Prince and the Pauper

So lately I feel like something just has been on my mind and I want to preserve it here for me to think about and reflect on.

Money...

I was blessed in a strange way. I grew up poor. And when I say poor I mean something few understand. At a young age I was stuffing envelopes with mailers with my family as we watched Disney movies on VHS just to make some extra money. I grew up never knowing fancy things and thinking Target clothes were a true treat.

That is my background.

Now take that poor kid who somehow gives the impression that he came from a much more noble background, and throw him right into the middle of Orange County. One of the wealthier places in the US. A place where 18 year olds are driving cars more expensive than all the cars in my family combined, where 16 year olds know what Prada is and might even own something with the real label, and where mosts conception of being poor is something my family would have thought was a wonderful life.

Here I am meeting friends and going out shopping with them while they talk about paying near $300 for a pair of jeans. Something I will admit to wishing I could occasionally do... but just can't yet. Something that sometimes freaks me out that something like that can be so crazy. I hear people talk about designers and hope that I know which one they are talking about. And the funny part is unlike the people I used to know, they don't flaunt it. It is there life. It isn't like they make it the big grand deal or rub it in your face. It is just their life.

And it is refreshing in a strange way... so nice to see such a different way of life. To learn about it all as if it is something brand new. But sometimes I just wonder if me and my two semi-expensive pairs of jeans fit in around here. I sometimes find myself with a lack of something to say because I don't know about this aspect of fashion or this designer and just end up sounding like someone walking fresh off the farms I grew up near.

But it is so much fun to see how different life can be for some people, and yet how similar. Money isn't the saviour the poor think it is. When growing up we always saw having more money as the answer to our problems and here I see the same problems with a different mask. Sure some things are most certainly easier if you have money, but money just brings a whole different set of issues and problems.

So I guess the moral(s) for me to remember is...

1) Remember your roots and don't be ashamed
2) Find new ways to examine the problems because the answer might not be what you expect
3) These shoes are $300 dollars...