A Day In The Life

Every city and town contains people of different classes: rich, poor, and somewhere in between. Describe what it was like where you grew up — was it swimming pools and movie stars, industrial and working class, somewhere in between or something completely different? 

This prompt reminded me of someone I had not thought of since seventh grade. Made me think about the town I grew up in, if it was divided by class or not. My neighborhood would have been considered middle class I suppose. A “white collar” town, with tree lined streets and houses built in the 1930’s & 40’s Brick Tudor style. We had an elderly neighbor who told us originally it was all farmland- acres and acres. Now it was houses and schools. The Eastern part of town developed later, so those houses were split levels, built in the 1950’s. Overall we all had parents who were professionals, some mothers went to work in those days, during the 1960’s, but many did not. The women’s movement had not yet taken hold. We grew up getting an allowance for doing chores and did not always get what we wanted. I had a few friends who went on fancy vacations during winter break- but they were the exception. No one was “wealthy”- it was not that kind of town. And no one seemed to be poor. Except for one girl I remember from seventh grade. Looking back now as an adult, it is hard to think of what her life must have been like. We all lived in houses, she lived in an apartment building on the outskirts of town. Not near any of the other girls in school. She was very thin, and her hair was usually not combed. Her clothes looked worn out, and I remember her coming to school in the winter dressed in a summer dress. I remember being very much aware that she did not seem to have what the rest of us had.

And then one day she came to school wearing something that she had gotten from the local thrift shop. How did we know? It was a dress that had belonged to one of the girls in school, whose mother had donated it there.Tongues were flying. I think she became aware that the girl who had owned the dress was telling everyone it had been her dress. By days end everyone in school knew she was wearing a dress that had come from the thrift shop and used to belong to someone else.  She was poor. She needed to buy clothes in a thrift shop. We all felt sorry for her, knew she must have felt shame, been embarrassed. We were all quietly thankful we came from homes where maybe we wore our siblings hand me downs, but we didn’t need to buy our clothes in the thrift shop. It was the only time I can remember being aware that someone in town did not have what I had, did not fit in with how the rest of us lived.

She moved away shortly after, more rumors swirling that her mother had no money and they had to leave. So sad to think of when I look back. There will always be those who have more, those who have less. The question is how they can co exist. If they really can.