Voices
to hold them. I would make a super legal secretary, but I’ve been
turned down more than once because I “don’t fit the image of the
firm,” which is a nice way of saying
“gtfo, pov.” I am good enough to
cook the food, hidden away in the
kitchen, but my boss won’t make
me a server because I don’t “fit the
corporate image.” I am not beautiful. I have missing teeth and skin
that looks like it will when you live
on B12 and coffee and nicotine and
no sleep. Beauty is a thing you get
when you can afford it, and that’s
how you get the job that you need
in order to be beautiful. There
isn’t much point trying.
Cooking attracts roaches. Nobody realizes that. I’ve spent a lot
of hours impaling roach bodies and
leaving them out on toothpick pikes
to discourage others from entering.
It doesn’t work, but is amusing.
“Free” only exists for rich
people. It’s great that there’s a
bowl of condoms at my school,
but most poor people will never
set foot on a college campus.
We don’t belong there. There’s a
clinic? Great! There’s still a copay. We’re not going. Besides, all
they’ll tell you at the clinic is that
you need to see a specialist, which
seriously? Might as well be locat-
LINDA
TIRADO
HUFFINGTON
12.08.13
ed on Mars for how accessible it
is. “Low-cost” and “sliding scale”
sounds like “money you have to
spend” to me, and they can’t actually help you anyway.
I smoke. It’s expensive. It’s also
the best option. You see, I am al-
Junk food is a pleasure
that we are allowed to have;
why would we give that up?
We have very few of them.”
ways, always exhausted. It’s a
stimulant. When I am too tired to
walk one more step, I can smoke
and go for another hour. When I
am enraged and beaten down and
incapable of accomplishing one
more thing, I can smoke and I feel
a little better, just for a minute.
It is the only relaxation I am allowed. It is not a good decision,
but it is the only one that I have
access to. It is the only thing I
have found that keeps me from
collapsing or exploding.
I make a lot of poor financial
decisions. None of them matter,
in the long term. 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?