Why are rich people, especially rich "soccer" moms so obsessed with...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you go to work in a shirt that had a rip in it?

A scratch on the car or a dent doesn't impact the safety or drive-ability of a car. Who are people concerned will "see" them in such a car and think less (?) of them? It's a very odd paranoia. Or at least one I don't fully understand. I assume it's some old-timey class stereotype.

Biblical. Cleanliness is Godliness.

[Anonymous]

I'm a man but I've always needed to drive a spotless, undamaged car ever since I was a poor teenager.

[Anonymous]

I donno. I wouldn't consider myself rich, but I prefer my car to be clean and well-kept...for the same reason I brush my hair/teeth/wash my face/etc. before going out in public and wear clean, properly fitting clothes and dust the surfaces in my house and trim my fingernails and all that. I'm not obsessed with these things, but I tend towards presentability and neatness. Not trying to impress anyone, just what makes me feel good. *shrug*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a just a some people thing. Lots of low income people are obsessed with their car/keeping it clean.

yea, I don't know about this. go drive around Bethesda or McLean, and then, I don't know...Anacostia or Suitland and tell me where the cars tend to be more well-kept/clean.

Go drive around Chillum or Adelphi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you go to work in a shirt that had a rip in it?

A scratch on the car or a dent doesn't impact the safety or drive-ability of a car. Who are people concerned will "see" them in such a car and think less (?) of them? It's a very odd paranoia. Or at least one I don't fully understand. I assume it's some old-timey class stereotype.

Biblical. Cleanliness is Godliness.

That's not in the Bible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Driving a spotless, freshly-detailed car.
2. Refusing to drive a car with any physical damage, no matter how minor.

Example. We had friends over last night and the husband was teasing his wife for refusing to drive her SUV until he got it fixed because it had a huge scratch on it. You can tell she was raised in an affluent setting, very hoity-toity. It's not just her though, I remember hearing similar from my well-to-do grandmother about "not being caught dead" in a dirty or damaged car. And in the lineup at my children's private school, the cars are generally sparkling clean with glossy tires, and have no damage.

Where does this come from? Like they have a perception that dirty and/or dinged up cars are seen as low class?

To rich soccer moms, cars are like underwear. You don’t want to get caught with dirty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a just a some people thing. Lots of low income people are obsessed with their car/keeping it clean.

This. Also agree it’s more of a new money thing, and a “I send my kids to private school” thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+100 new money/striver behavior

That’s a needlessly derogatory way to look at it. I grew up dirt poor, and my mom was very diligent about keeping her car looking nice, washing it frequently, cleaning the inside, parking at the far reaches of the parking lot so she wouldn’t get dings, etc. It was because she took pride in the fact that she worked hard and saved diligently to afford a decent car (which was nothing special, it was a used Saturn), and she was going to have to drive it into the ground so she knew she needed to take care of it if she didn’t want it to look like total shit in 10-15 years. And, in her words, “we may be low class, but we don’t have to look low class.” She was a single mother in a time and place where lots of people looked down on single mothers, and she didn’t want to play into any stereotypes of the loser single mother.

That’s the way we grew up generally, taking impeccable care of our things because we knew replacing them wasn’t an option. I still do it today with my own things even though we have plenty of money, not because I’m showing off or pretentious but because I can’t let go of the mindset of needing to make sure everything lasts as long as it can.

I totally appreciate your story and point of view but OP was specifically asking about rich idle soccer mom types who are like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+100 new money/striver behavior

That’s a needlessly derogatory way to look at it. I grew up dirt poor, and my mom was very diligent about keeping her car looking nice, washing it frequently, cleaning the inside, parking at the far reaches of the parking lot so she wouldn’t get dings, etc. It was because she took pride in the fact that she worked hard and saved diligently to afford a decent car (which was nothing special, it was a used Saturn), and she was going to have to drive it into the ground so she knew she needed to take care of it if she didn’t want it to look like total shit in 10-15 years. And, in her words, “we may be low class, but we don’t have to look low class.” She was a single mother in a time and place where lots of people looked down on single mothers, and she didn’t want to play into any stereotypes of the loser single mother.

