How were things when you were a kid

T

TennVet

Member
I grew up in pretty different way. My dad was a construction worker and we moved around a lot. There are six of us kids, and I'm the youngest, the only one still living today. In my youth there were four of us at home, the two oldest already on their own in the world. Three girls, myself the only boy at home, along with Mom and Dad lived in a trailer. When we moved that trailer pulled by our family vehicle held all our possessions. In each new place the trailer, our home, was usually located on the edge of town or across the tracks, however you might want to describe it.

For the most part I never realized that was anything to think about in a social sense. I had good food to eat and warm bed at night. When I reached my teen age years I was the only child left at home. We had once again moved, and there was a very sweet classmate that I had a huge crush on. Shortly after I let the damsel know of my feelings I got a pretty rude awakening. It seems that this girls mother made it clear to her that she was to have nothing to do with that poor white trash kid. I recall going home an asking my mother what "poor white trash" was. That was one of the few times I saw Mom cry because of me.

Now in what is the fourth quarter of my life, I admit that I have thought back on that event. My perspective is considerably different now. I had the opportunity to see our society through a lens that my contemporaries barely knew existed. My real friends never put me down because of where I lived. I got a really good education, and along the way I garnered some street smarts that many around me lacked. What is really came down to is the fact that even in the type of home I lived in we were family and we cared for each other.
 

I grew up in an area where I was surrounded by both "old" money and "new" money but us with no money. My dad had the same job the otheer kids' dads did so I could never understand why we were always broke: no money for new school clothes, stuff getting repossessed, etc. until my sister clued me in to all the side girlfriends my dad had that he was spending all his money on.

So I grew up being embarrassed by where I lived and hearing from the other kids (mainly the girls although some boys too) of how ugly and cheap my clothes were, "why does your mom work?! Ladies don't work after they get married. Only daddies work.", etc.
 

I had a good upbringing in that regard. I grew up with everything materially There was always plenty and new stuff all the time. Both of my parents worked which wasn't unusual for the 1960's. So I was very lucky.

Until the pandemic, which hit me hard and showed me the rough side of life which is difficult to bear in your latter years because you're no longer young and full of energy so you can't dig yourself of a hole like young people can. Time is a factor.
 
For a reason no one seems to know, my dad lost his job when I was 5, and had trouble finding another one, so we moved to his parents' place, which was a dairy farm. We lived and worked on the farm until I was 15, when Dad got a job as an auto mechanic, and we moved to a city. Soon after, he took a second job as an auto parts salesman, and soon after that, I went to work for my mother's father in his tailor shop in the next city over.

I had kind of a tough time transitioning from farm life to city life. The boys at the school in the city gave me a hard time. What I'd learned on the farm is that you don't take crap off anybody. If somebody gives you a hard time, you give them a good beating, and then everyone leaves you alone.

It didn't quite work out that way. I had to deliver several good beatings before I was finally left alone. Apparently, one of the differences between farm boys and city boys is that city boys are really slow learners.
 
Remy said:
I'm just very sorry you were ever referred to as such. It sounds like you had an unconventional but happy enough childhood.

Now people live that way and make YouTube channels chronicling it.
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I'm not sorry about that. I learned from it. I didn't want my mother to feel bad for the small minded attitude of the girls mother. I knew growing up I had worth, and I used that to build upon. No one told me to work hard, I just understood that was what you did. There is a reality to idea that knowing where you came from is the basis of appreciating what you earn. I'm not high powered or ultra rich, but even with a few bumps in the road life has been, is good to me. I'm still warm on a cold night and have a good family. I think that makes life pretty darn good.
 
TennVet said:
I grew up in pretty different way. My dad was a construction worker and we moved around a lot. There are six of us kids, and I'm the youngest, the only one still living today. In my youth there were four of us at home, the two oldest already on their own in the world. Three girls, myself the only boy at home, along with Mom and Dad lived in a trailer. When we moved that trailer pulled by our family vehicle held all our possessions. In each new place the trailer, our home, was usually located on the edge of town or across the tracks, however you might want to describe it.

For the most part I never realized that was anything to think about in a social sense. I had good food to eat and warm bed at night. When I reached my teen age years I was the only child left at home. We had once again moved, and there was a very sweet classmate that I had a huge crush on. Shortly after I let the damsel know of my feelings I got a pretty rude awakening. It seems that this girls mother made it clear to her that she was to have nothing to do with that poor white trash kid. I recall going home an asking my mother what "poor white trash" was. That was one of the few times I saw Mom cry because of me.

Now in what is the fourth quarter of my life, I admit that I have thought back on that event. My perspective is considerably different now. I had the opportunity to see our society through a lens that my contemporaries barely knew existed. My real friends never put me down because of where I lived. I got a really good education, and along the way I garnered some street smarts that many around me lacked. What is really came down to is the fact that even in the type of home I lived in we were family and we cared for each other.
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Maybe it's odd to reply to your own posting. I didn't offer these words looking for sympathy or empathy. I'm glad I remember where I came from. I heard some say that 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. For me it falls somewhere in that area. A little bit of hardship builds some character and appreciation. Thanks for the good thoughts, but I'm just fine.
 
Turbulent probably best describes it. We moved a lot until I hit sixth grade I was the only kid in class with divorced parents, all of a sudden there were two other kids from "broken homes", and we all hung out together. I missed kindergarten and went to three different schools in the first grade, not the best way to start a formal education.

I went to eleven different schools before I threw my hands in the air and said enough, after that I self-educated. My Stepfather hated me and I reciprocated, I was his favorite target and I was always the smallest kid in class, and new so a natural target for bullies.

I started working at a young age and always felt more comfortable at work than at home or school, my childhood sucked big green ones, and I don't miss it at all. I was always that kid that other parents told their kids not to hang around with.
 

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