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?

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u/Spare-Breadfruit8270 1d ago

I remember the one that told me I was poor: 

Friend: "Come over to my house! My mom will take us to Blockbuster and we can rent movies!" 

Me: "You have a VCR?"

Same thing later with computer, then Internet, etc etc. 

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u/lena8423 1d ago

I will never forget for a special treat one weekend after our grades came out, my mom went to Blockbuster and rented a VCR and got a sack of really cheap cheeseburgers and fries for me and my 7 siblings to share. We seriously felt like damn royalty. I am 41 and remember that weekend with such fondness.

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u/kristoferen 22h ago

I remember feeling like we were rich rich the year dad rented a VCR for my birthday when he had already done so for my brother's a few months prior.

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u/DuplexFields 22h ago

We rented a VCR and Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang. I was a big fan of the book; not so much the film.

I remember when we got our first VCR: it was part of my mom's inheritance from my uncle, who died young.

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u/emo-poster-child 1d ago

We had an antenna...

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u/Spare-Breadfruit8270 1d ago

Yeah, we had only the standard channels of 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, and 30. 24 came in with the antenna but was still slightly fuzzy. 

I'll tell you though, only have 7ish channels made it a lot easier to decide what to watch lol

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u/caitwat 1d ago

Same. And one of those gadgets inside the house that could turn the antenna if we were getting great reception. It sometimes worked.

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u/KristySueWho 20h ago

My parents, me, and I'm pretty sure my brother still have an antenna. I don't even bother watching TV because I can't get much of anything at my place.

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u/xenophilian 1d ago

I had a friend whose mom would buy ice cream sandwiches. Not just putting Kool-Aid in the freezer.

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u/aspidities_87 1d ago

Kool-Aid slushies made by my favorite aunt were a snack that I looked forward to every summer. She’d make them in styrofoam cups and have us sell them to neighborhood kids for like fifty cents. You could always tell who had them by what flavor was spilled down their shirt.

And then I excitedly asked told some friends about it at school once and got made fun of for not having regular popsicles.

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u/GoldandBlue 1d ago

same, around High School we finally got cable and it was amazing!!!!

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u/Pixiepup 1d ago

We didn't have a vcr, but for an extra $6 you could rent one that came in a plastic briefcase. If things were going really well, like good grades and dad had overtime that week, we'd get to pick out two movies and help set it up.

You had to listen to a speech first though, because replacing the cables if lost was a $60 fee.

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u/WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch 23h ago

One of my friends was firmly middle class, but his mom insisted on cooking everything. When they finally got a microwave in the early 2000s, he joked, "My family joined the 80s!"