Things rich people dont know

[Anonymous]

That a family of five can only ever bathe in the same bathwater- youngest to oldest once a week and still be pretty damn clean and odour-free.

[Anonymous]

My husband grew up poor right here in the US. He never knew when his birthday was until he joined the military. They didn't have $ for birthday gifts or cakes. The only presents were at Xmas, usually cheap charity gifts. His mom was a schoolteacher, dad a carpenter who drank and sold homemade whiskey. They raised most of their own food but were often in debt to store or needed to "borrow" milk from neighbors. He had never been to a swimming pool, only the river. College wasn't even a possibility without military and GI bill. He won't wear sandals because the "sandals" he had as a child were too small school shoes with toes and heels cut out. His sisters made all their own clothes.
Our son is now with the Peace Corps in Panama. Hot running water is unheard of, as is steady electricity. Most people have no idea with poor means.

[Anonymous]

I was in middle school before I learned that American cheese was not government cheese.

We got what we called government cheese from a church distribution point once a month or so. The school lunch menu always described the pizza as having American cheese on it. I just assumed they were the same thing. (Get it? American = government.)

In retrospect, I understand that the government cheese may have been American cheese, but the school lunch ladies were not putting literal government cheese on the pizza.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That a family of five can only ever bathe in the same bathwater- youngest to oldest once a week and still be pretty damn clean and odour-free.

Yep. Husband grew up with Saturday night bath only. Hot water is pretty dear when you have to pump it from the well, then heat it on wood you chopped, stacked and carried yourself. Everyone in the family used the same tub and then it was used to scrub out the privy. No one in the family EVER smelled. You washed your pits and private parts daily with a washcloth. There are still plenty of families here in Appalachia that heat with wood or coal and have no hot water heaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in poverty and now have a HHI approaching $400k/year. What rich people don’t understand is that the main benefit of having money is that you don’t have to suffer many indignities simply because you have the financial resources to choose other options. So store clerks are nice, teachers don’t belittle your children, your boss is less likely to proposition you. People prey on weakness, and the poor are weak because they are so reliant on everything working out just right. My ambition has nothing to do with wanting things. It has to do with wanting to be able to tell someone, at any given time, to piss off.

Agree completely, except I use a different word than "piss." I

Agree completely and like the word piss.

[Anonymous]

What Walmart is like

[Anonymous]

They don't know how to use a laundromat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in poverty and now have a HHI approaching $400k/year. What rich people don’t understand is that the main benefit of having money is that you don’t have to suffer many indignities simply because you have the financial resources to choose other options. So store clerks are nice, teachers don’t belittle your children, your boss is less likely to proposition you. People prey on weakness, and the poor are weak because they are so reliant on everything working out just right. My ambition has nothing to do with wanting things. It has to do with wanting to be able to tell someone, at any given time, to piss off.

Agree completely, except I use a different word than "piss." I

Agree completely and like the word piss.

My uncle use to say.... The more dough you have the less shit you taste on your shit sandwich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in poverty and now have a HHI approaching $400k/year. What rich people don’t understand is that the main benefit of having money is that you don’t have to suffer many indignities simply because you have the financial resources to choose other options. So store clerks are nice, teachers don’t belittle your children, your boss is less likely to proposition you. People prey on weakness, and the poor are weak because they are so reliant on everything working out just right. My ambition has nothing to do with wanting things. It has to do with wanting to be able to tell someone, at any given time, to piss off.

Agree completely, except I use a different word than "piss." I

Agree completely and like the word piss.

PP here. On second thought, I don't know that I agree with this post. Reason being, most people I know who have their own "rags to riches" stories - appreciate how to treat other people. It strikes me as peculiar that you are so angry. I understand rich people being oblivious and ignorant (stupid, really - emotionally and socially) because they have such a truly sheltered existence - but I expect more from people who know both sides - certainly, I don't expect this level of anger. Instead, I would expect humility and gratitude - not in a "pushover/doormat" DC way, but in a "knowing how to treat people better" way. As for the rich people I know, they treat people better, because their family has a legacy to protect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband grew up poor right here in the US. He never knew when his birthday was until he joined the military. They didn't have $ for birthday gifts or cakes. The only presents were at Xmas, usually cheap charity gifts. His mom was a schoolteacher, dad a carpenter who drank and sold homemade whiskey. They raised most of their own food but were often in debt to store or needed to "borrow" milk from neighbors. He had never been to a swimming pool, only the river. College wasn't even a possibility without military and GI bill. He won't wear sandals because the "sandals" he had as a child were too small school shoes with toes and heels cut out. His sisters made all their own clothes.
Our son is now with the Peace Corps in Panama. Hot running water is unheard of, as is steady electricity. Most people have no idea with poor means.

