Editor’s Pick: Not having as much money as her classmates
“My family was blue-collar in a white-collar town. My parents worked really hard and did their best, but they had four kids and neither of them had advanced degrees. They did what they could. Even though we were always taken care of and I never wanted for food or clothing or shelter, most of the kids at my very small high school – there were about 60 people in my class – had so much more than I did, and I felt that difference everyday. I subconsciously knew that I couldn’t date boys who had a lot more than me because I wasn’t in their class or their league. I wasn’t even on their radar. I especially hated the week after Christmas vacation, because everyone would be talking about what they got and I would never have a cool story to tell my friends. I didn’t really feel like I even had friends. I felt very isolated from the whole culture; I felt different from everyone because I didn’t have money and I resented it. By the time I was 15 I was shoplifting on a regular basis, even when I had the money to pay for things. I was angry because I felt like I deserved to have the same things everyone around me had. In high school there is so much emphasis on clothes and style, what you have in your room, your home, etc. – all of those material things – that not having money became a huge social hurdle for me.”
— in Family’s low economic status left her feeling isolated
