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DanaC · 09-24-2007, 02:36 PM

I would say my family had a fairly working-class income. Dad was a maintenance electrician, working nights for 25 years (prior to that he had a failed attempt at setting up a vacuum repair business with his mate). He was pretty well paid, but he worked long hours for it and was basically nocturnal. Mum worked in admin then started Nursing college when I was 7. She injured her back and had to give it up a few weeks before her finals. She ended up back in admin, part-time for a few years then trained as a phlebotomist and again worked part-time.

In some ways my life was more comfortable than my peers: mum and dad owned their house and it was a nice little stone cottage, with two living rooms and big kitchen, a yard and a small garden at front. Always had nice Christmas pressies (which my mum would finish paying for shortly before the next ones were due :P) and had regular pocket money. But we rarely went on holiday (maybe four or five times by the time I was 15) and it was usually just a week in a caravan in Yorkshire.

We intermittently had a car (cheap, second hand) and I think I was about 6 when we got a phone.

Mostly what I remember is a fairly priveleged existence where i had everything i needed and some of what I wanted. What I didn't notice at the time was mum making food stretch :P Mince and onion pies made with half mincemeat, half soya. Lots of spagh bol, broth, and curries. Most meals were of the big pot variety, or involved a pastry crust. As a 'special treat', Sundays usually involved slices of cheese and onion pie and a plate of meat paste sandwiches. It of course never occurred to me that this was a very cheap treat:P

Culturally I had a foot in two camps. Dad was from a well-to-do family of the Indian Raj, and his brother and cousins had done quite well (graduates, professionals, business-people) and visits to them introduced me to that culture. Mum had grown up in Salford, and though her family had recovered itself by the time she was in her early teens, her early years were in extreme poverty. She made sure that my brother and I understood what poverty can mean to people.

09-24-2007, 02:36 PM	#44
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	I would say my family had a fairly working-class income. Dad was a maintenance electrician, working nights for 25 years (prior to that he had a failed attempt at setting up a vacuum repair business with his mate). He was pretty well paid, but he worked long hours for it and was basically nocturnal. Mum worked in admin then started Nursing college when I was 7. She injured her back and had to give it up a few weeks before her finals. She ended up back in admin, part-time for a few years then trained as a phlebotomist and again worked part-time. In some ways my life was more comfortable than my peers: mum and dad owned their house and it was a nice little stone cottage, with two living rooms and big kitchen, a yard and a small garden at front. Always had nice Christmas pressies (which my mum would finish paying for shortly before the next ones were due :P) and had regular pocket money. But we rarely went on holiday (maybe four or five times by the time I was 15) and it was usually just a week in a caravan in Yorkshire. We intermittently had a car (cheap, second hand) and I think I was about 6 when we got a phone. Mostly what I remember is a fairly priveleged existence where i had everything i needed and some of what I wanted. What I didn't notice at the time was mum making food stretch :P Mince and onion pies made with half mincemeat, half soya. Lots of spagh bol, broth, and curries. Most meals were of the big pot variety, or involved a pastry crust. As a 'special treat', Sundays usually involved slices of cheese and onion pie and a plate of meat paste sandwiches. It of course never occurred to me that this was a very cheap treat:P Culturally I had a foot in two camps. Dad was from a well-to-do family of the Indian Raj, and his brother and cousins had done quite well (graduates, professionals, business-people) and visits to them introduced me to that culture. Mum had grown up in Salford, and though her family had recovered itself by the time she was in her early teens, her early years were in extreme poverty. She made sure that my brother and I understood what poverty can mean to people.