Teen Poverty in America

[liberal N proud]

I just spent several hours observing teenagers
hanging out at our local
mall. I came to the conclusion many teenagers in
America today are living in
poverty. Most young men I observed didn't even own
a belt; there was not one
among the whole group.

But that wasn't the sad part. Many were wearing
their daddy's jeans. Some
jeans were so big and baggy they hung low on their
hips, exposing their
underwear. I know some must have been ashamed
their daddy was short, because
his jeans hardly went below their knees. They
weren't even their daddies'
good jeans, for most had holes ripped in the knees
and a dirty look
to them.

It grieved me, in a modern, affluent society like
America, there are people
who can't afford a decent pair of jeans. I was
thinking about asking my
church to start a jeans drive for "poor kids at
the mall." Then on Christmas
Eve, I could go Christmas caroling and distribute
jeans to these poor
teenagers.

But here is the saddest part..... it was the girls
they were hanging out
with that disturbed me most. I never, in all of my
life, seen such poverty
stricken girls. These girls had the opposite
problem of the guys they all
had to wear their little sisters clothes. Their
jeans were about 5
sizes too small! I don't know how they could put
them on, let alone button
them up. Their jeans barely went over their
hipbones. Most also had on their
little sister's top; it hardly covered
their midsections.

Oh, they were trying to hold their heads up with
pride, but it was a sad
sight to see these almost grown women wearing
children's clothes.

However, it was their underwear that bothered me
most. They, like the boys,
because of the improper fitting of their clothes,
had their underwear
exposed. I never saw anything like it. It looked
like their underwear was
only held together by a single piece of string.

I know it saddens your heart to receive this
report on condition of our
American teenagers. While I go to bed every night
with a closet full of
clothes nearby, there are millions of "mall girls"
who barely have enough
material to keep it together. I think their
"poorness" is why these 2 groups
gather at the mall, boys with their short daddies'
ripped jeans, and girls
wearing their younger sisters' clothes. The mall
is one place where they can
find acceptance. So, next time
you are at the mall, doing your shopping , and you
pass by some of these
poor teenagers, would you say a prayer for them?

And one more thing ... Will you pray the guys'
pants won't fall down, and
girls' strings won't break?

[hickman1937]

1. Maybe in my next life.

but then again, I'll probably come back as nail polish.