That’s the way we grew up generally, taking impeccable care of our things because we knew replacing them wasn’t an option. I still do it today with my own things even though we have plenty of money, not because I’m showing off or pretentious but because I can’t let go of the mindset of needing to make sure everything lasts as long as it can.

I totally appreciate your story and point of view but OP was specifically asking about rich idle soccer mom types who are like this.

maybe they just...prefer it that way? i know, crazy thought, that rich people can have independent thoughts and preferences that aren't related to trying to impress people! I'm not a "rich idle soccer mom" but I like to be organized and clean. it just makes my mind run smoother. by the way, how do you know those "rich idle soccer moms" didn't come from backgrounds similar to the one pp described?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+100 new money/striver behavior

That’s a needlessly derogatory way to look at it. I grew up dirt poor, and my mom was very diligent about keeping her car looking nice, washing it frequently, cleaning the inside, parking at the far reaches of the parking lot so she wouldn’t get dings, etc. It was because she took pride in the fact that she worked hard and saved diligently to afford a decent car (which was nothing special, it was a used Saturn), and she was going to have to drive it into the ground so she knew she needed to take care of it if she didn’t want it to look like total shit in 10-15 years. And, in her words, “we may be low class, but we don’t have to look low class.” She was a single mother in a time and place where lots of people looked down on single mothers, and she didn’t want to play into any stereotypes of the loser single mother.

That’s the way we grew up generally, taking impeccable care of our things because we knew replacing them wasn’t an option. I still do it today with my own things even though we have plenty of money, not because I’m showing off or pretentious but because I can’t let go of the mindset of needing to make sure everything lasts as long as it can.

I totally appreciate your story and point of view but OP was specifically asking about rich idle soccer mom types who are like this.

Follow the chain of the conversation. If you look at the posts this was responding to, someone suggested it might be a sign she wasn’t born affluent, and then the immediate pp referred to people who grew up without money but now have it and are diligent about keeping their cars clean as “new money/striver.”

Also, how do you know I’m not not a “rich idle soccer mom type,” regardless of how I grew up?

[Anonymous]

I have dings, and considering I plan to own the car until it’s nigh worthless (maybe get $1000 on trade in??), I don’t really care.

I would prefer to have no dings! But, the cost of constantly fixing or replacing would be a waste.

I am a soccer mom but obviously not hoity toity

[Anonymous]

Maybe their “sleeping with the enemy” crazy husbands would lose their shit on them if their car was dirty/ beat up?

Or maybe they are just being good stewards of what they have? It might just be a mind thing, but a clean car seems to run better.

Or maybe don’t obsess over what you think other people are obsessing about?

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if it is a class thing really. Maybe the soccer moms just use going to the car wash as a relaxing break from their children? Have you been through one of those amazing drive-thru Flagship car was locations? It’s like going back to the womb or being inside a sound machine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+100 new money/striver behavior

That’s a needlessly derogatory way to look at it. I grew up dirt poor, and my mom was very diligent about keeping her car looking nice, washing it frequently, cleaning the inside, parking at the far reaches of the parking lot so she wouldn’t get dings, etc. It was because she took pride in the fact that she worked hard and saved diligently to afford a decent car (which was nothing special, it was a used Saturn), and she was going to have to drive it into the ground so she knew she needed to take care of it if she didn’t want it to look like total shit in 10-15 years. And, in her words, “we may be low class, but we don’t have to look low class.” She was a single mother in a time and place where lots of people looked down on single mothers, and she didn’t want to play into any stereotypes of the loser single mother.

That’s the way we grew up generally, taking impeccable care of our things because we knew replacing them wasn’t an option. I still do it today with my own things even though we have plenty of money, not because I’m showing off or pretentious but because I can’t let go of the mindset of needing to make sure everything lasts as long as it can.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Even when I was broke, I took care of myself and my possessions. The car doesn’t have to be immaculate but yes, I keep it clean.