When I grew up, we lived on the third floor, walk-up, brownstone, railroad flat apartment in Brooklyn heated by a coal burning stove in the kitchen – just like the 600 other kids on our block. My parents always paid the rent and we always had food on the table. We thought that people living in their own houses was something only rich people in the movies did. We were definitely on the lower end of middle class, but we didn’t know it. Everybody else we knew was in the same boat and we were happy.
.
I guess this explains why, in spite of “doing well” today, I’m not too hung up on materialism especially when I see those Americans who can’t even make the cut to be called middle class. As a world traveler, I’ve learned that even these people have it good compared to some of our neighbors in other countries.
When I grew up, we lived on the third floor, walk-up, brownstone, railroad flat apartment in Brooklyn heated by a coal burning stove in the kitchen – just like the 600 other kids on our block. My parents always paid the rent and we always had food on the table. We thought that people living in their own houses was something only rich people in the movies did. We were definitely on the lower end of middle class, but we didn’t know it. Everybody else we knew was in the same boat and we were happy.
.
I guess this explains why, in spite of “doing well” today, I’m not too hung up on materialism especially when I see those Americans who can’t even make the cut to be called middle class. As a world traveler, I’ve learned that even these people have it good compared to some of our neighbors in other countries.
.
Life, love: the rest is trash.