I’d like to comment on this, but I’ll give a little background first.
A while after we were married my husband’s arthritis worsened and he became completely disabled. Unfortunately we had moved to a very small town in hopes of one day being able to afford something better. I worked as long as I could, but we’re so far from a proper town that gas to a decent job would take a lot of my paycheck. We’ve never been able to save any money, so moving is most likely out for good.
All the churches around here are some version of Protestant fundamentalist. The nearest Catholic church is too far away for me to attend, even on a very part-time basis. There is a library here, but with no Catholic or even mainline Protestant material.
As far as I know, there is one Catholic couple in town, but I don’t know if they go to church. I’ve tried all the churches around several times, but they can’t help. I horribly miss being able to go to Mass, especially the Eucharist.
In short, the only exposure to Catholicism I have is through the internet. There is no McDonald’s here. The library offers internet, but with only a part-time librarian its hours are very limited.
Most of the Mom and Pop stores around here are too expensive for us so we use the internet to buy many of the items we need, as well as presents for our kids’ birthdays and Christmases. (Hubby and I usually don’t give each other anything, or something very small).
There is absolutely nothing for kids to do around here except to hang out at each others’ houses, or around downtown, or the park, when the police allow it. And the schools are pretty bad. So the kids acquire much of their entertainment and a fair share of their outside knowledge through the internet. Even books, because the library is very limited. We can’t afford as many books as we would like but there are many great classics on the 'net.
In short, I pray to God we can always afford the internet because it’s pretty much the only way to overcome the isolation of a dreary, narrow, limited small town that is likely to remain that way because so many of the residents think the last good decade was the '50’s.
And yes, I know people did survive, and quite well, before the webs. But gas was more affordable then so I’d probably be able to get my kids to Mass and a good library.
Please forgive me for the rant. I’m sure many others are in the same situation, though, and I know from experience, that you can’t really understand what it’s like to be poor until you’ve been there. If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for reading!
