Blog Post #7 in response to Question G

I think I became aware of class before I turned 10. I seem to remember having play dates in elementary school and noticing that my friends often had nicer things than me. I grew up in Winchester, MA, which is probably considered one of the most affluent towns in the state. My parents and I moved to Winchester when I was 2, based on the level of education and quick commute to Boston (about 10 minutes.) In a town where kids expect a car for their 16^th birthday and often don’t have jobs until after high school, I really don’t feel as though my family fits in well here. I started working at age 13 as an assistant gymnastics coach at the gym I attended. My head coach would give my mom a small break on our monthly bill, and my mom would give me the difference in cash. It wasn’t much, but within a few months I had saved up enough money for my 1^st cell phone, a prepaid cell phone that was completely paid for by me. Many of my friends didn’t have cell phones yet, so they were initially jealous of me, but within a year, every single one of them had a cell phone, cooler than mine, and paid for by their parents. I expected this, but couldn’t help but feel irritated that I had to pay for mine and they didn’t. I couldn’t understand how my parents could be so mean and tough on me throughout my childhood, making me pay for everything that they didn’t consider a necessity.

When I was 9, I had a very close friend that I did gymnastics with. I remember when I first went to her house I was surprised because she her house wasn’t nicer than mine, like most of my other friend’s houses were. My mom and her mom often played tennis together and her family even came on vacation with us. We invited them to come with us to Block Island for a week during the summer and let them rent our timeshare from us because we were staying somewhere else. The timeshare wasn’t 5 star, but it was in a great location so they didn’t mind at all. The following year my friend’s father sold his company for $30 million. Suddenly they moved out of their house and into a glorious mansion on what is considered the most expensive street in Winchester. Her mom no longer had to work and because of it, was able to start playing tennis during the week. My mom could only play on weekends because she worked during the week so they began to lose touch. They still go to Block Island, but renting our timeshare just wouldn’t suit them because renting a house on the beach is a must. I began to notice that they seemed to “rich” for us, almost as if they couldn’t be associated with us because our house and our cars didn’t match up to theirs.

In high school, I remember one of my good friends always having new, really nice clothes to the point where I never saw her wear the same thing twice. My group of friends would all joke about it but we knew that she was ridiculously wealthy and that her mom, who didn’t work, literally shopped every day and would always come home with a new stylish outfit for my friend. I remember one day during junior year, she came to school with a new bag. Personally, I thought it was ugly and that she’d made a poor choice, but apparently it was “Gucci” or something, so that made it cool. Later I found out that my friend’s bag cost $1,100. I just couldn’t believe it. All I could think about was how many pairs of $40 Hollister jeans I could get with $1,100. I didn’t even know enough about designers and finer things to desire them. To me, Hollister jeans and tank tops were the extent of my materialistic ness.

It wasn’t until the end of high school that I realized how obnoxiously materialistic people really were. Kids in my high school talked too frequently about other kid’s status based on the size of their house, the cars their parents drove, and the brand of clothes they wore. I just didn’t get why it was such a big deal. 4 years later, I can safely say that I am extremely grateful of how my parents raised me. I resented them for a long time, however I know for sure that the transition to being financially independent is going to be a heck of a lot easier for me than many of my high school friends who are still almost completely financially dependant on their parents. They have been brought up knowing a very false sense of reality, which is ultimately at their disadvantage in the long run.

In the video, the woman who basically said she wouldn’t drive a Volvo, because it represents plumpy, middle-aged, middle class women with too many children and an uncontrolled dog reminded me of  the typical Winchester mother. I laughed when she said she “certainly wouldn’t drive a Ford because it’s probably stolen.” I drive a ford, it’s not stolen, and I’m actually quite fond of it thank you very much.