You misunderstand what it means to be poor

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by filleduchaos on Friday November 14, 2025 @05:03PM (#45932702)

I have had to do actual loads of laundry (for a household, and not just clothes - towels, beddings, and more), entirely by hand, no laundromat or friend with access to a machine, which is why I ask.

It is both back-breaking and time-intensive especially if you are trying to get clean laundry not just "smells of detergent" laundry. And especially if there's someone who does manual labour in the household - getting heavy stains out effectively doubles your workload. There are many people who cannot just "try not to dirty" their clothes.

I am not trying to downplay your experience. But student poverty and poverty in the adult world without all the cushioning of a campus are very different kettles of fish.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by mc32 on Friday November 14, 2025 @06:06PM (#45933215)

It is —but there are also the Amish and others like them who do lots of things manually and try to avoid many modern conveniences. I don’t think they live poor lives. Definitely better than the poor in the countryside who don’t have the same ingrained customs who often need government help.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by Paradigm2020 on Friday November 14, 2025 @08:02PM (#45934103)

97% of amish use washing machines...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish

There is a reason

See also Ted talk about best invention ever by factfulness guy

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by mc32 on Friday November 14, 2025 @09:20PM (#45934501)

That is higher than I thought --however, they are not using modern ones, they use the wringer type where you have to wring the water from the washed clothes a couple of times.

[ Parent | on HN ]