Things we may consider mundane can appear as a status of wealth to innocent eyes.
At the time, I thought a mini-bar in the living room was a signifier of great affluence. Maybe it still is.
Curious to hear about what strangers had to say, Redditor VeryIntrestingPerson asked:
What was the pinnacle of wealth to you as a child?
Generous Grandparents
"grandparents giving you money during holidays."
"My grandma would send us a card on our birthday, with the amount of dollars matching our age. And she'd send one dollar to the one that wasn't having a birthday, so everyone got something. That's a very grandma thing to do."
Fridge Feature
"If I went to a friends place and they had a fridge with an ice dispenser, I automatically assumed they were rich."
"My friends bought a house, and they inherited an ice maker on the fridge that came with it. They put a glass under it to get ice, and out popped a nip of vodka - someone stored their nips in the ice chest to keep them cool!"
– BTRunner
Backyard Bonus
"Having a pool at your house."
"An in-ground pool, not just a crummy above ground one LOL. Now that I live where virtually every house has a pool, I know what a money pit it really is."
Fancy Art Supplies
"Yknow those nice watercolours? Those huge box of unbroken crayons? A whole set of fabercastell colour pencils? That fancy box like pencil case? Pencils that look like pens but are refillable?"
"Yeah those."
"ah yes. the sweet smell of pencils out of their packaging, the feeling of god tier watercolor.. the satisfying-ness of seeing unbroken crayons..."
"i got to feel none of those things as a child tbh.. but it was my DREAM to own them.. alas.. it was 200 ringgit (so like 50 usd.. i know quite cheap in the us.. but in malaysia.. not so much... owo)"
"Anyways, on a brighter note, I actually got a pack of these for my birthday! (I'm a digital artist but have a fascination for these lol)"
– FR1725
Popular Dolls
"American Girl Dolls."
"I got the magazine/catalog in the mail. I would drool over the stuff in there. I always wanted a bunch of stuff from it. My parents never bought it for me."
Big Houses
"Living in a two story house. I was convinced living in a two story house was for the stuff of the ultra rich. Or everyone having their own rooms."
Full Courses
"being allowed to order starters and desserts when we ate out."
– graeuk
"That would be the good life. I remember maybe twice we had ordered some sort of starter, but dessert was really never an option. Usually we didn't even order soda, because it cost too much."
Arriving In Style
"Limos. When I imagined getting rich somehow, literally the only thing that changed in my fantasies was that I would ride to school in a limo and eat more junk food."
"I just kind of assumed that all the crazy things I wanted to do as a kid (like deep sea diving and snowboarding) weren't off-limits because they were expensive, but because my parents were boring."