Where you raised poor or with a silver spoon?.

[Tazzer]

If poor, how did you cope with in and what made you what you are now.
If rich, where you a spoiled bratt or were your parents strict with your up bringing and what made you what you are now.

 

[SSSSS]

Raised by my Mother only, had it tough in my teens why I always have a chip on my shoulder. Poverty only made me stronger to succeed and to take care of my Mom and little sis. I owe it all to my Mom for what I am now. Can go forever explaining why I have a high admiration towards women but weary of most men. Trust no one is my motto and it worked out good for me.

 

[natesando]

i had a governess for most of my childhood and youth...

 

[kitkat77]

Silver spoon is synonymous with wealth, especially inherited wealth. Someone born into a wealthy family is said to have "been born with a silver spoon in his mouth".

 

[nitwig//0]

Sweet of you to explain,...but those of us who are familiar with oddball know that he was being silly. lol

 

[SF kid]

Silver chopsticks in my case.

 

[Philip H]

Thanks Randy, did not know he was a joker.

 

[DAR]

Try fighting for food and parents attention when you have 6 brothers and sisters and you will survive in the real world. If sharing is a virtue then I have learned well.

 

[Fezzie]

I worked hard to mine the silver, stoke the furnace and forge my own spoon.

But yeah, my folks gave me every opportunity they could afford (and a few they couldn't). I owe them the world.

 

[beauty]

Grew up in the hood and forged my own silver spoon later in life. Parents gave me what they could and I owe them the world.

An ignorant dumb fuck who made a derogatory comment while I was waitering to pay my way thru University essentially made me decide I would NEVER wait on tables again !

 

[cheyenne]

I'll drink/poon to that Dapper !

 

[daphne o]

I guess it all depends on your perspective. We were poor compared to some and rich compared to others.

Being pretty good at sports (mostly hockey) and a very good student, my circle of friends were mostly upper middle class. I would say my family was lower middle. My parents never managed to pay off a house and meeting the monthly bills was often a struggle, but we always had food and they managed to keep us enroled in hockey and soccer. Most of our equipment was bought used or given to us by others.

Post secondary education was out of the question for me finacially. I worked for full time plus extra shifts for 3 years, the full time afternoons and back to school during the day for 3 years. Fell asleep while driving a few times :frown: but in the end I got a college diploma.

I was always envious (not jealous) of the kids who got cars and university paid for but it gave me perspective and strengthened my resolve to make my life better.

Life is really good now. I have more than I ever imagined I would and my kids will be given advantages that I never had. We still visit Dad in the trailer park (not kidding) and do our share of charity work to keep things in perspective.

 

[Sunil]

So important to do this.

Otherwise, our sense of reality gets so warped being surrounded by like people of like situations.

 

[meandmyspam]

We were filthy rich lived in a mansion had nanny's, many toys and spoiled to hell. At 10 years old my dad lost everything and it was a good thing in a way cause it humbled us all. Took him years to get it back and during that time it made my strong character. Like most of you my parents had a great influence of what I am today.

 

[Waikia]

Neither. I was raised in a comfortable middle class family. My parents never spoiled us with things, but they did make many sacrifices to give us a well-rounded education and opportunities.

 

[rocker4ever18]

It's not the dough around you, its what was the interaction with the 'rents


lived all over the world at various embassies and bases but in a STRICT military family :whip:

 

[Shelby]

My parents were displaced persons. Arrived with a suitcase, a young child and a bun in the oven (me) and a dream to move to the US with Canada as a rest stop.They decided to stay here. We all worked hard and fought to get everything they own.
So on one hand a silver spoon but on the other hand, I've been working for 41 years and I am only 46.

 

[KatieLovesMichael]

As many have said: richer than some, poorer than others. Father earned $100.00 per week and raised us two boys.

Also grew up in the 'hood where if you didn't fight your battles you ended up broken on the side of the road.

The best thing they did was get us kids out of the city every (almost) weekend camping ......The thing that kills me is: even if you're poor by today's standards, it doesn't cost that much for camping equipment, gas and a trip to a camp ground somewhere.

I mean, for the cost of taking a family of 4 to the movies or two cases of beer you can take the family camping for the weekend. A MUCH better investment IMO......

