Just Pay Cash. What's The Problem?

"When I went to college and had friends who were complaining about student loans."

JoeyJUULS

"Same here, I remember when I started seeing a girl at uni and she said she had loans. I asked her why she didn't just ask her parents for money... Grew up a lot that day."

MrNob

Not Everyone Has The Same Pockets

"I'm not super rich, but things really hit home when I was with a friend and his mother started to panic because she couldn't afford milk for her toddler son (my friends little brother). I was just walking around with $40 in my pocket for no real reason so I gave her $20. She was embarrassed to be taking money from a 13 year old, but swallowed her pride for the sake of her children."

"I knew my friend wasn't as well off, but it never fully hit me what that meant before then. To me, being poor just meant someone couldn't afford nice things. What it meant to struggle with basic necessities like milk never really struck me before then."

Dubanx

All It Takes Is One Meeting

"Whilst not "rich" rich, I'm certainly solidly middle class - detached house, a holiday every year, new clothes on the reg, private schools from the age of 3 to when I left school at 18, a hefty allowance from my parents during uni... I was the least well off amongst all my friends so I just assumed I wasn't poor but I wasn't rich."

"Until I met a girl at uni who lived the first 6 months of her life in a homeless shelter and talked fondly of the council house her and her mum got to stay in for a whole year before they realised it was too big for a family of 2 (it was a 2 bed house)"

smidgit

At Least You're Thankful For That

"I didn't grow up rich but definitely wealthier than the people around me. I realized we lived in a bigger house than most but I assumed that was just because it was 5 of us (three siblings and my parents) + pets. Anyway, I became aware of my situation in high school. I would message my friends to hang out but they said they couldn't because they didn't have spare money. Not even for pizza. That's when it hit me."

"I've never been in a position where I couldn't do something because money was tight."

"I thank my parents for that."

pocketgo

Yeah...Just Don't Think About It

"I didn't realize that not everybody had allowances in college. Especially not when your weekly allowance is more than most people make in a month."

"It still weirds me out, but I just try not to think about it or bring it up. Saves me a bit of guilt and a lot of sideways glances."

vanillarice24

Count The Rooms. Then, Do it Again.

"The day I realised that we are a family of three and my parents bought a five bedroom house. (I later found out that was because they wanted more kids, but unfortunately that never happened). Meanwhile most of my friends had 2 bedroom houses, and quite a few shared with siblings."

maxthefrenchone

When You What You Had Isn't What You Have

"I wouldn't say "rich" but well off or upper middle class in the 80's and 90's. I realized when we lost it all during the early 90's recession and we went from a big 5 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment in a not so great part of town. Definite wake-up call."

ragingduck

Both Ends Of The Spectrum

"For me it was when I went to college and met my best friend. Here I am with my college being completely paid for by my father and my brand new apartment (being paid by my dad) and I figured that's normal. Anyways my best friend had to drop out because he couldn't afford it anymore and he actually lives in a section 8 apartment complex with his family of five. It really hit me seeing how much his family struggles just for the basics in life. It opened my eyes and humbled me. My family isn't rich but definitely upper middle class."

"Then I met my boyfriend who is from a more upper class family and I saw how for him it was normal to go in lavish cruises every break with his family and how nice and big his house is."

haananyy

Not Just One, But Two

"I thought it was normal to have a second home until 3rd grade"

[usernamedeleted]

Some People Have To Make It On Their Own

"When I was a kid, I thought everyone's parents had money saved up for them to go to college. Or at least, everyone who wasn't "poor". It was a shock to my whole world-view in high school when I realized I was in a small minority and very very lucky. And especially in college when I realized how many people were working full-time on top of a full-time courseload to pull it off."

A--Blaster_69

"We Took A Plane To Our Cruise."

"When I was like 11 my friends asked me what I did over 2 weeks we had off and I claimed I went on a cruise and then came back home and flew in a plane to and from the ship. They were shocked because they didn't go anywhere, kids always pointed out my luxurious lunch it was weird. Then I had party at my house and now to this day everyone calls my house a massive massion and I get teased being called rich."

ThatOneGayWitch

Very Different Definitions Of What "Acceptable Gifts" Are

"When the mother of a friend of mine had to sit me down and explain to me that, no it’s in fact not normal to receive a boat as an elementary school graduation gift from your father... I had no idea that most people didn’t give their children things like that at that age. Was a real culture shock for me"

f-ckehead

"How did that conversation start? Did you ask your friend why they didn’t get s boat and their mom told you other kids don’t get boats? What kind of boat? I’m so intrigued by this story..."

dberna243

"Lol ok so my dad compensates loving his kids by buying us whatever we want since he’s never around. So when I was in 8th grade I, for some reason I can’t remember now, I became obsessed with speed boats. So naturally, my dad bought me a speedboat for graduating (because I could definitely drive a boat at that age???). I had a friend that didn’t go to swanky private schools, and didn’t live the same kinda lifestyle I grew up with. My dad didn’t really approve of us being friends but he wasn’t around enough to stop it and our maids always encouraged it so we hung out a lot during summertime."

