I want my girls, to be those girls.

[The Grand Nudger]

When I was young and impressionable....I had occasion to visit a huge on paradise island.  I can't tell you why, I don't remember why (probably drugs)...if I did I wouldn't tell you for fear of liability (probably drugs).  What stuck with me, in that brief encounter, maybe a quarter of an hour in their case and a quarter century ago.....was that this, I reckoned then and now, is what I want my daughters' lives to be like.  This excess.  This opulence.  This -obliviousness-.

Anyone else ever had a moment like that.  Where you see what someone else is up to, not but a few miles from you, and you think to yourself...wtf, how did I not know this was happening.   This should happen everywhere, all the time! A moment where you found yourself entirely out of your socioeconomic depth, and wondering about the possibilities....?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Moving to Iran was a system-shock for me. At my age (eight), I had no idea what I wanted for myself, no thought about having children -- but being exposed to such different experiences changed me forever, so I can relate a little to what you're saying. I've had a couple of moments when I thought, WTH is this?

Having your mind torn open, and being young enough to accommodate the change.

[Alex K]

Idk...

When I first came to the American south I thought - What the fuck, people in an industrialized country actually really believe this shit?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I was 18 years old before I saw a swimming pool (it was at university). I had never even heard of swimming pools. The culture shock was tremendous: I clearly remember thinking, 'We live on an island, you can't throw a rock without hitting a lake or a pond or a river. And yet someone went to the time and expense to line a pit with cement and fill it with water - to swim in.' The idea of that much wasteful opulence was staggering and quickly led to the further thought, 'I want one.'

Boru

[paulpablo]

You had occasion to visit a huge on paradise Island, I don't know what that means.  I don't know what you mean about drugs either.

I'm guessing the bottom line is I have ever seen the way the rich people live up close and in person.

When I used to go cycling I used to go through the worst places in the city, like the English Manchester versions of the ghetto (Moss side, Salford, Rushholme, and the red light district behind picadilly gardens.)

I once got lost, I think I must have ended up in Hale or Bowden because I saw mansions like I'd never seen before that looked like something from a medieval computer game/ Alice in Wonderland.  Some of them were modern looking with huge garages with see through walls in parts. 

I would have tried to knock on their door and ask them for financial advice but I'm sure they'd release the hounds before I got that far.

I've probably seen more expensive public property in London, but none that looked as nice that I can remember.  And these are houses that aren't too far from me that I just stumbled accross.

I'm not from a very nice area anyway so It doesn't take much to be out of my socioeconomic depth.  

Just seeing a nice suburb in a nice overall region makes me wonder what it would have been like to have been born in a nice place.  Obviously I think about if I had been born in a worse place too though.

[c172]

My mother grew up the daughter of a small bank CEO and lived in at least a five bedroom house in the suburbs. Not custom, but charmingly old, in an excellent neighborhood in the county. She went to an elite high school (which has since merged with the country day school), and they had a maid. 

Beautiful home. Would be neat to have it my own (except that I'd want it to be on an airpark plot). But I think my mother was a bit embarrassed about certain things in her life. There has been alcohol abuse. As well, they had (as was typical of that type of area in that era) a black maid, who had to live in spartan accommodations. Nothing inhumane, by my guesstimate, but by many accounts, she deserved more for the effort she put into helping make their home.

Yes, having that kind of wealth would be fascinating, as would living in such a pretty neighborhood. 

I think I got another dose of this when I went to see the Nutcracker back in 2011, and started following the company that put it on. So many dancer bios had them as graduates of some elite school like La Jolla Country Day or Bishop's, or living in Scripps Ranch. It would be fascinating being brought up in that environment. 

But then, the grass is always greener on the other side.

[brewer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG3ExHB133k

[thesummerqueen]

I dated a rich bastard 14 years older than me for a while.

He spent money like it was water. It scared the shit out of me.

[Aroura]

My first hubby's family had money. Our marriage didn't last long, basically he dazzled farm girl me with his family wealth, took me on big trips to exotic places. I got to take a week long cruise in the Caribbean, travel through wine country on a wine tasting tour, sleep in fancy B&B's, spend a week in a nice Hotel in Orlando and visit all the theme parks, and stay in a chalet while snowmobiling for another week. With my very own snowmobile they got just for me.
So yeah, I got to see that life and that kind of opulence, for a few years. It was dazzling. It was fun for a bit, but not worth staying married to a person on a path of self destruction.

[chimp3]

In the '80s I was cooking in this bistro. There was a guy that drove a Jaguar. He would check to see if I was cooking and then order a piece of broccoli ala carte. That is all. Apparently I was the only one that could cook broccoli. Then he would walk back into the kitchen and tip me $20. For a piece of broccoli. I am still trying to see the world through his eyes but I can not.