These posts all have the same issue, they completely don't understand how people lived. They see tv and the brady bunch all flying to hawaii and think everyone did that. I'm 51 and in my childhood eating out was rare, nobody flew anywhere on vacation and people drive the same cars for so long it's how you knew who was coming down the road. The only people I knew who "lived like rock stars" were single males who had no kids and had the boss job at the factory.
the truth is in the middle of that and this. My family was relatively poor. HOWEVER.. my single mom made ~12k in the mid-to-late 80s and my dad ~13k. Each had their own place.. we lived with my mom.. 4 kids. he sent money when he could.
So no it wasn't the rock star life.. but they each had a home in a different part of the state, supported 4 kids, and we did stuff like soccer, book fairs, etc. We had cable tv and a computer (used C64 from goodwill). And before someone says "umm that's not poor" we qualified for food stamps and free school lunches.. so yes, that's what poor was back then. "poor" now is basically destitute and border-line homeless.
I think people forget that we saw how our parents lived on their salaries and we grew up in those homes. We're not all relying on TV. Your comment is a great example of that.
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u/big-williestyle 16h ago edited 15h ago
These posts all have the same issue, they completely don't understand how people lived. They see tv and the brady bunch all flying to hawaii and think everyone did that. I'm 51 and in my childhood eating out was rare, nobody flew anywhere on vacation and people drive the same cars for so long it's how you knew who was coming down the road. The only people I knew who "lived like rock stars" were single males who had no kids and had the boss job at the factory.