Anonymous wrote:Op, I am ignoring the sophomoric argument above. You described my family. Two PhDs whose house is full of books--everything from Journey to the West to Terry Pratchett. A friend of mine calls us "the literati." We talk a lot of politics, talk a lot about social justice, and what books we read. However, we are so broke (poor is systemic). It is what it is. We hope our kids also have rich intellectual lives and have a good education. That is what we can give them. I do want to distinguish that it isn't champagne tastes. I don't want anything from Van Cleef & Arpels. I don't care about your NYC or Paris shopping trip. Nor do I care about cars or the size of your house. I just don't care. This means I can't identify with a lot of the people in the DC suburbs. I literally got caught in a convo once about how Kia has a luxury car brand. It was not my thing.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think OP means they are well educated, well traveled, own original art, read great books, music...but the bank accounts are thin.
There are so many uncultured, tacky people who work jobs they hate to make huge mortgage and car payment, they buy tattoos, long fake nail and inject stuff into their bodies and their bank accounts are healthy. Go figure.
So, someone can't be well educated, well traveled, own art, read "great" books, and have tattoos? You sound like an ass.
Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by the hostility displayed in this thread towards the genteel “poor.” I can give an example close to home. My husband and I are pretty cultured and sophisticated. I have an Ivy League degree in English Lit and biology and he has a bachelors and a Masters in Arabic studies. Together we make about 250k-300k a year and this is our recent HHI.
I grew up living in Europe and the Middle East due to my parents being diplomats and speak multiple languages. I have sat in small village schools teaching girls to read and dined and wined heads of states. I have friends across the globe even now. My husband went to a local private and speaks French and Arabic. He has traveled the world extensively. When we travel together we love to go to museums and historical sites. In fact we can spend a whole day in a museum and it gives us unparalleled joy. We live in a small apartment filled with books on history, art, art history, business and mathematics. We cook delicious healthy food based on recipes from Asia, the Middle East and France. We live in a close-in suburb but so far cannot afford a nice house in a desirable zip code so a rented apartment is our compromise.
We spend most of our money on organic foods and international travel. We also like to dine out at nice restaurants and occasionally splurge on designer shoes and purses.
We have relatives who are materiality wealthier than we are but they spend their money going to fancy expensive resorts and laying on the beach and like to read the latest best seller. They enjoy buying the newest shiniest gadgets and have outfitted their expensive large single family homes with material goods. They think to be sophisticated is buy the next most expensive thing.
Money doesn’t buy sophistication or class.
Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by the hostility displayed in this thread towards the genteel “poor.” I can give an example close to home. My husband and I are pretty cultured and sophisticated. I have an Ivy League degree in English Lit and biology and he has a bachelors and a Masters in Arabic studies. Together we make about 250k-300k a year and this is our recent HHI.
I grew up living in Europe and the Middle East due to my parents being diplomats and speak multiple languages. I have sat in small village schools teaching girls to read and dined and wined heads of states. I have friends across the globe even now. My husband went to a local private and speaks French and Arabic. He has traveled the world extensively. When we travel together we love to go to museums and historical sites. In fact we can spend a whole day in a museum and it gives us unparalleled joy. We live in a small apartment filled with books on history, art, art history, business and mathematics. We cook delicious healthy food based on recipes from Asia, the Middle East and France. We live in a close-in suburb but so far cannot afford a nice house in a desirable zip code so a rented apartment is our compromise.
We spend most of our money on organic foods and international travel. We also like to dine out at nice restaurants and occasionally splurge on designer shoes and purses.
We have relatives who are materiality wealthier than we are but they spend their money going to fancy expensive resorts and laying on the beach and like to read the latest best seller. They enjoy buying the newest shiniest gadgets and have outfitted their expensive large single family homes with material goods. They think to be sophisticated is buy the next most expensive thing.
Money doesn’t buy sophistication or class.
Anonymous wrote:I find myself constantly feeling like this describes me.
Anonymous wrote:I think OP means they are well educated, well traveled, own original art, read great books, music...but the bank accounts are thin.
There are so many uncultured, tacky people who work jobs they hate to make huge mortgage and car payment, they buy tattoos, long fake nail and inject stuff into their bodies and their bank accounts are healthy. Go figure.
Anonymous wrote:I think OP means they are well educated, well traveled, own original art, read great books, music...but the bank accounts are thin.
There are so many uncultured, tacky people who work jobs they hate to make huge mortgage and car payment, they buy tattoos, long fake nail and inject stuff into their bodies and their bank accounts are healthy. Go figure.
Anonymous wrote:Where I grew up we call this "champagne tastes and beer budget"
Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by the hostility displayed in this thread towards the genteel “poor.” I can give an example close to home. My husband and I are pretty cultured and sophisticated. I have an Ivy League degree in English Lit and biology and he has a bachelors and a Masters in Arabic studies. Together we make about 250k-300k a year and this is our recent HHI.
I grew up living in Europe and the Middle East due to my parents being diplomats and speak multiple languages. I have sat in small village schools teaching girls to read and dined and wined heads of states. I have friends across the globe even now. My husband went to a local private and speaks French and Arabic. He has traveled the world extensively. When we travel together we love to go to museums and historical sites. In fact we can spend a whole day in a museum and it gives us unparalleled joy. We live in a small apartment filled with books on history, art, art history, business and mathematics. We cook delicious healthy food based on recipes from Asia, the Middle East and France. We live in a close-in suburb but so far cannot afford a nice house in a desirable zip code so a rented apartment is our compromise.
We spend most of our money on organic foods and international travel. We also like to dine out at nice restaurants and occasionally splurge on designer shoes and purses.
We have relatives who are materiality wealthier than we are but they spend their money going to fancy expensive resorts and laying on the beach and like to read the latest best seller. They enjoy buying the newest shiniest gadgets and have outfitted their expensive large single family homes with material goods. They think to be sophisticated is buy the next most expensive thing.
Money doesn’t buy sophistication or class.