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Right and wrong side of the tracks
"Wrong side of the tracks"....an old saying for describing someone who's upbringing and living conditions weren't up to a snobby standard.
I think I kinda understand where how that saying came about.
In the little town I grew up in (I'll change the name to protect my privacy) The town was named after a country that the founder visited once and was that impressed by it's natural beauty, I'll call it...ummm....Malta.
Malta is a small town with it's original history still standing in it's old business districts and restored buildings and zones. But across the railroad tracks sits a place called "little Malta".
Horrid cheap moldy drafty 2 room shacks, a left over village of sorts from the early WPA railroad days. This is where the company owned souls of the railroad workers lived and tried to provide for their families. When I was growing up, these shacks were the only affordable rent for a few sad families.
I often wondered what dark hearted person felt that these run down sheds were still fit for humans enough to collect rent, but also wondered how would these families keep the rain, wind and snow off of their children without them. How many families escape this deep dreariness, how many just pack up and move across the tracks in town after town seeking something a little better.
It wasn't till my late teens that I actually met anyone who lived in Little Malta, but that's another horrible sad story.
I did however have friends throughout my school years that varied from the most privileged and prominent to the most modest, some living in tiny 8 foot wide trailers in trailer parks established during the 50's.
The privileged children took so much for granted, were concerned too much with always being better, more popular...the most modest children seemed to have what I envied the most, a warm closeness with their families, the siblings watched out for each other, the parents sacrificed in every little way they could every chance they got just to see their kid's face light up a little.
Did any of you grow up envying what other families had? Did you envy the children who got the best toys at Christmas, went on fantastic family vacations? Did you envy the family dynamics of any of your friends, did you ever wish your parents were more fun and less work?
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| March 1, 2008, 11:34 |
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Re: Right and wrong side of the tracks
I'll just begin by saying that not knowing how much money wasn't an issue for my parents, and when growing up, things got done for me whether i was able to take responsibility for it or not. Then having things given to me practically on a silver platter didn't help me learn the things i needed to know out in the real world.
So, maybe to some degree i was on the right side of the track as far as how to be out in public being both set of my parents were more aware/known out in public, however you want to put it.
Then again, on the wrong side of the tracks because i felt that i didn't learn how to face the real world starting the day after graduation.
So... depending on the situation, its a win/lose situation for me.
Then for my parents, we got to do more fun stuff with mom and not so much with my dad.
So, for the most part, i dont recall being envious of others. If i was, it was very temporary and got over it fairly quick. Because I would think to myself, even though they had something I might have wanted or liked, I had something else that they would've wanted or liked. So it was fair in some odd way you could say.
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| March 1, 2008, 21:57 |
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Re: Right and wrong side of the tracks
I grew up in a middle class, loving family in central WI. I'm amazed at times how much I remember from then and how much that upbringing effects how I do things today.
I remember one trip I took with my parents to the southeast. I remember in GA [I think] seeing 2 towns next to each other. North Granada and South Granada. The town lines were most easy to see. North Granada was where all the rich and fairly well off white people lived. South Granada was where all the kept poor blacks lived. 
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| March 2, 2008, 07:12 |
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Re: Right and wrong side of the tracks
Poor? by who's standards? if I was raised poor I didn't notice. My father worked and provided for 7 of us country bumpkins and we discovered going thru paperwork, after he passed away, that he did it with a paycheck of $96/week. We were raised to appreciate what we had and none of us were spared from having that strong work ethic instilled at an early age. As for envy to those proposed to being the elite group in our area..they were total snobs. I suppose you can always use that money and influence to buy your friends, but it's amazing how fast they disappear during hard times.
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| March 2, 2008, 09:14 |
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Re: Re: Right and wrong side of the tracks
QUOTE (StillHotnSexy2 @ March 2, 2008, 09:14)Poor? by who's standards? if I was raised poor I didn't notice. My father worked and provided for 7 of us country bumpkins and we discovered going thru paperwork, after he passed away, that he did it with a paycheck of $96/week. We were raised to appreciate what we had and none of us were spared from having that strong work ethic instilled at an early age. As for envy to those proposed to being the elite group in our area..they were total snobs. I suppose you can always use that money and influence to buy your friends, but it's amazing how fast they disappear during hard times.
Well said 
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| March 3, 2008, 09:58 |
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