00:00Also, going back to a comment you made about not just doing the data, because I think that is the issue when we talk about poverty and inequality.
00:08Sometimes the terms seem abstract and we're dealing with numbers.
00:11But what I love in one of your chapters is you talk about what one mother said she would do with the $500 and how she wanted it in the summer.
00:22So you get little nuances and information that you wouldn't get just by asking about the numbers.
00:29So can you talk about that anecdote a little bit and what you would do with that money?
00:34No, that was the biggest takeaway for me when we started, because I'm a nerd.
00:38So I was like, let's get this data, let's keep it moving.
00:41But I was like, it might work.
00:44I know some people, so I know some people that wouldn't work for it too.
00:47So I was like, I didn't come in thinking this was the solution.
00:50I came in and committed to solving a problem.
00:52But then we started doing these listening sessions.
00:53And the first person we talked to was this woman I'm talking about in the book.
00:57And I was like, what would you do with $500?
00:58And she was like, I would rather have it in the summer than the winter.
01:04And I was like, okay, but that's interesting.
01:08I didn't know there was a seasonal difference for when cash matters.
01:11So I said, why the summer?
01:13And then she said, I mean, I struggle year-round, but she said the summer is most acute because my kids come home from school.
01:19And she said, I don't want them to feel stressed about coming home.
01:22I love the fact that they come home, but I feel stressed because my grocery bills go up, my light bill goes up, my AC goes up, my entertainment budget goes up, and my wages don't.
01:33And she said, so it's a very stressful time for me in the summer.
01:36And I was like, wow.
01:38And it was shocking for a couple of reasons.
01:41Number one, I mean, there's always hubris that comes when you're in a position.
01:46So number one is a reminder that you don't know everything, and you can't think for 300,000 people.
01:51Like, there's no, because I was like, I wouldn't have thought of that.
01:55And I was like, well, of course you wouldn't.
01:56It's not your life.
01:57Like, so I was the first thing, like, yo, like, maybe you should trust people to think for themselves.
02:01You don't need to think about everything for everyone.
02:04And then number two, it just made so much sense in the context of her life.
02:07Like, it was something I hadn't anticipated, but it wasn't like, I don't believe you, or it wasn't like, that's crazy.
02:13It was like, damn, that makes hella sense.
02:15Like, give her this money.
02:17Like, let her play for her AC bill.
02:19And there was countless stories and stories like that before we even gave out the money.
02:24And then when we gave out the money, the stories were even more.
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