+1

BINGO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich people don't know that meritocracy is a myth.

I know a lot of very smart, very hardworking young people who will never achieve as much as they deserve to, and many wealthy and entitled young people who will be given jobs just for breathing and occupying space.

This times one million!

Rich people have zero idea how easy they have it in most aspects of life.

To be fair , this is applicable to like the majority of UMC and middle class whites who are more likelt to have been beneficiaries of such mechanisms

I'm UMC from a dirt poor background. I have benefited from theme meritocracy.

Meritocracy exists in certain fields. Particularly, those that focus on results rather than relationships. In general STEM is a meritocracy.

What nonsense. Rich people have private schools and tutors for their kids and money to pay for college. STEM is NOT a meritocracy. Most med school graduates are UMC background or above because they had the $$$ for education.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used my first bonus check when I finally got a really good job to fix my teeth after YEARS of neglect. I had several root canals, teeth extracted, crowns, etc. I got braces.

Also, when I first moved away to go to school at age 17, I was always embarrassed/scared to use certain words because while I knew a lot of "big" words (from books) I didn't know how to pronounce them (this was pre-internet) because nobody I knew used them.

This. Rich people don't know that poor people don't have dental. I did not go to the dentist until high school when I had several cavities and needed a root canal. My mom's boss bought her dentures and she paid him back slowly. Also, I could not pronounce certain words in college because my poor parents said them incorrectly my whole life.

You know, in my first job out of college (13 years ago), someone there (also right out of college) told us he just went to the dentist for the first time in his life. I'm just now realizing that he probably grew up poor and that was probably the first time he had dental insurance. IIRC, he didn't say I grew up poor - he just said he'd never been and I just thought maybe his parents didn't think it was necessary or whatever.

Could also be a sign he didn't grow up in the USA. Regular dental care is a lot less common among the middle and upper classes in other countries.

DP. That definitely is true about other countries. I just wanted to say that my dad was born here in the US and the first time he visited a real dentist was when he joined the military after graduating from college. He said it was a very surprising experience. Needless to say he has horrible teeth.

[Anonymous]

....that earning $100,000 is a good salary, even in DC, and provides a comfortable lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband grew up poor right here in the US. He never knew when his birthday was until he joined the military. They didn't have $ for birthday gifts or cakes. The only presents were at Xmas, usually cheap charity gifts. His mom was a schoolteacher, dad a carpenter who drank and sold homemade whiskey. They raised most of their own food but were often in debt to store or needed to "borrow" milk from neighbors. He had never been to a swimming pool, only the river. College wasn't even a possibility without military and GI bill. He won't wear sandals because the "sandals" he had as a child were too small school shoes with toes and heels cut out. His sisters made all their own clothes.
Our son is now with the Peace Corps in Panama. Hot running water is unheard of, as is steady electricity. Most people have no idea with poor means.

+1

BINGO.

I am the poster who castrates pigs. My dad only had shoes in the winter and didn't know what deodorant was until he went to the Army. They brushed teeth with chewed ends of sticks. My grandma still had an outhouse in the 80s when I was growing up, and used a wringer washer and clothes line.

People in the US are now spoiled rotten. It will come back to haunt us before long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a highschool teacher and this week we had some career volunteers/ life couches come and talk to the kids. One guy made his speech about being a first generation college grad and did a list of "things poor kids dont know but need to." My kids liked it and there has been a lot of chit chat about it this week. I decided to reverse the topic and ask them what they think might be some things rich people dont know and these are some kid bits of that convo...

1.) flatbread is really just pizza. "I was so confused about that word but every time its literally just been pizza."
2.) its awkward/embarrassing when you associate having a license to having a car. "Me turning 16 means nothing, Im poor"
3.) We dont grieve not having a father. We dont know another family structure. "Thats like crying because I dont have a brother, when Ive never had a brother. No one does that."
4.) One kid thought it was odd that the people who have the most clothes usually have washer and dryers at their house so in reality they need the least clothes. "If i didnt need quarters to wash I would only need like 3 shirts"

Where do you teach?

#scary