"Her, her mom, and I were all out one day and I was kind of not subtly bragging about this top of the line speed boat I got and her mom had to take me aside and tell me that wasn’t normal and I shouldn’t brag about things like that because not everyone was as well off as my family was. Real eye opener for me."

f-ckehead

You Realize Your Mistake And Try To Make Up For It

"When I was in high school and I lent my friend a few bucks and she had trouble paying it back. I knew that there were "poor people" around, but I was going to an extremely expensive private school and it didn't hit me till then that some of my classmates were on scholarships and not everyone could afford to buy the school lunch every day."

"It was a really sobering experience and I started trying to pay for as many things as possible after that for my friends (ex. Buying us all pizza, insisting on paying for peoples' lunches, etc.). Also, I stopped keeping track of who I was lending money to and simply gave it out. My parents wouldn't miss the money and my friends didn't deserve to worry about it. Unfortunately it caused me to earn a reputation in the friend group as "the loaded friend" and I started getting treated badly because I "just didn't understand." Just had to deal with it till I graduated. I try really hard to keep it on the DL now."

anonymous_1128

Not Everyone Has A House?

"I did not grow up rich. But my husband did."

"His sister once said "I didn't know everyone didn't live in big houses until I went off to college." Apparently she led a VERY sheltered life."

awhq

"I said this in another thread similar to this, but when I was younger I didn't know families lived in apartments. I thought everyone had a house and apartments were only for students."

Johnnie_Karate

The Magic Kingdom Tends To Be On The Pricey Side

"When I started talking in school about the pros and cons of Disney World vs Disney Land, and people were like 'YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION?! LUCKYY'"

jonahvsthewhale

All The Best Games, All The Best Systems

"I was about 12, I think. When friends would come over they would go on and on about how big the house was and how I had more games and computers and sh-t than them (they especially seemed freaked out about the maid) and I just started to realize that I didn't have the same circumstances as most."

"They wouldn't all say it if it weren't true, I assume. I did have other friends with money, especially when I started attending private school, but I didn't realize they were well off either."

LoveAndDynamite

"...shame that it was at the expense of a person I loved so very much."

"The first time I went to my best friend's house. His circumstances were the exact opposite. His parents tried their best, but his dad often didn't have much work during the winter, and his mom didn't work outside of the home. They had 6 kids, and usually had things like pancakes for dinner. I'm in an upper class part of DC, with every toy and electronic imaginable, and he had none. It was a good lesson for me to learn, but it was a shame that it was at the expense of a person I loved so very much."

hestianvirgin

"I always had taken it for granted."

"I was talking to a friend about going to the town's public beach and they were saying how horribly crowded it gets in summer, and I suddenly realized (I was well into my 20s) that I had never had to go to a public beach because I always had at least two private family beaches to go to, one with cabanas, outdoor showers and space for cooking."

"I always had taken it for granted."

GorditoCat

The Sky's Not For Everyone

"I have a family member that grew up with a private jet. The first time she flew commercial she turned to her family and asked "who are all these people on our plane." On flying- I'm no way rich but I was reading that the majority of the worlds population, over 90% didn't take one flight last year. I'm not sure if that's true, I'll look for the post, but that hit me pretty hard how fortunate I am to fly to see family sometimes."

Highplowp

The Friendships Don't Always Last

"Not rich, but upperish middle class. I went to a play date when I was 10 and his mom was single and they lived in a tiny apartment. I couldn't figure out why he didn't have a house or a dad. Sad to say I was so uncomfortable that we didn't stay friends much longer after that. Sorry Darren, you were a good dude and I was dumb."

somethngrandom2635

"My friend was like that, for a while she lived in a two-bedroom apartment and shared a room with her brother. It took me a while to realize that they just didn't have a lot of money."

DuskofNight23

Life Hit You Early And Fast

"So this happened young. My dad worked in IT. International company, bunch of business trips to like every major country in the world and every major developing country. He got fired/company filed for bankruptcy. This happened whilst I was 8. Suddenly the only income we had was from my mum, working in the public sector for the state, helping mentally ill people. We went from expensive toys, Nutella for breakfast and expensive lunch items to buying birthday presents at basically dollar stores and hoping for hand me downs so that I could get clothes that fit me"

"Whenever we had a school trip, we had to save up 2 years in advance and ask relatives for help paying for those school trips, maybe not see relatives that lived far away for birthdays and other important things. My dad only got a job after 9 years of looking. My teen years consisted of hand me down clothes, worrying about social events and lunch. I still haven't grown out of the mentality despite my dad having a well paying job now. It's crazy what the 2008 crisis did."

CheapYoghurt

Ask The Kids. They'll Always Know.

"Define "Growing up rich". My dad didn't start making real money until I was at least 10 or 11. We were comfortably middle class before that."

"I guess it started when we moved to a new city and people in my school would openly ask/tease me about being rich. I think the first thing I started noticing was that we took a big annual family vacation, usually on a plane, while many of my friends have never flown before."

Yserbius

Taking What Could Be A Negative And Turning It Into A Positive

"When my dad bought me a house to live in rent free, no mortgage. And realising that most people dont holiday in the algarve twice a year."

"My house is now a hostel/safe space for anyone I'm friends with/close to who needs a place to stay."

thepurplehedgehog

Perspective is a very important thing. Do you have similar experiences to share?

Post them in our comment section below!