#12's post regarding Burger Chef made me think of my childhood.

https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/and-now-for-something-weird.124706/page-74#post-1149646

Whenever the family was on the road, we needed to stop at Burger Chef, Winky's (local) or Eaten Park (local) because they served hotdogs. In a pinch it would be McDonald's for fish sandwich. I HATED hamburgers as a kid. Or so I thought. What I really hated were my mom's burgers. Something similar to Edddie Murphy's mom's recipe.

 

You're not the only one. Cheap ass welfare burger. That's what we got just like Eddy.

A kid didn't need to be raised in the stereotypical black ghetto Eddy Murphy talks about to know what one of those insults to burgers is. Middle American rural white kids knew them all too well too.

Probably why he was so popular here when I was growing up! We too could relate to what he joked about all too well (a little too well) .

 

Middle American rural white kids knew them all too well too.

Some years ago I consulted with Wendy about posting the white side of poverty. We agreed it was too inflammatory to post in public.
It just wasn't worth the s**T storm it would have brought down on the website.

 

Poverty does not discriminate because of race. Discounting one race over another is well ... racist.

I'll assume none of the members here are in the 1% club, financially speaking, and that could be a mistake on my part.

Without discussion, white privilege lives. Of course if it was white privilege to live in poverty, then feel free to delete.

 

Some years ago I consulted with Wendy about posting the white side of poverty. We agreed it was too inflammatory to post in public.
It just wasn't worth the s**T storm it would have brought down on the website.

Definitely not a good time to bring it up here now!

But yes, I grew up in a very cheap home. We lived poverty level pretty much all my childhood but it was self inflicted by shear stubborn unapologetic cheapness in my parents which made it that much harder to reconcile later growing up.

White poverty is on the same level of ethnic and racial affluence. Nobody in the main media or political arenas wants to show how much of a player it really is in society because it would detract from the biased slant and implied significance they put on everything else.

It's why Eddy Murphy's comedy was so popular here in the midwest back in the late 80's and 90's when I was a teen. Way too many of us 'generic white kids' related to his portrayal ghetto life all too well while our parents denied the reality that we lived it.

Believe me, who's mom made the worst 'welfare burgers' was a common topic at every BBQ and social get together for a years after that comedy routine came out, much to the annoyance of the adults who were running the show that night.

We also had 'welfare kool aid' too. That's where someone's cheap mom took one of those 5 cent kool aid packets that made a 12 ounce glass but mixed it with a gallon water then tried to pass that off on us kids as being how kool aid is supposed to taste.

Yea that was about as convincing as getting, 'Welfare cereal' , cheapest of the cheap generic brand cereal made with warm tap water instead of cold whole milk while being told that they are the same too.

Stuff like that really made us kids wonder about just how dumb these adults were that were in charge and raising us.

 

Dont forget those five lb blocks of government cheese. BTDT as a kid

 

In the UK during World War 2 we were so jealous of the American soldiers who seemed to have everything that we kids lacked. We had never seen long sticks of chewing gum, ours were packets of small pellets with a multiple choice of tastes such as spearmint. We had never seen or tasted any other flavour.. The uniforms the American soldiers wore we also much nicer looking than the clothes the British soldiers wore. We thought that all Americans were well off and well fed. It seems we were under a delusion too.

 

We thought that all Americans were well off and well fed. It seems we were under a delusion too.

My Ex had a hard time with that concept when she came here too.
I told her that about 3/4 of my neighbors and some of my family were multi millionaires (which is true) but being they are largely farmers and ranchers they, going by what their houses and vehicles would imply, look and live average to near below average and spend accordingly on everything that's not directly related to their livelihoods.

She was expecting the stereotypical American millionaire type houses and lifestyles portrayed in the news and world media, not real American working class millionaires that shop at Walmart, drive 5 - 15+ year old vehicles, mow their own lawns and clean their own house themselves.

I have family that once worked in real estate and I was told it was normal to see those high dollar millionaire esque houses around here were more often than not owned by more people drowning in debt. They loved to look rich, act rich, and live rich but they didn't have the cash to back it up whereas most of the houses that were sold for fractions of what those other ones were appraised at were owned by financially well off people who lived well below their means.

 

Dont forget those five lb blocks of government cheese. BTDT as a kid

Compared to the world, even those in poverty in America and many other countries around the world are above the living standard elsewhere in places on the planet.

Even though I lived a life below others standard of living, we never went hungry, always clothed, able to get an education with opportunities to make a better life.

Growing up I noticed, but only now in my life can truly thank my parents for their care, I was blessed to live in this country not knowing it at the time.

kv

 

Compared to the world, even those in poverty in America and many other countries around the world are above the living standard elsewhere in places on the planet.

Living in America puts you in the top ~1% of the world and most people who live here don't even know it.

 

When I was in Italy, some Italians thought the Americans were rich.

Living in America puts you in the top ~1% of the world and most people who live here don't even know it.

Wow ... just WOW.

 

When I was in Italy, some Italians thought the Americans were rich.



Wow ... just WOW.

Sorry, meant top 10% . Missed the zero.

I know we are not the top 1% of the world population but we are in the top 10% given the overall abundance of freedom and opportunity allowed here regardless of who you are or where you were born.