Huffington Magazine Issue 78 | Page 29

MATTHEW STAVER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES Voices LINDA TIRADO HUFFINGTON 12.08.13 This Is Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Sense THERE’S NO WAY to structure this coherently. They are random observations that might help explain the mental processes. But often, I think that we look at the academic problems of poverty and have no idea of the why. We know the what and the how, and we can see systemic problems, but it’s rare to have a poor person actually explain it on their own behalf. So this is me doing that, sort of. Rest is a luxury for the rich. I get up at 6 a.m., go to school (I have a full course load, but I only have to go to two in-person classes) then work, then I get the kids, then I pick up my husband, then I have half an hour to change and go to Job 2. I get home from that at around 12:30 a.m., then I have