The difference between how most families live now vs when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s just blows my mind when I stop and think about it.
Now, I grew up on the MS Gulf Coast, so there weren't a lot of really wealthy families. But among the middle class (which is what we all were) NO ONE drove Porches or BMWs, or even expensive trucks. The fanciest car anyone had was a Cadillac (which was a real status symbol).
Women did not get regular manicures or waxed or plastic surgery, and no one had Louis Vuitton or Gucci purses. At most you got a cut and color every few months. Vacations were to Disney World, Dollywood, or the Redneck Riviera.
We were one of the few families with a pool, and it was literally a big rectangular cement pond in the middle of a completely un-landscaped backyard.
I didn't start seeing Mercedes and BMWs until I went to college. But even those girls didn't have all the $$$ designer crap you see high schoolers carrying now.
The life I live now and that I've been able to give my son is so much different from how I grew up. I'm not into the designer shoes and bags, but he's traveled out of the country 5 times, to Hawaii twice, and Alaska once. He's got an iPhone and an iPad and a car insurance bill that my parents would have choked on.
We are the exception in our 'hood because we DON'T have a pool. I think the economic demographic of his classmates at school is a little more diverse than other areas, but he spent the school holiday a couple weeks ago at someone's Lake Conroe house. I googled the address, and the houses for sale on that street are $900k-$1 MM.
Now, I grew up on the MS Gulf Coast, so there weren't a lot of really wealthy families. But among the middle class (which is what we all were) NO ONE drove Porches or BMWs, or even expensive trucks. The fanciest car anyone had was a Cadillac (which was a real status symbol).
Women did not get regular manicures or waxed or plastic surgery, and no one had Louis Vuitton or Gucci purses. At most you got a cut and color every few months. Vacations were to Disney World, Dollywood, or the Redneck Riviera.
We were one of the few families with a pool, and it was literally a big rectangular cement pond in the middle of a completely un-landscaped backyard.
I didn't start seeing Mercedes and BMWs until I went to college. But even those girls didn't have all the $$$ designer crap you see high schoolers carrying now.
The life I live now and that I've been able to give my son is so much different from how I grew up. I'm not into the designer shoes and bags, but he's traveled out of the country 5 times, to Hawaii twice, and Alaska once. He's got an iPhone and an iPad and a car insurance bill that my parents would have choked on.
We are the exception in our 'hood because we DON'T have a pool. I think the economic demographic of his classmates at school is a little more diverse than other areas, but he spent the school holiday a couple weeks ago at someone's Lake Conroe house. I googled the address, and the houses for sale on that street are $900k-$1 MM.
