The Working Poor: Invisible in America

In Chapter Seven of the book The Working poor: Invisible in America the author talks about Tom and Kara King. They have a family of three kids, two of the older sons are from Kara's ex-husband and the younger daughter is Tom and Kara's. Kara has been through a tough time with money because she has had cancer and had to have a bone marrow transplant. Tom and Kara don't have extra money but once in a while they like to treat themselves and the kids to a restaurant meal. They scrapped up enough money over a period of weeks and ended up going to eat at a truck stop where the portions were very big. When Kara asked for  the check the waitress told her that a man at the bar had already paid it. This caused Kara to become furious because she does not like pity. When she got home she was still worked up about it and called the truck stop to talk to the man. Kara said that he said "We were so close-knit, and he was a truck driver on the road a lot and just wanted to do something for us. He was touched. This man couldn't believe we could laugh at life like that".

This story caught my attention right away because it is something that you don't see everyday. A truck driver overhearing a poor family's conversation and deciding to buy their meal. This is a very kind gesture towards a poor family who never gets a break with bills or any type of money situation. Kara remembered the truck driver saying that he counted that her children told her they loved her twenty times. The truck driver who never gets to see his family probably paid for the meal as if it was his family.