Melanie Scheller's On The Meaning Of Plumbing And Poverty

In the essay On the Meaning of Plumbing and Poverty, author Melanie Scheller touches on the idea of identity in terms of the poor as well as the treatment they receive. Scheller herself grew up living with her widowed mother and six children in whatever broken-down home they could afford (Scheller 320) . She begins this essay by tying her observance of an elderly woman that goes to the bathroom and flushes the toilet routinely to her growing up without an indoor plumbing system, because during her childhood those that did not have these facilities were considered poor. Basically, if you were poor then you were worthless and would not have a future. Throughout her essay, Scheller tells her stories of having to share a small home with many people, being judged by assumptions, and being

The way Scheller speaks to a reader is insightful, she gets in your head and makes you take on the persona of a child from this lifestyle. Then, she steps over and has you see the effects that teasing and shaming these children can do. She sets up a real life situation that you follow the journey of and step in the shoes of those struggling. It is easy to read, because you can see yourself on either side of the scenario, rather you are the bully or the victim. Scheller’s argument is logical, because these people should not feel ashamed of something they cannot change overnight. It is wrong to judge others without walking in their shoes first. She makes this argument prevalent when she says that “people whose children think they deserve the conditions in which they live and hold their heads low to hide the shame. But they’re not the ones who should feel ashamed. No, they’re not the ones who should feel ashamed”(Scheller 323). She is saying this to get those that pick on people living in poverty to see that they are the one’s hurting the people and they should not be cruel when they do not know the situations at