I was an 11 year old kid playing Sega,
When my grandmother sent me to the corner Bodega,
with a piece of white money paper,
I paused the game and asked to keep the
change,
But, what happened next will forever be ingrained in my brain,(pause)
As I stood in the aisle, next to the potato chips and dip,
I see this pretty girl named Chris,
Now Chris was always dressed in the best, her parents were taught to invest,
she had the olympic air jordans, Tommy Hilfiger set, and a north face vest,
I was so impressed,
Me, I was shy,
and 5 years younger, so I didn't say hi,
I wanted to just admire from a distance,
So I stood in the back to watch and listen,
Then my older brother entered the store,
reached into his pocket, grabbed his wallet and something fell on the floor,
It was a pack of white paper money,
Chris picked it up and gave it back,
She said, "That's funny",
Then she pulled out a green paper 20,
And says. "This is the money that you get when your parents have a real job,
Boy you are on food stamps, coupons,"
I looked down at my hand, and
Started to sob,
"The Haves and The Have Nots"(pause)
There I was,
Next to the honey buns with the cinnamon swirls
An inner city kid living in A Different World.
Standing in the back of the store, it was too obvious to ignore,
The first time I realized we were poor.