POVERTY STRICKEN

I've recently started an internship at a magazine which I am working at FOR FREE. I am their personal slave. It's bad enough that all the girls that work there are decked out in Prada shoes and I'm sporting my payless Bobo sneakers. To top it off, they are complaining because their paychecks are a day late. One girl (we'll call her Lisa)actually makes a joke and says, "It's ok, we'll just work for free this week." I grit my teeth thinking how I'll be working here for free for the next four months.

One of my many mindless tasks today was to subscribe to our online competitors based in New York. In order to do so I simply fill out my e-mail, my name address etc... Then there is that annoying question at the bottom, in which there are five or six options that you may use the scroll button to select. By now, 'I've filled several of these income questions, always scrolling past the "over 250,000 mark", all the way down to select the under $30,000 option. On this particular list however, there was no under 30,000. The only other option past 30,000 was the words : poverty stricken.

If there was ever something that could really just ruin your day so early in the morning, that was it. I don't even think getting a speeding ticket on the way to work could top it. Only in New York could under 30K be Poverty Stricken. I mean, should I be sleeping in a cardboard box and frequenting the soup kitchen?

I suddenly knew how an old person felt when asked for their age. That over 60 selection has got to be rough. However, I do believe they have it easier than my slap in the face. I have yet to see a Nearing Death option on the age requirement list.