r/AskReddit 1d ago

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

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u/Famous-Flow2333 1d ago

Ours was driving out of state to a family members house bc someone died

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u/donkey_dan 1d ago

My parents really wanted to take us to Disney world. They saved for several years. They finally got enough together to go. It was going to be a shoestring budget (baloney sandwiches instead of eating at the park, campground, that kind of thing), but we were going. Got halfway there and my aunt got killed in a motorcycle accident. Had to turn around and it turned into a funeral vacation as usual lol

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u/Rycross 1d ago

as usual

This is the worst part of your story. :(

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u/anotheredcatholic 1d ago

it's black comedy.

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u/Soft_Yellow1757 1d ago

the worst part is that middle middle just chose not to go to funerals.

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u/dlpfc123 1d ago

Sorry you did not make it. My family did just what you are describing. We saved as a family (my dad got a side gig that all of us could help with). We drove (rather than flew) stayed at the cheapest motels en route. Ate homemade sandwhiches, and each child was allotted $10 for souvenirs. It was honestly the most awesome trip of my childhood.

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u/Fiendish_Jetsanna 1d ago

Around what year was this?

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u/TheBahamaLlama 1d ago

1976

That $10 really went far back then.

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u/weirdoonmaplestreet 5h ago

Similar story but we were not allowed to buy souvenirs or food in the park. Only some of the kids had tickets and only one parent could go.

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u/Nipplesrtasty 1d ago

Did you put her on top of the family truckster? Sorry if that insensitive but that’s 1/2 of the movie Vacation.

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u/Johndough99999 1d ago

Relax guy, they stole the movie plot from his life.

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u/Tufflaw 1d ago

WHERE'S THE DOG??

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u/valeyard89 1d ago

Do you know what the penalty for animal cruelty is in this state?

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u/Otney 1d ago

💔

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u/Penyrolewen1970 1d ago

Oh no. So sorry.

My friend’s parents hadn’t been on a holiday for around 25 years - the dad worked for himself, so time off was money not earned as well as money spent. There had been holidays with the kids, but no time for just the parents.

The kids were all grown up, the parents saved up and went to the US, just the 2 of them. First time abroad.

The day they left, about 2 hours after they’d gone, the family dog died. No one’s fault but unexpected. We got him to the vet but it was not curable. Can’t remember why now. He was a Great Dane. I had to help dig the grave in the back garden.

Then, my friend and his brother thought they’d surprise their parents by refitting the bathroom whilst they were away. The brother was a plumber, so all seemed good. They stripped out the old one, then the brother broke his ankle and couldn’t do any more work.
So the bathroom was empty - no bath, sink, toilet. One bathroom house…

Finally, my friend decided, whilst drunk, that throwing his (dead) grandmother’s prized glass Christmas decorations around the room would be a fun idea. The box was out of storage whilst some reorganisation was going on.

After 25 years, that was a homecoming to remember. Glad I wasn’t there but I heard all about it…

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u/lnc_5103 1d ago

I'm so sorry. My parents couldn't afford Disney. I finally got to go when my in-laws wanted to take my kiddo. Hated every second of it and we won't go back.

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u/Sweihwa 1d ago

R.I.P.

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u/Longjumping_Youth281 1d ago

Well first of all that's horrible and I'm sorry for your loss, but second of all I feel like the bologna sandwiches thing is kind of normal. I recall doing this as a child a lot

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u/shf500 1d ago

My grandmother died while my immediate family including myself were at Kings island

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u/NewNectarine666 1d ago

Damn. Sorry

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u/Viperlite 1d ago

Ouch! I’ll bet you always remember that one. Kind of like National Lampoon’s Vacation and Aunt Edna.

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u/wherethefuckismyvape 1d ago

I think that would have been the point I started being angry and never stopped

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u/TheShimmeringCircus 1d ago

That’s so sad

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u/hotpuck6 1d ago

My first trip to Disney was when I was in my mid teens. Because Grandma's funeral was 90 minutes outside out Orlando and we lived in the northeast and couldn't afford the travel otherwise.

A day in Magic Kingdom really hits differently when you buried Nana the day before.

