Ocean Vuong

And, you know, the myth for myself is,

was to be a business person because that's just what I thought where money was.

So like when I was 15, I thought I was working in a tobacco farm.

For cash, it was no Uncle Sam, no taxation, under the table, $9.50 an hour, way better than minimum wage, which is $7.15.

And it was so interesting.

We lived in HUD housing, section eight.

And my mother sat me down one day and said, son, I crunched the numbers and you need to get a job.

You're about to be 16, but you got to just work at McDonald's.

So can you imagine what happened to American Dream, upward mobility, do what you want, follow your destiny, right?

I'm like, what?

Excuse me?

And she's like, no, no, no.

You can't even be the manager.

You need to just be minimum wage because if you make any more, we'll be kicked out.

And we won't be able to afford an apartment on the open market.

So...

Upward mobility could render you homeless.

And then it clicked.

I said, oh, no wonder every other teenager in my neighborhood is a drug dealer.

Because if you're a child to a single mom, and there were daughters and sons in that too, if you're a child to a single mother and you want to help her out,