Hand to Mouth Quotes

“I am not, for all my frustration, opposed to capitalism. Most Americans, poor ones included, aren’t. We like the idea that anyone can succeed. What I am opposed to is the sort of capitalism that sucks the life out of a whole bunch of the citizenry and then demands that they do better with whatever they have left. If we could just agree that poor people are doing the necessary grunt work and that there is dignity in that too, we’d be able to make it less onerous.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“I think the sorts of people who honestly think that service workers should be more smiley and gracious just don’t get it. They don’t get it because they can take so much for granted in their own lives—things like respect, consideration, and basic fairness on the job. Benefits. Insurance. They’re used to the luxury of choosing the most aesthetically pleasing item on the shelf, of caring what color their car is rather than simply whether it runs or not. They don’t understand how depressing it is to be barely managing your life at any given moment of the day. So forgive me if I don’t tell you to have a pleasant day with unfeigned enthusiasm when I hand you your fucking hamburger. You’ll have to settle for the fake sort.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“If you think poor people are entitled, try denying a rich person with an attitude some service they think they’ve earned. It’s like grief—there are phases. Anger and denial are first. Then comes “do you understand how fucked you are if I don’t get the thing I want?” Followed by “I demand to see your manager” and “I’ve never been treated so poorly in my life.” The final stage is bargaining, where they try to give you extra money because all of life is like valet service to them, and an extra five bucks can change the world. If”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Some people have the luxury of asking themselves whether a job fulfills their career hopes and ambitions. I’ve got my own metric to gauge the fabulosity of a job: Does that job require me to keep my boss informed of the inner workings of my gastrointestinal system, or am I allowed to go to the bathroom at will?”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Living in low-income neighborhoods, I've seen sexual health campaigns aimed at slut-shaming us into celibacy. They talk about things like self-esteem and value and all the usual abstinence arguments. They assume that our bodies are a gift that we should bestow selectively on others, rather than the one thing that can never be anything but our own. Even if we do share it, it is ours irrevocably.
These are the bodies that hold the brains we're supposed to shut off all day at work, the same bodies that aren't important enough to heal. These are the bodies that come with the genitalia that we should be so protective of? I really don't understand the logic.
You can't tell us that our brains and labor and emotions are worth next to nothing and then expect us to get all full of intrinsic worth when it comes to our genitals. Either we're cheap or we're not.
Make up your fucking mind.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“The logic is that if you’ve got excess money and throw it away on booze and cigarettes, then that’s your business. But if you’re poor, then that’s a sin and a shame. Because if you’re poor, rich people assume you’re on welfare, or you’re getting food stamps or some other social services. Once you take a penny from the government, a morality clause goes into effect, where you’re never allowed to have anything that you might actually enjoy. It’s the hair shirt of welfare.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“The question is, how can the rest of the country live knowing that so many of us have to live like this?”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“I will never not be poor, so what does it matter if I don't pay a thing and a half this week instead of just one thing? It's not like the sacrifice will result in improved circumstances; the thing holding me back isn't that I blow five bucks at Wendy's. It's that now that I have proven that I am a Poor Person that is all that I am or ever will be. It is not worth it to me to live a bleak life devoid of small pleasures so that one day I can make a single large purchase. I will never have large pleasures to hold on to. There's a certain pull to live what bits of life you can while there's money in your pocket, because no matter how responsible you are you will be broke in three days anyway. When you never have enough money it ceases to have meaning. I imagine having a lot of it is the same thing.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“The reason that poor people wind up coping in ways that seem pointlessly self-destructive is that all the constructive stuff costs money. I”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“I have a Republican friend and every time we get into politics and the economy, he tells me that I simply don’t understand the American dream. He says it doesn’t make sense to punish the people you’re trying to join. He is fairly certain that in the next decade or two, he will be worried about capital gains. He works at Wal-Mart. He’s nearing thirty. No degree, no real résumé, no particular ambition to do anything. Just a firm conviction that someday he’ll have a fantastic high-powered career doing . . . something. He’s not sure what, only that this is America and anyone can make it. While he’s waiting, he’ll be protecting his future interests at the ballot box.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“If you’re going to put as little as possible into my training and wages, if you’re going to make sure that I can’t get enough hours to survive in order to avoid giving me health care, and generally make sure that I’m as uncomfortable as possible at any given time just to make sure I know my place, then how can you expect me to care about your profit margin? Remember, you get what you pay for.