Actions/Decisions
During the simulation, my name was Larry Luicci and I was 37 years old. I worked at a
plant, earning $330 per week. I had a wife, a 15 year old daughter and a disabled (partial
paralysis) father-in-law. I had monthly standard expenses around $1600, which included
mortgage payments, groceries, car loan payments, clothes and utility bills that are almost equal
to my family income. I had to make a couple of hard decisions to feed my family and to stay in
our home. My first decision was to pay a 20% charge on my paycheck to buy groceries for my
family. Since I do not have savings account, the bank charged me 20% on my paycheck. I had to
make that decision because if I opened an account and deposited the check, it would take another
couple of days for my check encashment. That would delay getting groceries and keep me from
feeding my family. My second decision was to pay my mortgage payment. Though I had been
working hard at plant, they would not pay me until I had been working there for a week. Since I
Ramesh Ranganatham Poverty Simulation Reflection
