poverty: a retrospective

i don't care how idealistic you might be: money is good.

mb and i spent the weekend back in madison visiting college friends, and over drinks were reminiscing about the things we did to get through several years spent living on skimpy financial aid checks. turns out i made it relatively unscathed - i didn't call it "poverty;" i called it "vegetarian." others didn't fare so well; mb's friend chad tells a funny story about months gone by without heat one winter because he had just bought an engagement ring and his roommate decided that a bmw xz-something was really worth $80,000. mb himself lists an impressive array of luxurious make-ends-meet jobs including chicken farmer, can factory worker, box factory worker (to this day he claims to be able to distinguish single from double-corrugated eyes closed), and opener of little milk cartons as elementary school assistant janitor (for children who, although young, clearly and demeaningly understood the class structure separating the milk drinkers from milk openers).

so now we find ourselves in our first jobs that make more money than our previous positions as supper club waitress and mattress maker. granted, it's not much by city standards, what with the beautiful people who wear nike cashmere tracksuits to take out the trash. but we're thrilled with the ability to go out for dinner besides to subway. so i found it odd when, in an attempt to be healthier during a busy work week, i made a pot of lentils and couscous for us to use for lunches, and mb returned two days later telling me his coworkers were all making fun of him for his depression-era meals. turns out they've noticed we eat like this a lot, and are concerned that mb must need a raise because we can't feed ourselves better than canned beans.

now, in my defense, clearly they haven't tried my lentils. i'm a pretty decent cook, and anything flavored with wine, bacon and tony chachere's cajun seasoning is a good thing. but where i sputteringly protest, "but this isn't poor-people food! come on, i can finally afford the couscous and bacon!", mb has decided to revel in his newfound pauper role. he requests more trappings of poverty so he can keep up his new work image.

is there such thing as "nouveau-poor"?
and can i help him pull this off without resorting to spam?