I think we can all agree that when you're a kid, your ideas of money and ~luxury~ can be a little bit warped.
Case in point? Reddit user u/BumblingZombo recently asked, "What is something you thought as a kid was a sign someone was rich, but now realize is something that everyone does?" The responses range from super funny and wholesome to straight-up heartbreaking:
1."Kids who brought their lunch. For a while we got the discounted school lunch, so I assumed kids with lunch pails and homemade sandwiches and snacks were rich."
2."Owning a dishwasher. I realize that there is still a population that doesn’t have dishwashers, but when I was a kid, I thought dishwashers were luxury items. I still don’t live in a place with a dishwasher; I’ve been doing them by hand all my life."
3."Having a well-stocked assortment of bandages. We only had an old box of store brand, and the only ones left were the tiny ones that don't cover anything. I vowed when I was an adult I would buy every kind."
4.I know not everyone does this, but buying popcorn at the movies. My parents would get us to make it at home beforehand and sneak it in
5.When everybody in the family was well-mannered and nice to each other instead of constantly yelling and screaming about petty stuff. At least, it would seem that way on the surface.
6."Non-sourdough bread. I was somehow convinced that we bought sourdough bread because we were poor, but I never complained. We weren't poor and sourdough isn't cheaper. My parents kept buying it because they thought I loved it, even though they didn't like it either. We were all eating bread that we hated because of a misunderstanding until I was like 16 years old."
7."The 64 box of Crayola crayons."
8."Shaving cream and quality razors. Even though we had enough money growing up, my mom insisted on those one-blade Bic razors and soap to shave my legs. I was stunned as an adult to find out shaving cream costs like $3.50. I honestly thought it would be like $25."
9."I thought if you had a two-story house, you were automatically rich."
10."Going on vacations. I'm not certain my dad ever took more than half a day off in the entire time I lived at home, weekends included. We were poor as hell though, so I guess he felt like he needed to work that much to get by. I'd hear about people going camping for a couple weeks and think they were millionaires."
11."Going to McDonald’s. It was a once a year treat for us, if that. I was led to believe that it was too expensive and only something rich people did. I would see my neighbors and friends with happy meal boxes and be really jealous of them. Their parents worked and mine didn’t, so I assumed it was only for people with money. When I got older and got a job, I realized it was cheap food and cheap for a reason, and my parents were just awful with money."
12."Having a clean house. I know it sounds weird. My parents were intense hoarders. I somehow thought that the cleaner your house was the wealthier you are."
13."ATMs. I thought you had Scrooge McDuck money if you could put a plastic card in a gray box and cash flew out."
14."Buying Ben and Jerry's ice cream. My parents would never pay that much for such a small amount of ice cream, so I assumed it was horribly expensive. Whenever I went to a friend's house and they had it, I automatically thought they were rich-rich. I still hate paying for it now."
15."Having a two-door fridge."
16."Hamburger and hot dog buns. We always used bread and I thought buns were just something fancy that only restaurants had."
17."Buying things spontaneously. When we went shopping we only ever bought things that were strictly on the list, no money for anything extra. So if we happened to see a toy or sweet we wanted, we weren’t allowed."
18.And finally, "A fridge full of food. I was poor and never had this as a kid. I would open it to literally find butter and that's all. When I went to other kids' houses, I was so amazed by all the snacks in the fridge. I vowed if I had a family, I would fill the fridge and make life tasty for my kids, and I did. Little wins."
Is there anything you mistook as "rich person" stuff when you were a kid? Share it in the comments below.
