Where you rich or poor as a child?

Question

That is were you

Answer 1

During World War II, my mother, brother, and I lived in a basement while my father served in the South Pacific. After the war, nine of us lived in a one-bedroom apartment. By the time I was a teenager, we had moved up to a one-bedroom apartment for the four of us (mother, father, brother, and me).

I never thought of us as being poor until I won a scholarship to Xavier Military Academy in New York City. At the time, it was a very elite feeder school for West Point. Unlike those few of us on scholarship, the other kids came from wealth. So, early on, I knew that there was another world. (Xavier High School is still in the same location, just off Fifth Avenue on Fifteenth Street, but it is no longer a military academy, and it is less elite.)

I also knew that the only way that I could become part of that world was through education. (If you are currently poor, I hope that you'll come to realize this. You will not win the lottery. The e-mail that you get from some alleged lawyer telling you that a rich relative in Scotland, or Nigeria, or Japan died leaving a bundle of unclaimed money and all you have to do is contact the lawyer to get it is a scam. You will not marry into wealth. People marry others from the same background.) Education, meaning that you really learn something, not just get a degree, is the means for upward mobility.

My family moved to California, where community colleges were absolutely free at the time. (Today, a full-time student pays between $400 and $500 a semester. The price of textbooks has skyrocketed, and it is not unusual to pay upwards of $60 per book. There are also health fees, parking fees, etc.)

After completing my A.A. degree, I was hired as the assistant manager for the college bookstore. My boss was old and very ill. It was just a matter of time before I became the bookstore manager. But, I decided that I'd be better off getting a more complete education. So, I enrolled in a state university.

By the time that I got my B.A., there was no doubt in my mind that I would go on for a master's degree. Upon completion of my M.A., I got a job teaching at a community college. While teaching, I entered a doctoral program on a part-time basis. Six years later, I earned my Ph.D. Earlier that year, my first college textbook was published. It was used at Harvard, Princeton, University of Kansas, etc. It was also translated into two other languages. I went on to write more college texts, the last one having been published in 2002.

Today, I'm divorced from my wife, who rightfully got half of our estate. We put our son through college, living in his own townhouse. He also went to China and Japan when he was in middle school, and spent a semester in Argentina when he was sixteen.

Despite the division of our estate, I still own two houses, a good portfolio of stock, and I took an early retirement with a pension that allows me to do almost anything or go just about anywhere that I desire. In fact, a lady friend and I are going to Paris just for New Year's Eve.

Still, I'm not rich by American standards. Technically, my life-style puts me in the upper-middle class.

The class structure of the U.S. is very complicated and not well understood. If I were to describe my life to the average person on the street, she or he would say that I am upper class. But, in reality, I'm far from it.

I had a post-election party at my home a couple of weeks ago, and one of my guests has given $500,000 to our local community college over the past two years. She's rich, but she's not upper class. If she were, she wouldn't have come to my party.

Here's my last comment. If you're poor and you want to be rich, don't spend a lifetime of misery going after the bucks. Become educated, begin a career (not a job) at what you like to do (because you'll be doing it for the next forty years), be committed to your career, and probably the money will follow. In any case, your goal should be to live a worthwhile life. That doesn't require more than a middle income occupation. Anything beyond that is probably just luck.

Answer 2

I really never thought of it as rich or poor. I knew that some people had more than my family. But we never cried about not getting something other kids got. I think that came from family values that were taught to us. We were told that we couldn't afford certain things and we accepted it. In many ways we were Rich in many things except material things,which didn't matter.

Answer 3

My friend and her brother were adopted into a white family. They had a lot of issues. The main problem i guess is that whites don't know a lot of the basics about blacks- black hair is different (most blacks at least), darker skin gets dry, etc. I think if there was a book that came along with it, like what hairdressers you could take your child to, and the neccesity of moisterizing every day, etc, they might be happier. They'll never fit it with the type of blacks you see on tv, but most blacks aren't like that anyway

Answer 4

Both rich and poor.
It is better to be poor. It teaches the virtues you need in life....essences you can not know being rich.

Answer 5

I can tell by your english skills that you either A) came from a 3rd world country so therefore "where" poor... or B) went to a school that was paid for with balls of lint and nicknacks from your parents pockets on the day of enrollment... I however was poor so therefore bitter at the world and try to insult anyone i can.

Answer 6

Poor financially but rich with everything elthe.

Answer 7

well, Im 14. I guess I am not a child anymore. Anyway, Were pretty rich not to be braggy.

Answer 8

we lived in a big house but we had lots of bills to pay. My parents and all older people always say they were poor....

Answer 9

i am 15, and i am medium class. well acctually i dont know but my dad gets about $70,000 per year. i think thats medium class..
my house is too small for my dad to make that kinda money. my dad makes per year about how much our house is. [pretty sad huh?]
but then again we have nice clothes and lots of food and a pond and all that good stuff.

Answer 10

very poor went to bed hungry quite alot