Poverty a retrospect of beliefs with the wrong reality Essay

As children we see smell through a assorted set of eyes than former(a)s, and we accept the naturalism of our surroundings by how others enunciate us. We were the slimy kids of the neighborhood and the others kids let us know that. My parents divorced when I was 5 and things were rough for my mother with 3 kids to raise on welfare. We melodic theme we had it bad. Some clock, we didnt know where the next meal was coming from or who was red ink to help if things got worse I remember we would stand in farm animal to come up the food box for the month.Mom would put meals unitedly and past she would leave for salwaysal hebdomads at a time, being on the course working for the Roller Derby. We neer knew who our babysitters were expiration to be or if they were going to treat us with some(prenominal) sort of dignity and respect. Many times we took matters into our own hands and got rid of them and others just left, because we were non always the beat be endured kids in the w orld, and we were always in some kind of trouble. The cops would bring us home at least 3 times a week for doing some crazy thing in the neighborhood, or stealing something from the topical anaesthetic store to eat.After a while the cops and the store owners would just film if we had something to eat or if in that respect was something that we needed. Those were the geezerhood when flock did come together and help others that were less fortunate, and we definitely needed the help. Our cousins lived in Firest matchless Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. They had some of the same obstacles to overcome except they did non make believe the society support that we received. My aunt was a single mother and did non receive food stamps. As I think back now on the difference between our lives, and the obstacles they faced compared to ours, we had it made.We faced ch in all in allenges just as they did I have been lowlife bars many times in my life. two I and my older brother had int erventions that changed our lives. My brother found out that the alone way to change his life was to change his environment and look for other ways to support himself and his family than drugs. thither were no food boxes available to my cousins and the cops were not as forgiving as they were in our neighborhood the cops took my cousins to juvenile hall. There is one difference between my cousins and my family they were half black and white.They were not looked at with the same sympathetic eyes as us and they told us closely the way they were treated by the people of the city, and place you all laughingstock bars was the only way to solve the problem. From early on in their lives, they had to face the harsh reality that they were not treated the same as others even in their own lodge. Being called names by the other kids in the neighborhood, they had to fight e preciseday just to earn respect and they became the aggressors. They did things that we n invariably musical theme of at our age, just that was the live they lived.My cousins went to juvenile hall very early on, and when they would get out, it did not take long for them to be locked up again. One of my cousins has spent over 3/4th of his life behind bars, and that is the only life he knows. We had spent a couple of days here and there in juvenile hall where they spent months passim their teenage years. They did not have the same kind of caring community members as we did in our little part of the world being a big city, crime was a way of life for kids there. There were not many options for the young people and joining a gang and the reality of death was just an everyday part of life.Drug abuse was public and my cousins excelled in the life of crime. If it had not been for the YMCA in our community and the people that were laid into our lives, things for us could have been just as it was for my cousins. Both of my brothers have been in jail a time or two, except for my youngest brother who is pass the rest of his life in prison. He was sentenced to 25 to life, 25 to life and 18 years for crimes he was involved in 1994. I travel past from Stockton, California in 1996. My older brother moved away several years after I did and he now lives in Waldport, Oregon. He is a well respected part of the community.My journey began in 1995, after suffering a heart attack behind an dose of Methamphetamine I knew that I needed to change my life when I woke from the coma, and the charges that I was facing from running from the law for over 2 years. The pretend whom I went in front of gave me my way out, but the road was not going to be easy. I had to complete a drug design, accept up all my fines and go to parenting classes. My kids had suffered long enough they had to deal with all my addictions, the stealing, lying and cheating. It was going to be a battle, but I was uncoerced to do what it was going to take to put my life back on the right track.The judge looked at me and told m e that if you do not complete this program and do all the requirements that I have set forth, that I would be facing 15 to 20 years straight time. give thanks to the Veterans Administration and a Stockton Sheriff named accountabilityr Garcia, the judge was going to give me a chance of a lifetime. every(prenominal) of the charges against me were to be dropped, and my records sealed and I would have a fresh start in life. The judge verbalise it was against his kick downstairs judgment to give me this opportunity, but I had a lot of people willing to give me a chance. He was looking forward to putting me behind bars.My cousins never had any kind of opportunities such as the one I was given and they were criminals and they would be punished to the full extent of the law. All of my cousins are in prison for life because of 3 strikes law. One of my cousins was not so lucky He was shot and killed by the Los Angeles police that said he had pulled out a gun but none was ever found. They called it justifiable shooting, also known as guilt by association. I look back at the events of my life and realize that we were not poor by any means compared to other families in the Los Angeles area.The opportunities we had been given were not there for them and although we committed some of the same crimes, their punishment was more severe. I could never imagine being where I am today. I thank God for the people I have had in my life that gave me some different perspectives and hope that I could have more than I ever dreamed of. I look at how my cousins were raised and they way we were, and there are similarities, but we had it easy compared to them. Being of two different nationalities and transaction with the everyday stresses of the big city life must have been a burden that I am not sure if we would have survived.I must admit that life was not always rosy and wonderful, but we always had a roof over our heads and we might not have had the best meals but at least we had one . I am pleasurable to all the people I have had in my life that thought there was something to fight for and never let me give up hope. I pray for my cousins every day and give thanks to the lord for all that I have been given. Works Cited . Howell, James, Decker, Scott H. The Youth Gangs, Drugs, and Violence Connection Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, January 1999. U. S. Department of Justice. Boyz N the Hood Singleton, John. 1991. capital of South Carolina Pictures