“Just Ask Your Parents”: 81 Tone-Deaf Things Middle-Class People Say

I grew up in government subsidized housing with food stamps. My mother had 4 kids (same dad) and no husband. I was very very poor. I’m now too 10% in total net worth regardless of age but I’m under 40.

The biggest things I’ve noticed are the inability to escape natural disasters. For instance, during Katrina a lot of people were wondering why didn’t the locals just leave. Well turns out people with no savings, no food stocks, no vehicles and needing money in case the storms missed forced them to stay put.

The second thing that still makes me sad to see is people walking around a city not built for it, specifically parents with young children. “Why don’t the take kids to library or other “free” activities?” Not understanding how hard or much of a burden it can be without proper transportation.

I pay a lot in taxes and I hope some of it goes to giving back for the programs I used. Thanks to those who paid taxes before me. Let’s try to be better to each other.

That ‘money doesn’t matter.’
Lol. Money only doesn’t matter if you have it. When you don’t, it freaking matters!

People on welfare/benefits are mooching off us taxpayers and getting more money and have a nicer life than people who work! - said by literally nobody's who's had to depend on benefits ever.

"Just quit, then," re: any terrible job that you desperately need and were lucky to get but need to vent about to stop from going insane.

HSIOT55:

In that same vein I've seen a supervisor fire people like crazy and say [stuff] like "Getting fired isn't the end of the world." For a lot of people without a sizeable savings it is. 

>"Burger flippers don't deserve a living wage they're all kids and teenagers"

Clearly someone who has never worked in fast food, ever.

Literally any time at all that they say something is not that expensive.

When you're poor, EVERYTHING feels expensive.

dayumbrah:

Got really good health and dental through my job a few years ago. Went to the dentist and they were doing a cleaning and would not stop pressuring me for xrays.

It was my first time there and they were not sure if they took my insurance so I could not get stuck with a huge bill. A cleaning was doable but xrays?!

The person literally would not stop.

Them: You should really get them.
Me: im not sure if you take my insurance and how much is covered if you do.
Them: You should really do it though, its important.
Me: I understand that, I cannot afford it.
Them: it doesnt matter if you cant afford it, you really should get it.
Me: it does matter if I cant afford rent or groceries or my car payments. Which will make future dentist visits impossible. I am negative money before the copay so unless you are giving out xrays for free, I wont be doing it.

The phrase "annual vacation".

elphaba00:

At one of the parent meetings before my oldest went on a band trip to Universal, the band director reminded the students to be on their best behavior because there would be other people at the resort and park and this "might be their only trip of the year." I kept my mouth shut. For some of the kids in the band, mine included, this would be the only vacation they'd taken in years, if at all. And a trip to Universal was probably more than they could imagine.

Telling me to get a product that’s more expensive than I could afford because the quality was better and it’d last longer. Like I wish I could do that but sometimes it’s not possible.

When they talk about eating something different every day. My mom regularly made a big pot of something on Sunday. We would eat that most of the week until it was gone.

Was on the board of the local Little League a few years ago. Every year we'd have a few kids whose parents couldn't afford the fee (<$100) and we'd let them in for free or heavily discounted.

At a meeting of the board the guy in charge of finance was frustrated we allowed this and said "I don't believe people have money problems - they have priority problems." I do well financially now, but I've been in a position making $12 an hour while trying to keep myself, my wife, and child alive. I can guarantee some folks are working hard, have their priorities right, and yet have real money problems.

Didn't grow up *really* poor, but I'm constantly amazed by how many people (many of them much poorer than I've ever been) just throw away pizza crusts like they're not made of food.


The very first lesson of even mild poverty is Never Throw Away Food.

"If we have universal healthcare it'll be worse because there will be long lines!"

So you're saying more people getting healthcare is bad because it will be an inconvenience? Everyone I've ever heard say that I know for a fact hasn't -ever- been in a situation where they have to choose between medicine and food.

"Just ask your parents for money" was a phrase my upper middle class room mate used all the time in college. Dude, they didn't have any money either. He was given money from his parents and grandparents every weekend and blew it all on booze and clubbing. I struggled to figure out how to pay for my next meal.

Had a cousin once get laid off from her job at the same time as me. Made this comment: “do you think you’re gonna try to find a job right away or live off your savings interest for a while?”
My what what? My WHAT.

KG7DHL:

I was in my late 30s, still grinding, and we were associated with a family where he was early 50s, and Retired. I asked how he had retired early, and he said, "Oh, I decided I could live off of my Portfolio Dividends.".

My mind was blown.

Come find out he had been in the right place, right time, early Internet Stock portfolio that diversified into divided paying stocks, and the portfolio was dispersing, as income, enough to live like a richer without touching principal.

You should go to the doctor.

I’d really really love to, for a lot of things. But even with insurance i am 5k in debt after one medical visit in 2026.

I remember being really sad at school because I had ripped one of my T-shirts, and a friend told me to just ask my parents for a new one. That was the day I realized not everyone had to wait for a new school year to get new clothes.

"you should have seen how bad it (very nice childhood home) looked when my parents bought it!"

This tells me they do not understand that even if poor people can buy a home, they can't afford to make it nice. Broken [stuff] stays broken or is never replaced. Their parents could afford tens or hundreds of thousands in renovations- you grew up comfy bro.

“Why don’t you just save money?” Or “you should plan better so you don’t overdraft.”

the bills were more than the income, and I was the sole earner while both parents were disabled when I was 16.

“Just buy the bigger pack, it’s cheaper.”

Yeah, I know. But sometimes you only have $6, not $18.

Honestly having parents at home. My parents were never home because they were always working.