Congratulations on the promotion Medusa and on this very interesting thread.
I grew up in a weird situation in which my parents grew up poor due to the Depression but ended up being very well educated and in the clergy. My father had his PHD in Classical Greek and my mother was an English teacher and Principal until "God called them" to be Missionaries. As a missionary everything is paid for and in Argentina of the 60's and 70's US dollars went a long way. All types of church members entertained us from people with dirt floors to people with private helicopters and mansions. I feel pretty comfortable in any setting. My parents did not make much money, but everything including our schooling, insurance, home, car, utilities, vacation etc was paid for, so I grew up with zero idea of the value of money.
In college I worked and since school was paid for I always had money to blow. After college came the realization that I had no idea about money and my parents plan to marry me off to a preacher to take care of me was not gonna happen....and I majored in theater.
I ended up very poor, and in some terrible situations. (I also am quite creative with Ramen noodles!) I charged up cards and was a financial disaster. Since then, I have worked in Grocery stores, ski lifts, hotel management, kitchens, sports catering and now for a production company.
My G/F Cynthia's family has always had a good income. She was until recently a 3rd generation General Motors blue collar worker, making 3 times as much as I or my parents have ever made.
Now I have a good job and she is in school. I do have to have a stash of food and money and it makes me sick to my stomach to owe any money. All we owe is the house. We renovate little bits as we can pay cash. I will not finance anything but medical stuff. I have nightmares of collections people calling me if I owe anything.
I have no idea what class I am, nor do I really care. But it burns my ass up when people act better than others based on what they do for a living, or what class they are perceived to be. It makes me feel sick when I see it.
If someone cleans your House, it is because they are a cleaning professional and enjoy working alone, not because they are not as good as you are. *rant*
We have decided we like to travel rather than have a fancy big house, and live in Nashville because the cost of living is great.
Great great subject Medusa, I look forward to the discussion!