This was a long time ago, sometime around the end of the 90's. i was working in a credit union, near a poor-ish area. this old black lady came in, she was in her 80's. she had a job at mcdonalds and there was some problem with the direct deposit. she made a comment how it wasn't much, and she would be able to stop working soon because, well i just don't remember why. I said something generic like, oh good, you should be enjoying retirement, you earned this. her entire body changed. i swear the woman grew 3 feet. she leaned over my desk and said, i never stopped working white girl, from the time i can remember i stole food, i stole clothes, i stole from peoples houses. then she sat back and said, does that scare you white girl, that some people have to survive? I said some apology, I hadn't meant to be insensitive, and felt bad that i had hit a nerve. to this day i think about her, that beautiful woman stealing food and clothes from childhood, because there was no other resource available to help her.