When Did I Stop Being An Immigrant? Or, An Early Thanksgiving ...

With Lauren going to public school, the differences are rather obvious between public school and her former private school. Sadly, it's pretty obvious that many of the kids are on public assistance. Many rely on assisted payments for lunch and breakfast. I feel so grateful that as a family we're surviving the recession, and we can provide for Lauren everything she needs. But the fact there's a marked stark difference between our financial state and that of many of the students in her school is something that's new to me.

That's because when I was growing up, I sure felt like the kid that didn't have everything. My parents while they never relied on public assistance (although I suspect we might have qualified at some point), did force us to share clothing, and of course only buy from the bargain bin. Requests for luxuries generally went unfulfilled.

I remember as a child, the bane of my existence was having to wear Sears "Toughskins" jeans to school. It was bad enough they were hand-me-downs, but they were also plaid rather than a solid color, probably the primary reason they wound up on the clearance rack to begin with. But those clothes kept us warm and covered, and they fit, and they outlasted everything, a testament to their designation of "Toughskins".

When I compare that to everything Lauren has, it's quite a marked contrast. She wears what she wants to, and has no shortage of clothing. Even if she doesn't have every luxury, she generally can get some version of something she wants (like when she asked for a battery-operated kid sized car, we really couldn't get her a new one at $300 but I found a used one on craigslist for $35).

And with that I reflect that I've truly become part of the American upper middle class, and I'm no longer a member of the struggling lower middle income immigrant class. All the more reason to give thanks for what I have today.