Redditor Bobtheglob71 wanted to hear from the people who know what it's like to really appreciate a dollar, by asking:
"Redditors who grew up poor, what is something that 'rich kids' will never understand?"
In an interview, Dolly Parton once said... "I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better. But, what I do know from being poor is that if it happened again, I'd know how to survive and be happy."
(I'm paraphrasing) I love her.
Mealtime
"When I went to school (in the '70s). At lunch time we had to stand in line in the hall before going into the cafeteria. they made those of us on 'free lunches' stand in the back of the line. It was quite humiliating." ~ BirdGuy64
GiphyBasics...
"What a luxury laundry is. Those kids i went to.school with will never understand I was so poor my family couldn't afford to use the laundry machines in our building, so often times my dad would just get a big cheap bottle of dish soap or some bars of Irish Spring, and that soap was for laundry, dishes and bathing. Also that those tv dinners were a god send. Getting 20 banquet tv dinners for 10 bucks meant eating good for a few days."
Gifts
"All my gifts for Christmas and Birthdays were something I needed or would need and had to be bought anyway. Like clothes, shoes, or school supplies. Never, never anything fun or just because I wanted it. I also had to steal my first real bra because I'd outgrown my training bra. I'd even snipped the elastic all around to provide more stretch but it wasn't working anymore and people were commenting on it." ~ freckledjezebel
Time Away
"Family vacations were nonexistent." ~ personofinterest18
"I remember coming back from summer vacation and dreading going back to school for the mere fact I had nothing interesting to share about the summer. All my classmates would talk about their vacations and I would make something up so I wouldn’t sound boring." ~ Scared_Difference_24
Witness
"Watching your mom have to put items back as there is it not enough money to pay for everything." ~ Poenkel
GiphyWell that all hits close to home.
Nevermind appreciating money, be thankful you can appreciate food.
Eat Please
"Having dinner and knowing that your Mum isn't eating, not because she isn't hungry, but because she's making sure her kids have food first." ~ DragonsLoveBoxes
GiphyAluminum...
"Collecting aluminum cans." ~ DryMartini_Up
"I used to have a can crusher outside and one of my chores was to crush the cans. We would put them in this industrial plastic barrel that my dad got from work. When it eventually filled up, we took it to the scrap metal yard and sold the cans." ~ WeirdJawn
When to Sleep
"Sleep for dinner." ~ Leeono
"I used to do sleep for lunch. Because I’m high school some days I’d be there from 7:30 to 6:30 and counting leaving the house I actually was away from around 6:00am to 8:00pm." ~ docasj
Living on the Edge
"That it never goes away. I want from homeless growing up to having a very comfy six figure job. I still find myself acting as if I am always living on the edge of homelessness again. Thinking I can't try new foods because it I don't like it then I won't get dinner. That I'm a bad person for throwing out things instead of trying to reuse them. I get serious panic attacks I think I did bad at work because my brain still tells me I'm one paycheck from the street." ~ AsexualAccountant
Too Much Stuff
"A lifetime of clutter because it's so hard to throw anything away even when you're no longer poor." ~ HermitWilson
GiphyMoms rule.
Money helps.
There is no shame in poor.
God bless us all.
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I grew up poor so I can only remember being shocked by friends having all the toys I had been asking for in duplicate. That was fun to witness. That was when I learned rich people were real and not just characters on "Dynasty."
LUCKYY!!
mickey mouse 80s GIFGiphy"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!!"
Constant Fun
"Apparently it wasn't normal to go on holiday once a month."
"It's doable if you lower your standards and you're a family of 1. I made 45k and went on mini vacations every 3 weeks. Motel 6, spirit airlines, and public transit. $200-250 was all it cost me to fly away for the weekend. Not everything needs to be $800 flights to Cancun with $400/night luxury hotels!"
- koosley
My meniscus...
"I had a knee injury and was limping around everywhere ~14 years old. My parents told me they did not have the money to see the doctor. When I repeated this to my soccer coach he was in shock and pissed. Told me, "Do you know how much money your parents make?" I think he had a strong word with them and my parents took me to the doctors. Found out they were Multi Millionaires and my Dad was a CEO. My meniscus was torn."