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Being poor is something like always being followed around by violins making “tense” movie music. You know that commercial where the band Survivor follows a guy around playing “Eye of the Tiger”? Yeah, it’s like that, but the musicians are invisible and they’re playing the shower scene from Psycho.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Poverty is when a quarter is a fucking miracle. Poor is when a dollar is a miracle. Broke is when five dollars is a miracle. Working class is being broke, but doing so in a place that might not be so worn down. Middle class is is being able to own some toys and to live in a nice place... And rich is anything above that.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“We have decided to lock people up for social deviancy these days. We tell ourselves that we’re not running debtors’ prisons, that this isn’t Dickensian”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Telling an individual company to do better is a lot like telling an individual poor person to save more—true and helpful, but not so easy in practice.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“I was recently on a college campus and saw at least three kids passed out on benches or at tables. I was tempted to call campus security to report the scourge of people resting. It turns out that whether sleeping on a public bench is a crime or not depends entirely on whether you have enough money to look like you have a place to sleep. Another”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“So let’s stop saying that poor people are irresponsible parents and start admitting that society doesn’t seem to believe that if you are poor you are entitled to be a parent at all. Given”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“I’m not preparing our kids for a gentle world, full of interesting and stimulating experiences. I’m getting them ready to keep their damn mouths shut while some idiot tells them what to do. I’m preparing them to keep a sense of self when they can’t define themselves by their work because the likeliest scenario is that (unlike doctors and lawyers and bankers) they will not want to. I’m getting them ready to scrap and hustle and pursue happiness despite the struggle. I”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“[W]hen it's slow, they send you home, and when it's busy, they expect you to stay late. They also expect you to be able to come in to cover someone's shift if a co-worker gets sick at the last minute. Basically, they're expecting you to be available to work all the time. Scheduling is impossible.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“[Y]ou should be aware that you have no legal right to take breaks in America. Go ahead, Google it.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“To be poor is to be treated like a criminal, under constant suspicion of drug use and theft.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“In my world, we don't have the time or the energy to bullshit about our feelings or worry about anyone else's. When I've found myself in professional situations, I'm driven nearly to distraction by how much fucking effort is wasted making sure we all feel nice and fuzzy and comfortable. I don't get that; it's not part of work to me. And it keeps me from getting ahead. If someone asks me my opinion on something, I simply give it. I don't bother spending five minutes talking about the weather and how lovely your shirt is first. I figure nobody's getting paid to win the office nice competition.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“When you never have enough money it ceases to have meaning. I imagine having a lot of it is the same thing.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“being able to own some toys and to live in a nice place—and by “nice,” I don’t mean fancy; I mean that you can afford to buy your own furniture and not lease it and that while you still worry about bills, you aren’t constantly worried about homelessness. And rich is anything above that.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Poverty is when a quarter is a fucking miracle. Poor is when a dollar is a miracle. Broke is when five bucks is a miracle. Working class is being broke, but doing so in a place that might not be run-down. Middle class is”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“And the next time you feel as though you’re shouldering more than your fair share of society’s burdens, ask yourself: How badly do I have to pee right now, and do I need permission?”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Once we’ve hit the part where my own species is mostly taken care of, I’ll start to worry about African rhinos. Until then, I’ll just keep restraining myself from punching people when they look me in the face and argue that an ecosystem somewhere is more important than homelessness.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Your dogs do not belong in restaurants even if they are supercute. I swear to God, the number of tiny dogs I’ve seen in inappropriate places is at least ten times higher than the number of times I’ve gotten laid in my life. And, newsflash: Only service animals are allowed in restaurants. That’s actually a public health concern. I don’t get why you’re allowed to decide you’re completely above the law simply because you found a purse to fit your dog into. 3.”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Poor people are, as a rule, a bit more generous. We understand what it might be like to have to beg even if we have never done it ourselves. In fact, there’s data to back me up. The latest research shows that people of low socioeconomic status are more likely to be altruistic than their higher-class counterparts. In 2011, the bottom 20 percent of earners gave a higher percentage of their wealth away than the top 20 percent. I’ll”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

“Most privileged people have enough compassion to feel badly for people who don’t have money. But unfortunately, a not-insignificant percentage of advantaged people have a hard time understanding that shame is a luxury item, because there is a point at which things are so bad that you lose all sense of shame. Shameless”
― Linda Tirado, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America