 people.
I broke my glasses on Saturday and had to get a new pair immediately. Even with the Wal-Mart exam (cheapest I know of) and a $100 off coupon at Lens Crafters, I walked out the door with new spectacles for $398.98. That's a day's worth for 200 people; a small town sitting on the bridge of my nose.
I pride myself on being thrifty and mostly not concerned with material objects. I do fall into the trap occasionally and spend money on worthless "stuff." What would my life be without all my stuff? How would my life be different if I lived on $2 a day?

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