now this is what I am talking about. I never got that attitude from my wealthy friends. I never felt disrespected. But after my divorce when I moved back into the city because it was what I could afford...I got a lot of disrespect and attitude from some of those folks... At the same time I met some very friendly neighbors. However, where I did get the " 'Tude " it was from the hood...not my wealthier friends.

My friends with the 'tude came through when I was really down tho' They knew what it meant to be flat out.

I think straddling tracks is a bad idea, I know I wouldn't want to have a train hit me. Follow tracks, follow tracks, Go Boom! Sorry reminded me of a bad hunting joke...

you'd have to have pretty long legs to really straddle them anyway lol

That's also what I had to constantly put up with in my childhood. I have one catholic parent, and the other isn't religious. The non-religious parent, would tell me to do what I like, more carefree, quite wild, quite the hippie. The other parent, the catholic, was like "It's My way or the highway".


I ended up resenting my step-father, for not letting me see my gran. He was just an idiot like that. And secretly, between me and you lot, I would buy a bottle of Alcopop or wine, after school, and go to a secret location to down it all. I was just so hurt that I wasn't allowed to visit my gran. All because my stepdad didn't like her. Take this as a handy hint, all of you future parents out there. Your child could end up feeling crushed if you ever ban them from seeing other family members. Let the child have a choice. You don't want your children ending up needing some sort of high, and hurting their feelings.

I never considered it to be a ping-pong game.. I looked at everyone the same.. we just had different 'fun' times is all..

I was born into money then shipped off to be adopted.. sign of the times.. but I lucked out on those that chose me to be a part of their family.. last of 4.. and this is THEIR story...

my dad came from a large family of many kids but their family wasn't the richest, my mom however came from a small upper class family and I appreciated the chance to see both sides of the coin.. we had a meager but rewarding childhood with the best of BOTH worlds.. my dad made his own way by investing in property and died years later, unbeknownst to him, a millionaire.. I, however, have always made my own way in life.. he used to say "I don't have to worry about you.. you always seem to land on your own two feet".. that was the best compliment, coming from him.

our summers were spent with the elite class.. although my dad kept us grounded by reminding us it takes hard work to achieve ANY goal.. I rode horses, drove boats, went sailing, water-skied and attended 'galas'.. yeah.. I had it easy in SOME ways.. but as I as I grew older, he constantly reminded me of the need to remain humble, and appreciate the little things.. "no sense having a heart attack trying to keep up with the Jones" he'd say... "life is about the journey.. not in WHAT you're driving when you arrive at your destination".. I've tried to teach my children balance as well.. how to survive through the tough times and appreciate the GOOD ones.. but never once did I look at a person differently.. because of where they came from OR what they had, or DIDN'T have.. IMHO, every soul has it's own distinct value!

When I was a kid I had friends that were posh silver spoon types and I also got on with working class kids and it was alright because we weren't all hanging around together and it didn't matter to me if the boys that were into going out to muck about thought that my posher friends were a bunch of poofs. Funny thing is that the stingiest freeloading bastards that I know all come from well off families. My brother and I were friends with a couple of brothers that we knew from school and they lived in a bloody mansion but they wore hand me down clothes and their house was full of old junk that they got from jumble sales. The guy was always showing me crap that he found in the street, which he was always looking for and at the time I thought that was cool and that he was like Tom Sawyer or something, with his pockets full of old ball bearings and bits of string. One time my dad took us all to the cinema and when the film ended those two brothers started looking under all of the seats looking for coins and stuff.

I used to know a lot of these middle classed hippy types and there was this other one that I knew from school that would just invite himself round for dinner but he lived like a hobo and wouldn't give you the steam off his piss. A lot of them are full of it like he was about being an anarchist and hating the system and looking down on people that were on the dole when they had their parents to mooch off instead. That guy came round a couple of times as well and then after enjoying my hospitality he would just say that he was going to the pub or to a party that his friends were having without bothering to ask me if I wanted to come. Not sure if it was just because he didn't think that I would fit in with his little clique or if it was that he assumed that I would be like him and just expect to come along uninvited but I don't like to impose on people like that.

My mother came from poverty.
Put herself through school and became a surgical nurse,
until becoming a full time mother of 9.
My dad grew up on this farm.
He had to become 'the man' of the family when he was a young teen.
Nothing has ever come easy.
I wouldn't want it any other way.

Not saying I wasn't greatful for my parents looking after me, but it began to feel like they were smothering me. I hated being an only child, because they would pay almost too much attention to everything I did. I'm not sure how others feel, about having parents you'd rather would tell to leave you be, but it made me almost have a breakdown. By all means, be a parent, but don't do it so much that you drive your children away from you. Hence them making me feel asthmatic only when around them. Other family members kept noticing that.

I've been avoiding this thread...I just didn't get the OP and I thought to myself, "Why post how you feel, you're just going to sound like an idiot...But David, Sweetest, and Zee opened the door for me...I am the second born of four children...I have an older sister and two younger brothers...I can't be sure, but I think I grew up in a solid middle class home...The reason I'm not sure is because I grew up in a place where friends, neighbors, and acquaintances were recognized by their actions, not the size of the home or the number of cars in their driveway...My dad had a good blue color job and he kept that job until he retired...When my sister needed braces, my mom went to work for State Farm Insurance Company to pay for them...Before she took that full time job, she had a part time "cleaning" job...What I'm saying is our needs were always met, we felt like we were just like everyone else, and we never thought about the have's as having more than we had, we just thought of them as the people living up the street or on the hill or on the big farm with the beautiful horses...We attended the same schools and got invited to the same parties...Together we represented a typical rural community made up of people living the American dream...It was wonderful...

I was subject to incredible generosity from every avenue without a doubt! Have seen inspiration from the unexpected...and have had renewed faith, wondering why and where I misplaced it.

behind that lost shaker of salt, surely :)

Pretty much how I live...But I wouldn't trade the adventure my life has been for anything more stable. The highs definitely outweigh the lows.