Recipient: Betsy Garcia Occupation: Clerk, Chicago Public High School Responded On: January 31, 2005 Bill Received At: Jewel-Osco Fullerton Avenue and Pulaski Road Chicago Originally Dropped At: Homegoods Harlem Avenue and Dempster Street Morton Grove, Illinois On: January 23, 2005

 

Betsy Garcia's Comments

 

Tell us what you had for breakfast this morning.
Coffee and toast.

Does your generation view money differently than the generation of your parents?
Yes, my generation views it differently. Sometimes my friends and
myself—we overspend our money. We don't save it up like our family used to … Especially being a single mom, I value it more now … Times are hard now and sometimes I'll go a little overboard. You know, I'll go to a special show or something with the kids and I'll overspend on my budget … Sometimes my mom will ask me, how my weekend was and I'll tell her, “Oh, I went to the wrestling match with the kids” and she'll be like, “You must have money … If you're going to these places, you got to have a lot of money for it … ” I say, “You know mom I work hard, and once or twice a year is good enough for me.” But, I do value it. I do still try to save for a rainy day. Because you never know what's going to happen and the economy is so bad today, it's unbelievable.

I tell my kids, I says, you know I remember when my mom used to give me 50 cents to go to school and back then that was a lot of money, 'cause I used to buy so much stuff and they don't believe me. And I says, well you know, penny candy used to get two for a penny. Try to find penny candy nowadays. It's ten cents!

What did you used to be able to do with that 50 cents?
I used to go to this one candy store and buy myself the little
miniature Coca-Cola bottles, a single Suzy-Q, a pomegranate, and a bagful of candy … and that candy last me the whole week! That was 50 cents worth.

In the United States if people start out in a very low paying job, can they still become quite wealthy if they work hard enough?
I think that's more of a story that we tell ourselves … I personally
started out in this low-paying job here and I've been working for eight years here … Right now, I'm at the position where I'm getting by paycheck to paycheck … I don't have the seniority and I don't have some of the certification that they require me to have and I can't, 'cause of course, I have a family. I don't have the time for that. And I know a lot of other people who have been here over thirty years and they're making a little over minimum wage … and I know they'll never get wealthy. I know I won't. So I don't know how anyone can do it in the U.S., unless they hit the lottery.

Well maybe I could get the certification I need, if I had the time to
go to school, if I had the money to pay for the schooling, and I'd have more support out there for me, and for my children of course, because I'm still raising them. So I would need support for them also for me to get my certification and go back to school. It's not easy.

Is money distributed fairly in the United States?
I have a poor man's job. It's not going to get met anywhere. But I have the experience of a rich man. I do accounting, I do purchasing. I do record-keeping. I have all the experience. I've earned five masters with the experience I have. But I'm not going to get it. I still get paid at their level. I don't have the qualifications and to answer the question, no it doesn't get distributed evenly … it doesn't … it's just sad …

What's the worst thing you've ever done in your life to earn money?
The worst thing I've ever done to earn money was work in a print
factory. I was printing toilet seat covers … I don't know if you
remember the ones with the woman and the man on them … and the sunrise. I was printing those. That was the worst thing I ever did. I was working for $3 an hour in a hot, sweaty place and I only had one thirty minute lunch and I worked for eight hours … That's what was so bad about it.

What's the best thing you ever did to earn money?
Work for the Board of Education. It may not pay well, but it's
worthwhile when you could help the kids and push them, 'cause they're our future, like they say. It might sound cliche but you push them to graduate and finish school and go to college and get that degree … 'cause it's really important.

If you could make money any way under the sun that you wanted to, what would be your fantasy way of earning money?
My fantasy job would be to own a restaurant, and I would put it in the Humboldt Park area 'cause then I know I would make money because a big part of the Puerto Rican population lives in that area and I know I would make good money and then I wouldn't have to worry about anything … That's my main dream.

So you think you may actually do that at some point?
I don't know. I can't answer that now. I'd like to.

Let's say you just suddenly came into a lot of money. You won the
lottery or whatever. What would make you feel the best in how you would spend that?
If I won the lottery the first thing I'd do would be to pay off my
kids' college tuition. Then I'd enroll in college myself and I'd finish
school. Then I'd put my restaurant, 'cause I need to get certified for that, to own a restaurant … And of course, buy a house.

Do you ever play the lottery?
I play it. I play at least once a week. I'll try to play three, four, five dollars. I do enjoy playing it, but I never win.

What's the cheapest thing you've ever seen somebody do?
The cheapest thing I've ever seen somebody do, is recycle their coffee grounds. I know someone who used to use their coffee grounds at least a week and everyday he'd come down with a cup of coffee from those recycled coffee grounds … (laughs) That's the cheapest thing I've ever seen anybody do.

Do you think in American society people define themselves in terms of money?
I think so. I define myself as poor. I don't have the money to go
out and buy myself fancy clothes or for my children. I don't drive a
fancy car. What I make, it helps me pay my bills, helps me support my children, it gets me by. And I'm happy with it because at least I know, I earn my money honestly. Yes, people do define themselves according to what money they have. And I've been in places where they'll look down on you. You don't belong in this area. I guess it's tattooed on your forehead or something, “Hey,
that's poor people walkin' in through the door.” I don't know.

How could someone know if you're poor?
The way you act. The way you dress. The car you drive. I don't know. I'm not used to fancy things so … I've never been in a really fancy restaurant and I won't go into one because I know I'm going to act a fool. I won't know how to act. I won't know what fork to use, what spoon to use. I wasn't raised that way. I'd rather went to a hotdog stand. I remember years ago my husband and I went to Lincoln Park Zoo and we went into the store and the gentleman at the corner was looking at my husband real strange … he ran over to him right away and it was like, “Can I help you?”