 

[DEFINATELY BLESSED]

I spent a significant portion of my life in abject poverty, and part of my early childhood homeless. It sounds wretched, but honestly with government assistance, though it was far from comfortable, it wasn't squaller. My mother was ill and unable to work, and refused to take any assistance from my father. During the years of homelessness we spent them in women's shelters, about 2-4 families to a room depending on the shelter. Some had kitchens where the mothers could cook for themselves and the children, and some had a massageplaneteteria with meal times. I recall at least two having backyard playgrouds for the kids, and many got donations of toys and books and clothes. I still have every stuffed animal I ever got at a shelter. I actually had my first boy crush at one of these places. I think I was about seven, and we were in the backyard of the shelter playing on monkey bars, and he told me "Of all my girlfriend's you're my favorite". It was very sweet.

What made it possible to cope? I guess I was too young to put too much thought into it, that's just the way life was. There was still plenty of reason to laugh and smile - that's what friends are for. You don't need money, or even a home, to find a reason to laugh. I also developed a great appreciation for "simple luxuries". So when I was a child, it would be having a lovely jar of strawberry jam to spread on a nice soft piece of bread. Now it's a pair of lace gloves, or an antique kaleidoscope, sitting in the grass playing with my dog, or a shamelessly greasy unhealthy meal that's absolutely delicious. All those things are luxurious and beautiful in their own right - it doesn't have to cost much or anything for something to be a great experience.

"To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the making of bread." James A. Baldwin.

I always felt that poverty and trauma can do one of two things to a person, and it depends on their instinctive character: 1. It can make you miserable. 2. It can liberate you.

By liberate I mean that you are to some degree fearless, because when you have lost everything and survived, you know that loosing everything isn't the end of the world. It also allows you to live in the moment, because that's all you really have: my mother might be in the hospital, I have no idea how I can afford to survive the next week, and I'm carrying the weight of sadness - but damn, this fresh jam is really delicious, the sun feels warm on my face and I can hear a sparrow singing.

Interestingly I know a few gentlemen who have been raised with a silver spoon. They are quite fascinated by my upbringing, and always curious about my insights. Our completely different backgrounds give us lots of intellectual exploration, and it actually brings us closer together.

Onto the subject of charity: I rarely donate to large organizations. When I want to give in an act of charity, I contact local shelters and "sponsor" a family around holidays. So if christmas is coming up, I ask the shelter for a family - the age of the children, their gender, any interests, clothing sizes other such details. Then I go out and buy each of the kids clothes and toys, and wrap them up in gift paper. Then we get something nice for the mother - like a day at the spa and some cash. Then two days before the holiday I go grocery shopping and buy everything from veggies, to the meat, to the desert and drinks, and I drop them off at the shelter, who then provides it to the family I sponsored. I have also done this with my gentlemen friends (we split the cost and went shopping together) in the cities where they live.

I cannot put into words what a difference this makes to the lives of the people on the receiving end - it's huge. It's cause of tears, and hope, for feeling love for mankind, and a reason to smile.

If there is one thing you should always do for your brothers and sisters in the human race, rich or poor, near or far, friend or stranger: Treat them with dignity and grace, even when you can't understand how they got where they are.

 

[elizabethbyers377]

While I wasn't quite as bad off (for lack of a better word) as you were but I can recall times when we were looking for something to play with and all there was was a cardboard box.

I remember the feeling of "score" when someone bought a new fridge and we found the box sitting out front. We'd make a fort out of it and when it got too ratty to be a fort, we tore it up and used it as a sled to slide down a grassy hill......no xbox, no playstation, no internet. A fricken cardboard box.

I guess that's why even now, I can still amuse myself with the simplest of things.

I also agree about donating, I hate donating to big organizations. Too much of that money is spent on administration and doesn't get down to those that need it. Now I realize that the money supports employment, but still.

A perfect example of this is:
One time I was waiting at the Loblaws BBQ counter and an obviously homeless guy was in front of me. He asked the staff:
How much for a 3 pce meal? then counted his change.
How much for a 2 pce meal? then counted his change again.
How much for just a leg? when I interjected and said:
Give him a 3 pce meal, I got it.
I turned to him, go grab a drink out of the cooler. The whole thing came to something like $7.00 but at least I knew it was going into a crack pipe.......