Reflection 8: The Reality Many Americans Face

By: Makaila Gaston

I went to Playspent.org and played the game three times. The way that the game works is you begin by choosing a job which has varying pay and varying hours. You then select what type of health coverage you want with varying prices per month and co-pays. After that, you go through 30 days of life. Realistic things happen to you such as bills, unexpected repairs, childcare expenses, etc.

This was very interesting because of how realistic it is. One thing my father says is, “what can happen, will happen,” and this game was a manifestation of exactly that. Life can and will throw anything at you. It was difficult because not only were there so many unexpected expenses, but there wasn’t a lot of disposable income to begin with and that is what the game was trying to present.

Typically when we see representation of poverty, a lot of times it is single parents or young people. I assume that the person this simulation was based on was a singing parent seeing as they were expected to pay for everything for the child. When represented in the media, if the person is young then its seen as comical and typical, while if they are a single parent its seen as more serious and drastic.

This reminded me of myself because I typically stick to a very strict budget and live by the phrase, “what can happen, will happen,” which I believe this game encompasses. For example, in the game when I opted for the player to hold off on getting her car’s registration renewed, it was then impounded and more expenses were incurred with that and its a never ending cycle. I have experience with this never ending cycle. This relates to the real world because this is what people face on a daily basis. Most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and do not have a rainy day fund for when the unexpected happens.