Powerful piece, Ms. Ryan; an incredibly powerful, soul-wrenching piece.

I am presently left utterly speechless by your testament. Wished, however, to offer my sincere gratitude for penning this column.

Had I the financial means to do so, I would dearly love to print out copies of this by the ream - and affix to every jet-black suv I happen across.

Thank you for one of the more thought-provoking columns I've read during my 12 years a Salon reader.

I'm glad that Heather was able to get what she needed from the Food Bank and the soup kitchen. I'm more glad that she is able to better support herself now.

My question is why was it more reasonable for her to swallow her pride and go to the soup kitchen rather than reach out to her friends who ended up helping her anyway? Why is it more reasonable that the federal government needs to do more rather than accessing family, friends, and local resources?

If you think her situation is too tough, go to trickleup.org or kiva.org and see how something that is small for a US resident can be huge for someone else in becoming self-sufficient.

This piece brought up some pretty rough memories. My Mom worked too, and hard. I worried about money before I was old enough to know what I was worried about. The working poor are excluded from so many state benefits by dint of earning an income that often doesn't cover till the end of the month. When you work hard all week at a so-called decent job and still can't make ends meet, it's hard not to succumb to anger and despair.

I applaud the author for channeling her troubles into writing an article that should serve to wake readers up to the harsh reality that it is not just the unemployed who need support. A first step here in Canada would be universal day-care, which was in the works under the Liberals, but was nixed by Harper's conservatives in return for a paltry tax break.

and get your child support payments increased.

What in the world? Is he underemployed? Why are his support payments for 3 children less than $600 a month?

I am really impressed with your ability to make ends meet without any help. I'm sorry you're not getting more help from your children's father.

There is no shame in getting your children fed at a soup kitchen. They will learn to be resourceful.

I'll never forget the shame of being in Sunday school while visiting my grandparents and being asked if we knew what salvation was. Well acquainted as i was, I said - "you mean the Salvation Army- we have dinner there sometimes."There was a long silence .

My mother worked fulltime, .Why did we feel shame ? 42% of single moms and kids live below the poverty level, so it seems to be quite common.What kind of country not only doesn't pay a living wage but also doles out shame and stigmatization for not being able to get by ?

Years ago when I was working at a major medical research center I was horrified to learn that a secretary in my department sold her blood on a regular basis for grocery money. Since then the disparity in wages between executives and those at the bottom of the economic ladder has gotten worse. The working poor are everywhere.

While Ms. Ryan is undenably plucky, I don't quite understand what sort of job she thought she was going to get with a degree in creative writing--there's just not a big job market in Oregon for creative writers.

Since she teaches at a university now, was this trip to the soup kitchen a single event? Did she really have no other options for childcare other than spending $1800 a month?

Brie says you like cheese. Honestly, there's no admissions exam for cheese.

It's only getting worse with this economy. People who think others should be making it when they have jobs at the bottom of the ladder are kidding themselves. Those waiters, secretaries, teachers, hair stylists, etc. are NOT making it. Be nice to them next time you see them. They won't tell you they're struggling, but they are.

... don't load it up too much, now. People share food. Even chimpanzees share food. Sharing means caring. It's okay.

for breeders, or for brie-eaters. Go to a dairy farm and ask yourself if you'd want your own children imprisoned as milking machines. You can feed yourself and your 3 children a healthy vegan diet for about $5 per day (for all 4 of you).

Thank you, Heather, for this beautiful essay.

And, ideefixed: $1800/month for childcare for three kids is a great price. There's no way Heather could find reliable, safe care for less than that.

...but I suspect we would have dined here a few times if one was in proximity. I'm sure I would have been mortified and traumatized, and my school class would have found out somehow through the accidental blabbering of an absent-minded parent volunteer (because that's how it works in such places). As if already taunted and beaten kids need that extra stress! :)

(Speaking of which, remember how the reduced and free lunch tickets were distinctly different in color than full-priced ones, to ensure all your peers in the lunch line were informed of your family's financial situation? Were all school administrators such sadistic fucks?)

We usually had Reagan cheese in the refrigerator...I think my mom traded discounted products from her volunteer work at the local co-op for government coupons and provisions from her local Native American friends' benefits to balance out our pantry. One in a while, dad would surprise us with artichokes or steak to break the monotony of brown rice casseroles and bulgur wheat salads.

To Ms. Ryan: I would only say, don't apologize for that brie. If anything, just promise yourself you'll even it out by abstaining from crap. Fancy-pants sustenance like an occasional wedge of pricey cheese is a small luxury we all need sometimes.

So does Starbuck's. So do John McCain's $300-plus loafers.

I grew up in a large family, whose only income came from a father in the Navy, then in a civilian blue-collar job. I thought Kraft Dinner was a luxury food. I was an ugly kid who didn't have money or fashion at a time when money and fashion was all that could make an ugly kid acceptable.

Today, I'm doing the same kind of job my father did, but with no hope of retirement or getting ahead of debt. I'm looking forward to dying while on the job, because dying after I'm forced out of it will be pretty damn uncomfortable. And like Ms. Ryan, I have a degree and I'm literate, but unlike her I KNOW it doesn't mean a thing in the world of Trumps and Gates's and Bushes.

I avoid the places where they sell pretentious French cheese and yuppie gourmet crap like that. I'm afraid if I saw someone actually buying it, I'd have to punch his or her face until my hands were soaked in his or her blood.