Paycheck to Paycheck
"My parents were wealthy, but since they were good ol' Midwestern folks, they also wanted my siblings and me to work early and work hard. I got a job at 14 at a local sandwich shop and had a co-worker who was around the same age. I just assumed that she didn't need to work and was only doing it for the "character building" aspect like I was. I asked her what she was going to do with her first paycheck."
"Assuming it would be something fun, and she told me she was going to give it to her parents because they were really struggling and needed help with the bills. I was shocked. I had never met someone who needed to help their parents with bills at only 14-15. She was a really sweet girl. I hope she and her family are OK."
Free!
Student Loans Corona GIF by INTO ACT!ONGiphy"My friends talk about their student debt. I graduated debt free with my Masters Degree."
Ah to be debt-free, to have health insurance, and to be able to visit Disney World anytime you wish... the luxury of it all. How can I get adopted by some of these people?
We're Fine
I Am Rich Nene Leakes GIFGiphy"When the 2008 recession had absolutely no effect on us and we still had tons of music lessons and other expensive hobbies and still went on vacations. Also when my parents bought me a horse. Not a pony, a full sized American Saddlebred (though I was a horseback rider and still was up until I was in college). We still have him too. :)"
"salary"
"When my dad's friend lost his job and lost his house in a divorce, my did casually went out and bought him a new house, replaced his car and gave him a monthly "salary" for his friend to go and live his life on so he can remember that life can also be amazing. It was also the time I realised my dad (and mum) are freaking incredible. Miss that man. He was one of the good ones to get lucky with money. The man wore the same jeans every day but bought his friend a house."
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Sometimes shelling out the extra cash for better quality is totally worth it. It can cost money to keep replacing cheaper items repeatedly. But some items ar...Hey Richie...
"When a kid in my class (who as it happened didn't live that far away from us) bragged the day after Halloween that he and his friends had gone trick-or-treating on our street "where all the rich people live." I had always known we were well-off, but would not have described us as rich because a) we didn't have live-in staff b) our property was not fenced off and c) my parents always drove themselves. I.e., we didn't live like Richie Rich."
I am the boss.
"Dad came home late from work and I had been eagerly waiting for him for a reason I don't remember now. I do remember clearly him coming up the stairs and me asking him why did he take so long, didn't his boss allow him to leave on time? His answer was: What are you talking about? I am the boss. It suddenly hit me that the hundreds of people he had around him all day weren' t exactly his pals."
The Deed
Home Luxury GIF by The Pozek GroupGiphy"Dad owned a financial advisory company. never knew I was rich because since he was so financially literate, he just invested a lot and didn't splurge. When we moved into a new house I accidentally found the paper for the house listing and saw that the house we were moving into was a million dollars."
- Cam_CSX_
escaping suburbia...
"When I moved away to go to college. I had always dreamed of escaping suburbia and the nuclear family. I never realized how privileged I was to have fresh paved roads, low noise pollution, street lamps, light police presence, pets, access to nature, double pane windows, and a thousand other perks not appreciated until lost."
"(Also, in elementary school, I went on a field trip to SF. I saw homeless people for the first time in Civic Center Plaza. In my hometown there were no homeless, or if there were they were kept out of sight)." ~ nick1812216
Same city, very different part of town...
"My mother and father were divorced, and so I had 2 very different lifestyles at the same time. During the school year, I lived with my mother. She was self-employed making scrapes compared to others. We lived in a trailer behind my grandmothers house. I often wore the same clothes for several school years. During the summer, I was with my father. Same city, very different part of town."
"Basically the Hollywood of our city. He too was self-employed, but making much much more. I pretty much had everything I needed and then some. But after talking about our cabin with a swimming pool to my other friends, I realized no one had any idea what I was talking about. Most of my friends thought I was basically homeless and couldn't understand why I would suddenly show up well dressed for events." ~ Pitiful-Sherbert-326
Toy Story
"Not quite the same, but my wife, a teacher, had asked me to find a number of our children's toys that had specific characteristics for a couple science experiments at school. I also included some redundant toys in case the primaries didn't work out or got broken. All the kids in her class were amazed her children had so many toys (probably .5 to 1% of their total toy inventory) and were worried our kids would miss them while they were gone. Heart breaking." ~ Reikko35715
2008
Dave Chappelle Reaction GIFGiphy"Dad always told my brothers and I how fortunate we were as we grew up. However, it didn't hit me until I learned that 2008 was a thing 6 years after it happened." ~ ohboythisisawkward
Fortune 500
"My parents were always super frugal (we camped instead of hotels on road trips, siblings had to share ice cream cones, rarely ate out at restaurants) but then my parents bought a jet ski, new car, and a boat all within a couple months and I went "wait..."
