Why do some poor people seem to be okay with filth?

Kevin XC wrote:

At the homes of some of my poorer friends and relatives I have seen some pretty shocking living conditions...garbage overflowing, filth everywhere. The thought of eating food coming out of their kitchen is almost nauseating.

How can people stand to live like this? Do they just not care?

0/10

Why do some wealthy people seem to be okay with filth? Why do some middle class people seem to be okay with filth?

General Tso wrote:

Why do some wealthy people seem to be okay with filth? Why do some middle class people seem to be okay with filth?

I have never seen a rich/middle class people with filth anywhere near to what I have seen in some poorer households.

Kevin XC wrote:

General Tso wrote:

Why do some wealthy people seem to be okay with filth? Why do some middle class people seem to be okay with filth?

I have never seen a rich/middle class people with filth anywhere near to what I have seen in some poorer households.

There is likely a greater incidence of filth in the homes or poor people, but there are wealthy people and on down who live that way also. Being poor isn't something that you have to accept long term. Sometimes it is a person's personality that keeps them poor. Part of that is being able to make oneself presentable for job opportunities. Howard Hughes was a mess and lived in filth much of his adult life.

I'm 25 make 120k a year and live in filth.

Boooooooooooooo!

BigDawg69 wrote:

I'm 25 make 120k a year and live in filth.

LIES

Kevin XC wrote:

General Tso wrote:

Why do some wealthy people seem to be okay with filth? Why do some middle class people seem to be okay with filth?

I have never seen a rich/middle class people with filth anywhere near to what I have seen in some poorer households.

It is not normal but I recently found out that a guy I work with was living in filthy conditions. I work in IT so we make good money, both of us over 100K. This guy had a friend who had to intervene and get him help; hired a cleaning service to come weekly. But, pretty sure there was some depression at play with him. He is an intelligent guy but pretty socially awkward.

I'm convinced that people who grow up poor develop some kind of sensory or processing deficit that prevents them from even recognizing filth. It's not that they know they are living in filth and don't care. They legitimately don't even see it.

This is the only conceivable explanation for the things I've seen from the poor half of my family. They can take a shower and not even register the fact that the walls and curtain are covered with black mold. I'll be like "hey, y'know you could get rid of all that just by spraying some Clorox around. No work required, just let the bleach do its job," and their response is "get rid of what?"

Poor people have more pressing concerns than aesthetics.

Why do the poor disproportionately smell like stale menthol cigarette smoke?

lol

Rich people are also cool with it. They don’t clean it as well. They pay the poor to do it

BigDawg69 wrote:

I'm 25 make 120k a year and live in filth.

I have a maid named Consuela who comes in once a week. Cleans up my filth. Thats how I roll.

hopelessness...lacking hope is an awful thing

Kevin XC wrote:

At the homes of some of my poorer friends and relatives I have seen some pretty shocking living conditions...garbage overflowing, filth everywhere. The thought of eating food coming out of their kitchen is almost nauseating.

How can people stand to live like this? Do they just not care?

Because it's easy to be "lazy." It's hard to get up early, clean your house, work at finding a career, learn, grow, challenge yourself, and get fit.

People focus on willingness/ability to clean when discussing this topic, but individuals also vary in their affinity for creating filth in the first place. I think the latter is what really makes the difference.

I have a brother who lives in filth, while I am reasonably clean. I don't really devote much time to actively housecleaning, but I just don't really make messes in the first place.

For example, if I want a glass of orange juice, I pour the juice, put the OJ container back in the fridge, drink my juice, and then put the glass in the dishwasher. If I happen to spill a few drops at some point during the process, I take the 5 seconds necessary to wipe it up with a dishcloth right then and there. Three minutes after pouring my juice, no sign remains that I even had a glass of OJ.

If my brother has a glass of OJ, on the other hand, he leaves both the used glass and half-empty OJ container wherever they happened to be sitting when he was done with them. If he spilled a bit, he just leaves it there. A week later, his now moldy OJ glass is still sitting somewhere in his bedroom and there is still a sticky spot on the counter where he spilled while filling said glass.

Multiply the above by the hundreds of individual small messes one could create in a day, and my brother is living in filth while I am living in a clean home.

As far as how this relates to poor people, I guess more detail oriented people are likely to not be big mess makers while more scattered people are likely to leave messes. This might have some imperfect correlation with earning potential

They're not okay with it, they're just too lazy to do anything about it.

TAA wrote:

They're not okay with it, they're just too lazy to do anything about it.

There are wealthy hoarders who live inn filth. I saw one on Dr. Phil. He diagnosed it as a mental condition.

This person gets it. I would hire him.