This is so true. This has happened to me a thousand times, maybe a million times. Poverty makes you invisible. People only see you when you have value to offer them. That's why I hate it so much and I'm trying so hard to change my situation, at least for a better and more dignified life. I am working so hard even with a broken phone, sometimes it works and sometimes it stops, but I keep trying. Your plant example is perfect. As we say in Arabic: "How beautiful is the poor person, and how ugly is poverty itself." Thank you for writing this, it really touched me