When diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the first thing my father asked his doctor was, “Do you know where I can buy cheap glucose monitor strips?” That’s right. My father is even looking to find a bargain for his health. I don’t know if he or my mother have ever paid full price for anything in their lives. They certainly haven’t for anything in my life. My mother used to let us drink coke down to the point where there was a little bit left in the bottle and then she’d water up the rest and claim it was brand new. When they used to buy me gym shoes, they bought me a pair from Payless and claimed they were just as good any pair of Nikes and Reeboks the other kids at school wore. The other kids at school mocked me and then mocked me even more when my cheap shoes ripped apart while I was running the track. Then there was the year my generic, cheap jeans finally got severely bleached out in the wash to the point that they all became white. They started off as blue and black. My favorite memory is my parents telling me only rich people got licensed to drive when they didn’t want to pay for me to even go to driving school.