If you've ever worked in a sales or a retail environment, you will understand what i'm talking about. But in my experience where I've been working, a lot of poor people are poor because they did it to themselves.

Now this is not a rip on the less fortunate because of situations out of their own control (parents lost job, or what not). However, I've seen my fair share of people who come into my store to buy a flat screen HDTV with their unemployment checks? wtf?

Or sometimes people will come in to get an iphone or something and when I run their credit, it shows that they have horrible credit and they have to put down hundreds of dollars as a deposit AND THEY DO IT ANYWAYS, only to get into a contract and have to pay like 70 dollars a month on a two year contract.

Some people, on their last legs, spend what little money they still have ON VIDEOGAMES.

As a store clerk guy, I really have no say in how people spend their money.

BUT C'MON MAN. Shouldn't you be spending all that unemployment money on like.... FOOD or RESUME PAPER or something?

I wish people had to take a personal finance class or something before they finish high school so they have a head on their shoulders before they get released into the wild.

Well, I think you really should be careful about such things.

First of all I guess you know for yourself that this might be the case with some poor people, but surely not with all of them.

On the other hand: yes, I think there are also quite a few people who get themselves into "poverty", for example through bad spending habits. I think these are people who are having problems in general managing their lives.

But can you really blame them, that they also want to participate in life? Okay, I don't think I would buy an iPhone or a flat screen HDTV if I would be out of money. But I can understand that for the relative "few" poor people in western societies it must be hard to live among people who have so much.

This is not to say it's a good way of behaving but I guess buying such things is maybe their hope of having a better life, they just want to "buy" a better life perhaps. Even if it will end up being quite the contrary.

Okay, you're working in a store. But does that really give you insight on peoples personal lives? You probably don't know the story behind the people buying the TVs and iPhones so I think you should be a bit more careful to judge them.

Yes, working in a store does give me an insight into people's lives. Its not like I know EXACTLY what's going on in people's lives, but some things (like contracts for phones/internet/TV etc. etc.) require credit checks.

I've had to turn some people down because they have horrible credit or because the bank doesn't allow them to have a checking account.

I also know such things because they tell me so sometimes. Some people call in and ask to save a certain TV because their unemployment check doesn't come in until X day.

And like I mentioned in the OP, some people are geniunely poor because of circumstances beyond their control. You really can't control whether or not you get laid off because the economy sucks. And that's not who I'm knocking on. I feel for you guys who got the economic shaft. I know how it is. I've been scrapping by myself at a store and I'm doing my best to stave off unemployment.

There are plenty who are down on their luck and they ARE spending their money wisely; cutting corners here and there to make ends meet.

But at the same time, buying TVs and getting into contracts and buying videogames isn't the best way to spend your unemployment check. I know I don't know the WHOLE story, but I know enough that some are spending WAY beyond their means. I think its downright idiotic.

Who are you to judge? Judge yourself before juging others. You have no right to tell people how to live their lives. What they spend their money on is their business.

And that's exactly my job. I stated it in the OP. Its not like I can say "HEY YOU CAN'T BUY THAT TV. YOU SHOULD SAVE IT FOR FOOD OR SOMETHING." I'd probably get fired for saying that.

I take their money, they have their TV. Transaction complete.

But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have an opinion. And my opinion is that people who spend way beyond their means are idiots. and whup dee do its no surprise that they don't have much money as a result.

My overall point is that society needs to spend some time looking at how materialistic it has become, and that its important for people to learn about fiscal responsibility. That's how we got into this worldwide recession in the first place, right?

I tend to agree with the OP. I have to say I am guilty to some degree of what he says. Before I was laid off, I made almost $40,000.00 a year after Health insurance was taken out before taxes. I have been out of college for three years, so I am relatively new to my career. Now, lasted three waves of cutoffs at my workplace. in most cases people who had been working at my job longer, and had been working in the field longer, were thrown out the door before me. Why? I worked hard to give myself a skill set that rivaled and even surpassed many of my coworkers, I also worked my butt off and showed myself to be independent when necessary. So I disagree with the assessment that you cannot control your circumstances. However, I did eventually get laid off because the company had cut all the fat they could, and the people left were far superior to me in skill level, they would have been stupid to lay one of them off. Literally a month before I got laid off, I started renting an apt under the guise that things were as slow as they could get at work, I also bought myself a nice 42" HDTV. Now that I am on unemployment, I don't go out and buy things, I brought back my TV because I needed the money, and I am looking for somebody to take over my lease. There are people who would not do that...I LIVE in the same apartment building with people who have no job, and have very little income and yet, they are able to afford that new truck, or that HDTV, or the Iphone. I wonder how this is possible?

damn dude, you pretty much have the same story as I do. I was lucky enough to pick up a retail job to keep myself afloat. I splurge on random things here and there, but for the most part I keep on the down low as well.

EDIT: Anyways, I think the overall point is that I don't like the idea of me paying into a system where people at the bottom are wasting their resources on stupid useless crap. I pay taxes, and a portion of that tax money is going into some guy's 52" Flat Screen HDTV  that he's paying with his unemployment check while his baby's mommas are going hungry. That's what irritates me.

So what is the point in checking peoples credibility, if you sell them the stuff anyways? Appaerently bascially everybody can buy these expensive products if a unemployed person can.

And I am surprised that you are actually the person doing the credit checks... me being from Germany, I have not heard of such things here.

And That Guy, you are critisizing that poor people in the United States are living above their means and buying expensive products. You have also correctly stated yourself, that this is in part also caused the credit crisis.

But you seem to forget that this consumption-mentality is what kept Americas economy growing for such a long time. And now that the little growth-miracle ended, people complain.
That doesn't sound fair to me. I think until very recently everybody was quite happy with that system...

lol just because you do, what you do, you suddenly think that you understand people better and therefore you make judgements like the ones you have made in this thread!

I always found it weird how some people with power/might turn bad. I mean if a job like yours makes you feel this way, it is then no wonder why most powerful men/women, like kings and presidents, think they know what is best for everyone.

I think a lot of poor are born in poor circumstances. If you were born in the inner city and went to a gang ridden school where you didn learn anything, you have a lot less opportunity to better yourself. Thats no excuse for stupid financial decisions though, not buying an iphone with your unemployment check should be common sense that everyone from a doctor to janitor should understand.

I think the problem with people buying things they cant afford is a part of a bigger problem with American society in general. Americans want instant self-gratification, and they have no qualms putting future stability and prosperity at risk in order to do so.