The Poverty Simulation was an interesting and eye-opening experience. I was surprised how quickly my brain went from “game plan” to “ahhh panic”! My Poverty Simulation partner and I were assigned as married old women with different health issues. One of us had a bad knee, the other with a lung condition. We resided in affordable housing but could not be open about our relationship because our landlord was very religious (rumored to be homophobic). We didn’t travel separately for most of our time together, worried that the other might be harassed or get hurt.
Now traveling at the same time seemed like a good idea for our safety, but that meant we were wasting bus passes left and right. Bus passes had to be one of the most valuable things a person could have in the simulation. We should know. We made the mistake of using all our passes before getting more. Do you know what you can’t do without a bus pass? Get to the place selling bus passes. This meant we were stuck at home without any resources. We would have to be lucky enough that a kind stranger would be willing to sell us one as they passed by.
Where did we need to go so badly that we couldn’t wait out for a kind stranger? The grocery store, the pawn shop, the landlord’s, everywhere! Everything happened so fast that the idea of prioritizing one thing at a time felt ridiculous. We went three weeks without going to the grocery store because of our “prioritization” system. You would need a bus pass to get to a location, enough time to wait in line, and more time to actually talk to the person. Don’t forget to grab your receipt on your way out. You were lucky if the person at the table reminded you to take one, because plenty of us forgot. How can you prove you paid your rent without your receipt? Trust in your landlord? Yeah right. They could always do with an extra hundred dollars from you.
As we waited in lines to resources that may close before we could get to them, children would approach us. They would ask for money or bus passes, in hopes of bringing valuable resources to their own family. Some of the older children would often offer to do small jobs here and there. Even though it was all imaginary, it was still sad to turn a child away because you barely have enough money for yourself, let alone another family. We tried bringing in more money by pawning items, but we had some issues as two old ladies with mobility issues. It felt like a constant up hill battle to get on top. My wife and I were cursing each choice we made. We felt like we were tripping over our own feet and making the wrong decision at every turn. Except, we didn’t have to live with the consequences of our actions, we had a discussion period after.
During the discussion period, families would come together and talk about their experiences. My group introduced ourselves, talked about the things that surprised us most, and one of the biggest challenges we faced. We all agreed on how difficult it was to get a handle on anything. When you’re constantly stuck in survival mode, you don’t have the time or energy to get all your ducks in a row.
Obviously, the Poverty Simulation is just that. A simulation. You cannot expect to know the ins and outs of poverty from a couple hours of running around a gym. You know what you can get from it? Perspective. It’s a small window into the chaos that many people have to deal with on a real day to day basis. I am grateful for events like these. It was interesting to experience the simulation and to hear what other people learned from it. The Poverty Simulation is something that I would like to do again and would highly recommend to everyone else.
Amtheyst Floyd, Development Associate