There is a lot to unpack in that story. It is a good story by the way.
I too was a starving college student working minimum wage jobs to supplement my PEL grant and a small scholarship. I graduated at age 22 with a decent old car, a bicycle, a bed, a chest of drawers and a stereo with turntable and cassette deck, some LP and tapes, two handguns and some reloading equipment. I did not have a TV. All through college I did not have a phone. I am not talking about a cell phone. If I wanted to call anyone, I had to use a payphone. Nobody could call me. I had $5,000 in student loan debt. This was 1980. Financially it has been onward and upwards from there. I did not get married until I was 30 and I already owned a house when I got married. I have had late fees refunded; I have never been overdrawn but sometimes because of forgetfulness I was late paying a bill. One off, first time late fees sometimes you can get them cancelled with just a phone call.
The stacking for overdraft fees at banks was a thing for a while but there was a lawsuit or congress did something, but banks are not allowed to do that anymore or at least the most egregiously offensive versions of that bank scam. It has also gone away because few people write checks anymore and you can make it so your debit card can't be overdrawn.
I guess I have had relationships with my banker. Not that I desire that but they want to. They want me to keep my money there and use their products. The banks give me cash rewards to open accounts with them and the larger the opening balance the more the reward.
I know a little about how some poor people live. I used to deliver newspapers door to door and some of my customers might not have $1.60 they owed me when I came to collect. I never had any rich friends. My friends were like me or poorer, sometimes much poorer. Some places I shop or do business, I have been on a first name basis with the help but most places the staff turns over too fast to get to know them. The one place it would be easy to get to know the help would be where I get my hair cut, you can make appointments with your preferred stylist. I don't, I don't need that attention. Almost anyone can cut my hair fine. Since the pandemic, I have been cutting my own hair. I am sure they do a better job, and I will likely go back to having someone cut my hair but really, it's a bother to have to go get it done when I can just do it.
My stepchildren have sometimes had a hard time making ends meet. I know a little about their lives and we have helped them when they really needed it and even sometimes when they did not need it but when it could make a big difference. I gave one stepdaughter the down payment for a condo. Both my wives for the most part refused to spoil their kids so except for that down payment thing they got what they needed and maybe a little more and that was it.
Being poor today seems to be at a higher bar. Poor people today have cell phones, get food stamps, have TV and a computer or video game system. I guess those are the working poor that I know. I don't know any of the homeless people who live in tents under the highway.
TEK
