Cable.
Store bought clothes.
Not having real heating in the house/central AC (remind me to tell you about my dad's "fan system" for our house).
Vacation usually meant visiting a relative's house.
The family car was always just barely hanging on.
Extra activities.
And name brand foods.
Yes, to every kid who had to bring a packed lunch to school and pulled out not hi-c fruit punch, but apple and eve fruit blend.
Every kid who ate breakfast with not Dig 'Em looking out from the box of sugar smacks, but a bear.
And the worst of all: off brand Cheez-Its. Yes, including Cheese Nips. Those taste like poop. And because my first memorable encounter with Cheese Nips were when they were CatDog shaped, I associate them with gross things. Because that show was gross.
The reason this rant started is my family is cutting back. Like everyone. That's fine! I mean getting groceries at Wal Mart is something a lot of people are doing. It's cheaper that's for sure. And most of their stuff isn't bad.
A lot of people don't know this but Wal Mart brand stuff is actually mostly name brands repackaged. They don't make anything, they just sell other people's stuff.
But back to the rant. So my mom bought Wal Mart Cheeze-Its. Which don't taste terrible. But their texture is awful! They just fall apart the second you look at the box. They're just dust. And it's sad.
Now, it's not all in vain. My family (especially my mom) worked hard to keep us in a private school and out of trouble. A lot of families do that and it's commendable, wanting a better life for their kids. So if it's slacking on name brand foods than so be it. But darn it it's annoying!
And for all your other poor kids, what did you miss out on? Let me know in your comments. Or if you grew up with name brand foods, what would you have hated to give up?
Tell me your story. :]
I remember when we would buy Jacob store-brand products and he'd get upset because it wasn't as good as the name-brand stuff. And I remember thinking, "It does the same thing, but cheaper. Get over it."
ReplyDeleteI never had a problem with store-brand items...but I guess I'm just so used to it, I don't really care. Or I never really detected much difference.
Did you ever have friends who only ate white bread? Or maybe you only ate white bread...but we always ate whole wheat (store-brand, of course), and it would weird people out who ate at our house.
Don't know if that's at all along the lines of your post...but I thought I'd share.
Yes to the wheat bread! My mom stopped buying white bread when I was in elementary school and I hated it at first. Now I love it.
ReplyDelete*Elaborates on the dad's fan system*
ReplyDeleteDuring the day, in early summer, the fans were placed in the windows, using bungee cords and nails we hammered into the window panes, facing outwards to blow the hot air out. Then in the early evening, when it started to get cool, the fans were turned around to blow the cool air into the house.
In mid summer, the fans were placed in front of the window air conditioning units in order to blow the cool air into the hot areas (non air-conditioned parts of the house).
Often, sheets were hung at the top of stairways to keep the cool air upstairs, to prevent it 'falling down the stairs into the living room'.
Hush, you survived!
Signed,
The Lover of The Brit