"Turns out Dad was a VP at a Fortune 500 company, but his emphasis was always on paying for education and experiences and passing down fiscal responsibility rather than being flashy." ~ BurlyNerdGetsTheWorm
until I was homeless...
"When I realized just how outrageously lucky I was. Grew up in a town with people ten times wealthier than we were. Went to a well-known boarding school with sons and daughters of billionaires. It majorly skewed my idea of what "rich" was, despite having multiple houses, boats, cars, and family trips all over the world."
"One side of the family is very old money, the other self-made hoteliers, and my parents both highly intelligent and hard-working successes, but my younger years were spent in a bubble of people where everything was just orders of magnitude grander. I never had the proper perspective until I was homeless." ~ TheAndorran
Thanks, Dad...
"When my Dad's health became a concern, he sat me and my siblings down and showed us his will and how to get into the financial accounts should anything happen. None us knew we would each inherit a sum where we wouldn't have to work again, if we didn't want to. This man raised us to go without nothing so he could give us everything. Thanks, Dad." ~ JustCallMeYarr
Berlin
"My dad was pretty well off when I was a kid. We moved into a three story kinda house kinda mansion in the suburbs right outside Berlin. It was the perfect childhood. I would say many Germans are relatively sparing in what they spend their money on and being flashy isn't as popular in certain communities."
"But my parents indulged in creating a beautiful home and always made sure we had everything we needed (and more). Most of my friends lived in apartments within the city, and looking back, although it wasn't apparent at the time, it's a very different experience."
"There were a handful of other kids that lived in the same suburb. It wasn't until my preteens when we moved to the US that I realized how much that lifestyle impacted my childhood. I went from having my own bedroom and play areas and an entire garden and forest, to living in a one bedroom with four people." ~ poofity-passington
Wow
Happy Mood GIF by HBO MaxGiphy"When my friends started commenting on how big my house was. or when I realized I wouldn't have to be in student debt. wow." ~ flip-wizard
Special
"I'll play this game. My dad recently sold his company for good money. He worked his way up from bottom to owning. I am in no way set for life on that sale... he is (I don't expect to be). I realised I had a wealthy dad when I sold my first house to move closer to home, he recently sold company and offered to buy out mortgage. So currently my bank is bank of dad. He still expects full money but no interest. I realise how special I am." ~ Jeff_Cunningham
The house, the opulence of a home is the first dead giveaway. The limo is the other. Be rich, have fun with it. I just wish everyone was more humble though and knew how to use their financial freedom for the greater good.
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Paper. Pens. A computer and a job that consists of using all three. It may not sound like much, buy it's far less stressful than retail. I often overlook that fact. I try not to though. God bless customer service people.
binge grocery shopping GIFmIracles...
"Hot showers.... Holy crap, I was homeless for a year and a half, and there was a time I blew $50 on a motel room specifically to take a hot shower. I remember pulling off my cold wet socks and just collapsing into the hot water, sobbing. Felt like all my problems went away immediately."
- reduxde
Space Place
"Having your own room/space. A lot of people and specially families around the world has to share living spaces. There was a thread on Reddit recently where a family couldn't give their teenage daughter a room of her own cause their house only had two rooms and they were poor."
"Everyone said the parent was a butthole cause the teen had a right to it and they should move to a bigger house/outside their area to amend that. Crap was freaking insane."
Basics
"Just having dependable, safe hot and cold running water on demand."
"This. I just got quite the rude awakening 30 minutes ago when my landlord texted asking me to severely limit my already very limited water use because the well that supplies our water is almost dry. I live in rural Canada where there's a drought and while I knew it was bad, my privileged self never thought we might actually run out of water before it rains next. Jokes on me I guess."
Money Issues
sleeping beauty parody GIFGiphy"Being able to quit a job without fear of losing financial stability."
