The Plague & Privilege of Childhood Poverty

Whatever Whitey.

 

White guilt.

 

Thank you

 

White guilt now corrupted with power.

 

He did test out as Emperor Palpatine. Just sayin'.

 

Welp.

I guess me at jt have to duke it out for who gets to be vader.

 

I think growing up with less motivated me to work toward having more. I know that comes across as being materialistic, but I think it's more competitive in nature; a desire to achieve more.

 

To me, at this point in my life I can talk about it and laugh, but there was a point in my life, late teens-early 20's when I hated my parents for living in a crummy house in a crummy neighborhood. I was embarrassed to ever bring a girl home etc.... My dad is gone now and we made peace but, as a late teen and young adult we didn't get along too well basically because I was an ******* about the way things were.

 

No doubt it did. If you've never had the fear of being poor and out on the street you can't possibly have the same work ethic unless you are just wired that way. Knowing that if you screw up you can always borrow $5k from mommy and daddy just doesn't make turn you into a scrapper.

 

It's interesting I had the house that all my friends would go "wow this is where you live?" On the other hand my parents were always extended financially and spending way too much. One week they'd buy my brother a car. Next week my father would throw a shitfit and say we couldn't afford it and sell it. It was like this constantly. My wife's parents made far less money but she had her college paid for completely while I had to work. Something to be said for people who live within their means.

 

We lived in a built onto 1970's house trailer with wood heat. Parents still live in it and they make above 100,000 a year together now.

 

I have definitely been pretty fortunate, but it was never hard to appreciate what I had because my dad absolutely busted his ass to give me and my brother more opportunities than he had. My dad didn't go to college and has done well enough to put us through school debt free, I'm eternally grateful for that but in my mind I will be a failure if I can't give my kids everything my dad gave me and more considering I've had infinitely more opportunities.

 

I have the utmost respect for people who live simple and within their means. Absolutely a lost art.

 

Livesd in a single wide until I was 16. We were very poor but I didn't know it. A couple of nights I remember sleeping on mattresses in the living room and my dad would sit up all night with the kerosene heater. I remember coming home and have notices from the electric or cable company tied to the door. But I was blessed to go to private school. My mom worked there as a teacher and turned her check, plus more, over to the school to cover our tuition. We were blessed to always be going on field trips, our tuition included gymnastics, ballet, piano lessons and basketball. I'll never repay my parents for that. During that time my dad purchased a business and the only thing we can figure now is te books were doctored because we never touched the profits that the previous owners did and eventually filed bankruptcy.

We owned the property we lived on and my parents were about to sign at the bank on a brand new double wide (60k or so) and the banker called n wanted us to look at one the bank had just gotten a town over. The floor plan was the one my mom had wanted years earlier but couldn't afford. We were able to get this one for 22k. It was delivered on my 16th birthday. We still own that and it's home but is used as a rental to family members, as there is a parsonage available to my dad at this church.

Within 3 years my dad was in a position where he had to resign our home church, subsequently my mom was asked to resign from teaching. Luckily my brother n I had graduated. That year we took a 15-20k pay cut, but as a result I ended up qualifying for ample aid to attend a private Christian college, the only one I ever applied to. The Lord worked some things out and I graduated with about 5k in debt.

Tl;dr. I know.

 

Yup. I still had it far better than the vast majority and to be clear I'm not upset for myself at all. It's only when I know my dad can't really retire and such and I think about all the money that went out the door for no reason that I get upset. On the other hand it made me extremely conservative with my money and I'll probably retire far far younger than my father will.

 

I grew up in what I thought was middle class. Looking back now we were probably upper-middle if not rich compared to others where we lived. My father grew up dirt poor but had terrific parents, lucked into a great situation, busted his tail, and did very well. My mom grew up ok, but had no parental support. Had a decent job but could have probably done much better considering her mother told her not to go to college and go get a job. They sacrificed a lot for me, that like everyone else, I took for granted until I was old enough to realize it.

I can't speak for others, but I do have an underlying drive that I have to be successful, otherwise my parents did everything they did for naught. What I don't want to be is one of those who wasted the opportunity I was given. I refuse.

 

One of my mom's favorite stories about me was in kindergarten, we had to draw where we lived. I drew our single wide on blocks.

Neither one of my parents graduated high school, I was the first from either side to graduate from college.

I grew up not realizing kerosene heat and wood burning stoves weren't the norm. We were dirt poor but I had no idea. I had lots of gi Joes and teenage mutant ninja turtles though.

My parents both have successful jobs now and they managed to help me get through college with only $4,000 of debt. I'll always be grateful for that and both of them busting ass to buy/build houses (they divorced when I was 12) before I was in high school.

 

8th Max appears to have significant trailer park representation. Does this validate the external view of our fanbase?

 

My family owns enough mansions to offset it.

 

Thank goodness. All the Poors are ruining the mood.