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arguchikyou're supposed to cut and paste this list, and then bold-face everything that's true for you. i find some of these items rather odd as markers of social class, but oh well. here's my go-through, with comments in brackets:
Father went to college [he went as a fluke. he enlisted in the navy toward the end of WWII, and was training to be a pilot. they had too many pilots and not enough planes at the end of the war, so they decided to stop training pilots when my dad finished ground school. they gave him the option of going to boot camp or going to college on a ROTC deal. he picked college.]
Father finished college [after the war. the ROTC program at that time also bounced him around to a number of different schools--at least 3 that i know of. he ended up finishing his degree at the u of michigan in ann arbor. neither of his parents went to college, and i don't believe either of them finished high school either. his father was kicked out of school in the 4th grade--for drinking and smoking (guess how he died?). it's possible that my grandma finished high school, i can't remember.]
Mother went to college [her parents objected, but she was the valedictorian of her HS class, so they let her go as long as she studied something "feminine." (she majored in social work.) mom went back to college when i was in junior high and earned an associate's degree in music (she worked as a church organist, and i seem to recall that the catholic diocese picked up all or part of her tuition costs).]
Mother finished college [twice! her parents insisted that she finish her BA, as a ploy to keep her from marrying my dad. they got married about a month after she graduated. as with my dad's parents, neither of my mom's parents went to college, and i'm pretty sure neither of them finished high school. i know her father left school to start earning money for his family when he was in the 8th grade. her mother was an orphan, and was bounced around from family member to family member for quite awhile, and i'm pretty sure she started working at a young age.]
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. [i have one cousin who went to law school, got a job as a corporate lawyer and probably earns an obscene amount of money. other than that...i guess about half of my cousins went to college, and only me and my brother have gone to graduate school.[
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers [i honestly have no idea. my dad didn't make as much as a teacher, i don't think.]
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home [maybe...i'm not sure.]
Were read children's books by a parent [until i learned to read.]
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 [piano]
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively [WTF? i have no idea.]
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 [i didn't have a credit card at all until i was 24]
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs [they loaned me some money, and i worked for the rest. at one point i had 3 jobs when i was at MSU, and i always worked 20-30 hours per week as an undergrad, with the exception of my first year at MSU when i made do with almost zero spending money.]
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Family vacations involved staying at hotels [not exactly--we stayed at motels during two road trips we took when i was in late elementary school. most of the time we visited family on our vacations, and stayed with them.]
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 [not usually. my mom sewed a lot of my things when i was a little kid, and i wore a lot of hand-me-downs. she would take me school shopping in the fall, and summer shopping in june, to buy underwear, socks, shoes, and whatever i needed beyond the hand-me-downs. when i was 16 i got a job and from then on i bought all my own clothes.]
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child [not unless you count my mom's crewel embroidery.]
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home [they paid it off when i was a first-year college student, after my sister died. however, i was an "afterthought" kid. they bought the house in 1960 or 61, when my older siblings were small; i wasn't born until 1967. i didn't move away from home until i finished community college in 1988, so they only paid it off a couple of years early.]
You had your own room as a child [define "child." there were 5 of us, so i shared a room with my next older sister barb (7.5 years older than i am) until our other, older siblings started moving out. then she got married at 19...so i guess i got my own room when i was about 12 or so.]
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School [i inherited my grandmother's TV when she died. i believe she purchased it in the late 60's or early 70's, and she died when i was in 6th grade.]
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 [nope. not until i was...32, i think.]
Went on a cruise with your family [i've never been on a cruise.]
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up [museums, of the natural history variety. never art galleries or art museums.]
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family [my parents never talked with me about any of their bills or other financial matters, but they also yelled whenever i would turn up the heat, and they kept the house pretty cold in the winter, so i was aware that it was expensive and that we had to be careful about conserving it.]
Father went to college [he went as a fluke. he enlisted in the navy toward the end of WWII, and was training to be a pilot. they had too many pilots and not enough planes at the end of the war, so they decided to stop training pilots when my dad finished ground school. they gave him the option of going to boot camp or going to college on a ROTC deal. he picked college.]
Father finished college [after the war. the ROTC program at that time also bounced him around to a number of different schools--at least 3 that i know of. he ended up finishing his degree at the u of michigan in ann arbor. neither of his parents went to college, and i don't believe either of them finished high school either. his father was kicked out of school in the 4th grade--for drinking and smoking (guess how he died?). it's possible that my grandma finished high school, i can't remember.]
Mother went to college [her parents objected, but she was the valedictorian of her HS class, so they let her go as long as she studied something "feminine." (she majored in social work.) mom went back to college when i was in junior high and earned an associate's degree in music (she worked as a church organist, and i seem to recall that the catholic diocese picked up all or part of her tuition costs).]
Mother finished college [twice! her parents insisted that she finish her BA, as a ploy to keep her from marrying my dad. they got married about a month after she graduated. as with my dad's parents, neither of my mom's parents went to college, and i'm pretty sure neither of them finished high school. i know her father left school to start earning money for his family when he was in the 8th grade. her mother was an orphan, and was bounced around from family member to family member for quite awhile, and i'm pretty sure she started working at a young age.]
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. [i have one cousin who went to law school, got a job as a corporate lawyer and probably earns an obscene amount of money. other than that...i guess about half of my cousins went to college, and only me and my brother have gone to graduate school.[
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers [i honestly have no idea. my dad didn't make as much as a teacher, i don't think.]
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home [maybe...i'm not sure.]
Were read children's books by a parent [until i learned to read.]
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 [piano]
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively [WTF? i have no idea.]
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 [i didn't have a credit card at all until i was 24]
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs [they loaned me some money, and i worked for the rest. at one point i had 3 jobs when i was at MSU, and i always worked 20-30 hours per week as an undergrad, with the exception of my first year at MSU when i made do with almost zero spending money.]
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Family vacations involved staying at hotels [not exactly--we stayed at motels during two road trips we took when i was in late elementary school. most of the time we visited family on our vacations, and stayed with them.]
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 [not usually. my mom sewed a lot of my things when i was a little kid, and i wore a lot of hand-me-downs. she would take me school shopping in the fall, and summer shopping in june, to buy underwear, socks, shoes, and whatever i needed beyond the hand-me-downs. when i was 16 i got a job and from then on i bought all my own clothes.]
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child [not unless you count my mom's crewel embroidery.]
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home [they paid it off when i was a first-year college student, after my sister died. however, i was an "afterthought" kid. they bought the house in 1960 or 61, when my older siblings were small; i wasn't born until 1967. i didn't move away from home until i finished community college in 1988, so they only paid it off a couple of years early.]
You had your own room as a child [define "child." there were 5 of us, so i shared a room with my next older sister barb (7.5 years older than i am) until our other, older siblings started moving out. then she got married at 19...so i guess i got my own room when i was about 12 or so.]
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School [i inherited my grandmother's TV when she died. i believe she purchased it in the late 60's or early 70's, and she died when i was in 6th grade.]
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 [nope. not until i was...32, i think.]
Went on a cruise with your family [i've never been on a cruise.]
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up [museums, of the natural history variety. never art galleries or art museums.]
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family [my parents never talked with me about any of their bills or other financial matters, but they also yelled whenever i would turn up the heat, and they kept the house pretty cold in the winter, so i was aware that it was expensive and that we had to be careful about conserving it.]
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