Livin' in the Trailerhood

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Recommended: Stigma in modern society

I have lived in the same trailer park my whole life. As a result, I have had to deal with people treating me differently after they find out where I live. Many people jump to the conclusion that I am poor. Although at times, money has been tight I would never classify myself as poor. My family has always been able to provide for me. Other people assume that my family must be living off of welfare. I can also say that my family has never received welfare. Despite the fact that some people match those stereotypes, everybody should not be lumped together with them. I have met multiple people who also live in trailer parks, and most of them do not fall into the stereotypical categories associated with them. People should not be judged based on where they live.
The most common stereotype associated with people who live in trailer parks is that everybody is poor. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau stated, only 9.5 percent of the American population lived in mobile homes (Rector and Sheffield). As I said before I would never classify my family as poor. Sometimes my parents wouldn’t be able to afford the extra things we wanted, but they always provided the necessities. Not being able to afford the brand new toys and games that us kids wanted doesn’t mean that we were poor. It just means that we didn’t live above our income. Some people who live near me are older people who have to spend their money sparingly because they only get money once a month. Would they like to live in a house on some land? Of course they would. Is it a real possibility on their monthly income? Not likely. Their best option is to live in a mobile home because it is more affordable. Then there is John and his wife....

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... that is always there for each other. If a person needs help, everybody does their best to give whatever they can, whether that is money or just a helping hand. Also it is refreshing to show people that they can’t lump everybody into the same box of stereotypes. We need to look beyond stereotypes to the “real people”.

Works Cited

DeFino, Dean. “From Trailer Trash to Trailer Park Boys.” Post Script. 28.3 (2009): 47. General OneFile. Web. 24 Apr. 2014
“Michigan Department of Human Services, Partners Take on Welfare Myths Launch Statewide Welfare 101: Busting Myths About Welfare Campaign.” States News Service. 1 Apr. (2010): General OneFile. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Rector, Robert and Sheffield, Rachel. “Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor.” The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation. 13 Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

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