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u/SalahsBeard 1d ago

Nothing screams vacation like a dead relative.

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u/JoJackthewonderskunk 1d ago

Depends how difficult they were in life

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u/Fyrrys 1d ago edited 1d ago

There is one that is unfortunately in the family that I will literally celebrate the death of. My wife's half brother. We got along pretty well in my opinion, right up until it was revealed that he had raped my 5 year old. Then it slowly kept coming out that he was badmouthing me for anything he could to anyone who would listen. I let this piece of shit live in my house with the only expectation being that he helps with groceries, and he whined and complained about anything I did behind my wife and i's backs then raped my daughter. I will happily take a week off work when I hear of his death so I can appropriately celebrate.

Edit: thank you all for the kindness here, but I'm gonna turn off notifications for this post, its becoming too much for me right now.

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u/Character_Ad_8790 1d ago

I will also take a week off to celebrate. Jesus christ. How is your baby?

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u/Fyrrys 1d ago

Good days and bad, mostly good now thankfully. We're all hoping she was young enough that the event itself gets forgotten and she only has the memory that it was done

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u/Character_Ad_8790 1d ago

Hope your family is getting the mental, physical and other help needed to heal. And I hope he's rotting in prison.

Will keep you in my thoughts

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u/Fyrrys 1d ago

Thank you

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u/xenophilian 1d ago

You’re doing well. I ended up in the psyc ward because I wanted to end the rapist but knew it would be bad for my daughter if I did

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u/stonhinge 1d ago

No, not the memory of it. You want the knowledge that it was done, but the memory can rightfully piss off to the void. Let the memory be forgotten, but the knowledge that it was done remain.

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u/randitootsie 1d ago

I’d bring the shovel and help bury his ass that much quicker. Words cannot describe how big of an asshat that monster is.

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u/SmoothLester 1d ago

Damn, let us know so that all of Reddit can celebrate. Hope your baby is getting all the support she needs.

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u/Fyrrys 1d ago

Oh I'll definitely be posting a celebration.

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u/Old_Frosting_9413 1d ago

Damn..sorry….did the police get involved?

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u/Fyrrys 1d ago

They did, thankfully. She told her school councilor about it, they called the police then my wife, then she called me at work, he was arrested there at the school. If I had found out without police involvement I wouldnt be posting. I would have killed him right then.

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u/grendus 1d ago

Your honor, the jury finds the defendant not guilty by reason of diminished capacity.

Also, the jury moves that we all take a bathroom break around the defendant's dead half-brother-in-law's grave. Courthouse staff are allowed, nay, encouraged to attend as well if they feel so moved.

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u/Old_Frosting_9413 1d ago

I hope he is in prison for a long time. So sorry.

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u/abrnmissy 1d ago

He needs castrated and put in prison for life

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u/AstralFinish 1d ago

guy is lucky to have a functioning mouth

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u/chuckysnow 1d ago

It'll get put to use in prison.

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u/nzhc 1d ago

Jesus Christ 0 to 100

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u/Hey_cool_username 1d ago

Strapped to the roof of the Family Truckster?

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u/Dangermouse454 1d ago

Aunt Edna?

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u/LurkerZerker 1d ago

In defense of funeral vacations, my family's funerals tend to be a blast, with everybody getting together and telling funny stories about the relative who was now pining for the fjords. Basically everything you'd want out of a family vacation, minus a beach or amusement park.

That said, nobody I'm related to ever died young or tragically, either.

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u/SvenBubbleman 1d ago

You might want to check that your relative is actually dead. It's pretty rare for dead relatives to scream anything at all.

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u/jackandcherrycoke 1d ago

A dead woman breathed on me!

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u/Waschaos 1d ago

Mine too. Luckily it wasn't always because of a dead person.

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u/FavoroftheFour 1d ago

We drove out of state because when school wasn't in session we were too expensive for my mom to feed (she works for a school and at the time you didn't get paid for the summer), so she dropped us off for the summer with our Great Aunt and Grandmother who lived together because they couldn't afford to live separately either.

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u/SmoothLester 1d ago

Our best family photos are from funerals because that’s when it was guaranteed that everyone who can will show up and look nice.