What Being the Poor Kid Gives You

You’ll never forget it.

Photo by Chris Briggs on Unsplash

When I say I was the poor kid, I want you to understand I’m from Finland. We didn’t have money, but we never lacked food or a home, because of the Finnish social security network.

But compared with my friends and most of the kids in my class, yes, I was the poor one. My parents got divorced when I was six, my Dad was an alcoholic, and my mom had a small business with which she supported her three daughters.

Thanks to Finland being a society where everyone is entitled to a future, I was able to go to college, travel the world and end up with a government job in Argentina. My sisters work in finance.

And yet, we all carry some experiences from our childhood that still make us a little different from our friends who were in a better situation growing up.

I can relate to people in low-paying jobs better

The times when I most notice the difference in life experience with middle-class friends is when talking to people in blue-collar or low-paying jobs.

I remember my old roommate looking at me in shock once when she heard me having a conversation with the woman who sold vegetables in the grocery store next door.