Many of them lacked the barest of understandings or survival skills for the real world. One told me once that his family was upset because of a crisis – they had to fire the “colored” man.
Despite coming from a middle class background, I attended Princeton where there were a great deal of well-off students. I used to joke that they didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they did own it.
What I learned from them was that money was less of a social barrier than good manners. It wasn’t exactly noblesse oblige, but the idea that you would hold your privilege over someone’s head just wasn’t done. It would lead to ostracism, which is why Ted “Rafe” Cruz has to come to reunions through the service entrance.
“You call this a clean apartment? My coffin’s better and I’ve been moldering in it for ten years! And thank YOU for buying that cheap Styrofoam model!”
Chacun à son goût