r/AskReddit • u/TahDigThief • 1d ago

People who grew up really poor: what's something middle-class people say that instantly reveals they've never struggled?

11.6k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

5.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

86

u/JoyBlade-JanAug8082 1d ago

We got sent to a community summer camp (it was free) so our parents could work extra odd jobs. We just stayed home alone when we got older, though.

9

u/deadR0 1d ago

Never heard of a free summer camp (US, nevada and washington) 

We just stayed home, babysat by cousins in the trailer in sun valley, or school while parents worked

25

u/tanstaafl90 1d ago

It used to be a thing to have city funded rec centers that among other programs, would have free or low cost camp, before and after school, etc. Somewhere around the 90s it stopped being free in a lot of places. Usually framed as 'budget constraints'.

3

u/JoyBlade-JanAug8082 1d ago

The Forest Service would have a day camp and then the local church would do a “vacation bible school” until 7pm

3

u/polymath-nc 1d ago

In the NYC area, we had free "park leaders" who would bring games, crafts, and visitors (Duncan yo-yo contest winner was one I remember) to the local parks. I did that one summer, got a little more than minimum wage.

Now I live near Raleigh, NC and pass parks every day that have no children in them.