....and then I'll shut up about this.
1. I had the whole "No sense in envying those who are materially wealthier than you" handed to me pretty strongly when I got a bit past tween age. I knew several people in my class who were really pretty well-off, but who had miserable home lives - there was a sense their parents didn't want them around, there were arguments in the house, there were bribes to get the kids to get out of the parents' hair...
And I realized I'd rather have my family, with my dad constantly reminding my brother and me (good-naturedly, but still reminding us) that we "weren't made of money" and my mom having us do chores around the house because we didn't have "help".....and us being allowed to do things like build epic Lego structures in the living room or have tadpoles in an aquarium. (Perhaps my family was sort of bourgeois-bohemian before such a thing was generally recognized). I'd much rather have my family without things like designer jeans but also without weird unspoken subtexts or quiet resentments floating around....so that's partly why I never believe the grass on the richer side of the street is any greener.
2. When there are commentators and the like trying to gin up these kinds of fights between groups that should not be fighting (like the Mommy Wars, a LOT like the Mommy Wars), I find myself wondering, "What are they trying to distract us from?" I get that that strays into tinfoil hat territory but golly day, there are a lot more urgent and important things in the world. Even just living one's own life without wondering what the Joneses are doing....
1 comment:
RE:#2 - I think people like that are simply bored, lack imagination, and can't think of any other way to entertain themselves. I mean, they wouldn't dream of spending their time knitting, sewing, reading, volunteering, etc. so they make up their own little dramas.
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