1. In my liberal tech social circles, I hear so much talk about "eating the rich" and how the wealthy and privileged are ruining society that I'd be insane to s

1. In my liberal tech social circles, I hear so much talk about "eating the rich" and how the wealthy and privileged are ruining society that I'd be insane to self identify as anything but middle class. 2. It's all relative anyways. By HN standards I'm making a measly salary, but my salary is over double the national average. 3. The richer you are, the more likely people are to ask you for things. Money, favors, etc. This is both locally and globally true. 4. Some of it is a mindset. Growing up I was absolutely not poor, but the way my parents talked about money felt different from others. For example I didn't get a cell phone until the end of middle school because it was "too expensive". Everyone was always asking for my phone number and I had to tell them I didn't have a phone. In the grand scheme of things this is really inconsequential, but at 13 it felt like my parents were ruining my social life with their penny pinching. Cars were another big thing. Our cars were ancient and my parents refused to buy new ones. We never went to a mechanic unless we absolutely had to. On Saturday mornings my dad would wake me up and tell me we were doing $X to the car and I knew I would be cancelling any plans that day. I didn't actually mind fixing the car, but I hated telling my friends "I can't go play basketball, I have to help fix the car" and having them wonder aloud "Why can't you just take it to a mechanic?" because it made me feel poor.