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I do remember lunch shaming happening to others in school. Kids are mean and don’t really understand class struggle.
In England we had it with school jumpers, poor kids had a cheap jumper with the logo sewn on, everyone else had an official jumper.
I was one of the three or so “poor” kids in my year, and it was quite embarrassing. Wasn’t even poor, my mum was just extremely stingy and wouldn’t pay for the proper jumper…
Yeah I got it here in England for my budget school uniform, for requiring free achool.meals, for my shoes, for a dozen other signs of poverty...
I love that america tackles it's own social issues and hate that Brits and other Europeans do nothing but snarky attacks on America as a way of denying our own issues and pretending america is uniquely bad.
They understand alright, they're just often intent on perpetuating it.
They absolutely do not. There is a big difference before junior high and post high school. Humans do need to learn and children are running on instinct and feelings until they do. Its a process and takes more time for some than others. Some never learn.,
In elementary school in the early 80s I was called poor (which I was) because I had to bring a box lunch in an old beat up lunchbox my mom got from a yard sale for a nickel, and could not afford cafeteria lunches. All my food was home made and the kids made fun of everything I brought. It got so bad I used to get in trouble all the time so I always had lunch detention and had to eat with my teacher.
yeah. we had a big family and there was competition for normal looking brown bags which I was not good at so mine was in the wonder bread bag. I would not say we were poor. We were poor for the rich suburb we lived in but it was a big working class family and my parents, rightly, prioritized getting a house, even the worst house, in a good school district and getting it paid off.
We did not have indoor toilets until I was in 6th or 7th grade, and the indoor shower came a year or so later.
at home or school? in the 80's?
Home and yes
was it like super rural?
Yes. The near-by town (8 miles away) got a flashing traffic light when I think I was in 4th grade. Then the next town had 3 stop lights. The city was 90 miles away.
It boggles my mind to think about no indoor plumbing in the US at that time. Should not be so surprised. When my wifes granma passed away she lived like single digits from chicago in a multiflat. The back still had these areas in the garage for cows. Blew my mind. Granted the area she was in was close to the old stockyards.
Some sure, for others I got the impression it was a crabs in a bucket kind of situation.