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50 Normal Things That Felt Like Peak Luxury When We Were Kids
It was always a sobering moment as a kid when you sort of started to understand that your parents couldn’t get every single toy in the store and you had to choose just one. You would perhaps visit a friend's house and see that they had two whole game consoles and maybe even a pool. Then, innocently, you would ask your parents why you all don’t have as much.
While these experiences were probably an important part of growing up, they could be pretty individual, so one netizen asked the internet what they thought was the apex of luxury when they were young. So get comfortable and be sure to upvote your favorite answers as you scroll through.
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#2
"Bathing" in a tub full of gold coins and gleefully flinging handfuls of them into the air. It helps if you're also a duck.
The most common indicator of wealth, even though it’s pretty deceiving, is, of course, the pool. Despite being an indicator of luxury, around 10% of US households have at least one. This number increases to around 17% for the cohort aged 18-29, which makes sense, as younger people tend to prefer more activities in the sun.
This number decreases to 16% in the next cohort, 30-49, but in general, this means more than one in ten households has this item of great luxury. Now, pools come in all shapes and sizes, and one can have a sizable, above-ground inflatable pool as well, but the idea of a pool by the home is obviously pretty attractive to a kid.
Summer vacation, as a kid, was a joyous, gleeful time, for the most part. Even more special were those times your family actually went somewhere, maybe abroad, or to a more exotic location within the country. National parks, resorts, and amusement parks are all staples, though some families also insisted on taking young children to old battlefields, museums, and other historical sights which they no doubt had zero appreciation for.
#7
Ice & water dispenser fridge. Huge houses w pool -> come to find out it is still a rich people thing cuz its a money pit
#8
Canned soda in the fridge. Something about a friends parent offering an ENTIRE CAN TO MYSELF out of their own home fridge was just insane!
Statistically, most US adults went somewhere on vacation about four times over their whole childhood, so the idea of going every single year was absolutely a sign of wealth. If you have ever encountered a person who unironically asks you “Where do you summer?” then know you are in the presence of (mostly) inherited wealth. Nevertheless, most American adults do think a summer without a trip is a waste.
Of course, some things were not so much a sign of wealth, but that the family had less impulse control or just a sweet tooth. Easy access to soda, particularly cans in the fridge is not actually that hard to do, but a child tends to overfocus on small luxuries, candies, video games, and, yes, soda, over larger things, like healthcare and housing. So sometimes a family just using a different brand may seem luxurious.
#13
When I was a kid in the early 1960’s, one of our neighbors had a doorbell that played a song whenever someone rang it. We little ankle-biters somehow came to the conclusion that this was a special doorbell that the police gave to rich people.
#14
Buying a new car. My mom always bought used cars so I thought only rich people could afford new cars. This was before I learned about financing - apparently my mom was just averse to car debt, which is okay too.
In fact, this would extend to so many things. One respondent said that foreign holidays were a sign of wealth. Without additional details, we must conclude that they encountered a family from a minority that happened to be wealthy at the same time and the reputation stuck in their head. Others talked about juice from a carton instead of a can, despite cardboard being a less premium material. It seems that the grass really always is greener.
#17
Basically everything I saw at my upper middle class aunt/uncle's house, like name-brand Pepperidge Farm bread, getting an appetizer and dessert when going out to eat, or ordering takeout more often than once/week.
#18
I grew up in a trailer in a neighborhood of mostly trailers, so I thought that only rich people lived in houses.
#21
[Viennetta always seemed so decadent.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE9wVHjKWM8) I grew up in a house that rarely, if ever, had ice cream. If we did, it was the Winn Dixie brand Neapolitan or some other nonsense. I never got to try Viennetta before it got discontinued, so I'll never get to have my expectations unmet. It will always be this lofty, high society treat my blue collar a*s would never be able to experience.
#22
My parents were super cheap and were the type of people who didn't think spending money on kids beyond the basics was worth it. Once a year, after like months of pleading, we would get to go to McDonald's. I thought it was the height of extravagance. I thought people who could eat at McDonald's everyday were rich. I think I was like 25 when I realized it was the exact opposite.
#25
I described them as 'plush houses' for whatever reason. No shoes, carpeted floors. Everything was clean looking and soft and organized and no amount of picking stuff up could make my house look that way. Bathrooms had little signs and clean little things on unused shelves, kitchen had ingredients in matching little canisters that were labeled. Ice maker on the fridge, big ol L shaped couch that was comfortable and clean.
#30
Being able to order what you wanted from a restaurant. My parents always strongly encouraged us kids to choose the cheapest s**t on the menu.
#32
Actual Guess Jeans and the polo shirts with the alligator.. I wore Kmart clothes I was always so jealous…
#33
Juice that came in a carton instead of a can. My coworkers and I were talking about this a few weeks ago, about how when we were growing up, our families always bought frozen juice from a can and then added water, and how we’d watch people buying juice that came in a carton and think “Wow they must be _rich_!”
#35
Going on vacations that required flying Having stairs in your house Buying the name brand foods
#36
Polo brand polo shirts. Fully finished basements. Entertainment centers with a big console color TV. New cars.
#40
When I was a kid my parents ended up babysitting some other kid once. We were fed bagels for breakfast. The kid went off about how bagels are rich people's food and was incredibly impressed.
#43
I live in a very wealthy area. My family is middle class at best and a pool (in the yard) or TV in someone’s room was a big thing but the biggest one was a person’s parents having enough free time to pick their kids up right after school.
#45
Drinking pineapple juice just by itself. Not rationing it for a holiday or recipe; Just buying it just because it is the nectar of the heavens and you want to drink it.
#46
bringing you own lunch to school. the rest of us poor folk eat the c**p in the cafeteria for free or reduced price. Edit: Circa 1970s
#50
I used to think that rich people spend all their spare time counting their money. Putting the money in stacks of coins.
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