And here we are all trying to be Kardashians. When tons of people just want stability regarding food and jobs. I don't know what is more sad, that fact or that we live in a world where facts like that exist.
Shhhh....
secret smell GIFGiphy"Being able to enjoy total silence. (Freaking tinnitus)"
- Ozzel
For real. Mine started when I was 18 and I then realised how much I took everything being completely quiet for granted before that. I wish I could get it back."
No Net
"Having your parents to fall back onto for help or advice during adulthood. I've been estranged since I've been 16, life ain't easy navigating the world alone."
"I hear ya. I was emancipated when I was a teen. I am grateful for the mentors and chosen family who supported me through to this point (I'm almost 30) but I wish that I had the solid nurture, example, and support that I truly needed growing up. I probably wouldn't have needed to spend so much money on therapy after high school."
- casteela
Sifting Filth
"Sewers. A literal city of tunnels you never see, draining and moving water in and out of your town/city, completely hidden from view. It's a freakin' luxury and you'd be surprised how much of the world doesn't have that while the rest of the world never even thinks about it."
Health
"Decent mental health. While some people seem to breeze through their life goals, a lot of people suffer in ways that prevent them or slow them down. It's a privilege to have most of your emotional needs met and have the stability needed to focus on developing your artistry/skills."
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Knowledge is Power
Happy School GIFGiphy"Going to school."
Dream State
"Getting as much sleep as you need."
"Yeah that's totally a privilege . And also having nice dreams. A lot of people keep having nightmares which is sucks so yeah thank God."
- Iman246
"I never realized it had a name, but I have always have pretty vivid dreams, often nightmares. I realized that if I believed I could fly in the dream, I could fly out of the bad situation. Still helps me now and then."
The Eats
"I noticed that I was privileged with eating to my taste- my dad told me how in mexico they ate what they had, it was rural farm life, i mean he continued to eat that way even living here in america, he would buy me and my sister whatever we wanted and make eggs and beans for himself. I can eat mexican food, japanese food, chinese, burgers, italian whatever really."
Peace
World Peace GIF by Live and Let Live MovementGiphy"Not having to worry about war directly affecting your life and livelihood."
Cleanliness...
"This might sound silly to some but the other night I decided to change my bedding randomly and realized how lucky I am to be able to swap to another clean set on a whim. Clean laundry, multiple blankets, a whole drawer of socks... those things make me feel rich. A lot of people don't have another set of clothes or a clean, safe bed to sleep in."
advancements in civilization...
"Clean water."
- JakeySan
"Plumbing in general. Toilets, faucets, clean drinking water, it's gotta be one of the greatest advancements in civilization."
"Not just clean water, but "unlimited" water ready on demand trough several taps around your home."
Relations...
"Having caring parents."
"Same thing in romantic relationships. It can be very easy to fall into the trap of thinking every partner is going to compliment you, tell you they love you, and so on because they all do that when so many people are in loveless marriages without any of that."
Teeth
"Having access to dentists in childhood."
"This. I am in my 40's with braces. My parents couldn't afford it and I waited until my kids (the ones that needed it) all got theirs done; then It was my turn. If I had gotten braces as a teen I'd like to think my massive underbite could have somehow been prevented. However, at the end of this year I'll be having surgery on my top jaw to move it to the correct position."
To Live
"Going years without cancer or sickness."
"I've had cancer twice, and I still feel privileged when I think of the people I met in my ward who never made it out, or ended up with permanent damage."
Feeling Flushed...
toilet conan japan GIF by Team CocoGiphy"Toilets."
"I (am from USA) didn't have a flush toilet until I was seven. Early enough that a flush toilet still feels like the normal thing, but late enough that I still appreciate it since I remember potty training with an outhouse 50 yards from the house in Maine (which is cold in the winter)."
Downtime
"Weekends off work. I think about this every Saturday when the gardener comes to mow. He brings his son to help him. My kids are sitting in their PJs working on coding projects, while his son is out helping mow lawns. That is his kid's Saturday off school vs. mine. The danger is that someday, if my kids become programmers or whatever white collar job, they will look back and say, "It's because I worked hard to gain these skills," taking for granted the privilege of the time to do it."
The basics of life and survival shouldn't be considered luxuries. We really have a lot of society fixing ahead of us. Be grateful for every meal, and good slumber.
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