Well, if most accounts are correct, being "American poor" means you may have to endure, or at least seriously worry about, things like frequently missing meals,

Well, if most accounts are correct, being "American poor" means you may have to endure, or at least seriously worry about, things like frequently missing meals, going without important and relatively basic healthcare, being forced to live in a dangerous neighbourhood, and even homelessness. It might not make you one of the world's poorest people, but it seems you can quite easily experience a pretty meaningful level of absolute poverty in the US, not just find yourself poorer than others in the country. And this is worsened by the fact that certain "non-essential" things like mobile phone service, Internet access or even a working and fuelled-up automobile may be essential to keeping your access to paid work.