So this post is a little personal to me. \u00a0I always thought I grew up poor. \u00a0My friends had two parents, I had one and two grandparents for a short while until one died when I was ten. \u00a0No cousins and the rest of the family are the unspeakables. \u00a0 But that is OK. \u00a0The sentence that is not OK was me who thought I grew up poor.<\/p>\n
In a sense, yes I was poor. \u00a0No college fund. \u00a0No alimony for my mother and no child support. \u00a0Not a drop. \u00a0Since my mom lived with my grandma, she was too rich to collect assistance and would have to pay to go back to school. \u00a0My grandparents were not poor but they had to make their money last just in case they made it past eighty. \u00a0My grandfather died a few months before all of the benefits kicked into the 100% category for retirees which screwed my grandmother.<\/p>\n
But on life went. \u00a0I had food on the table which was never a question and a roof over my head that kept me dry at night. \u00a0I was in an OK school district. \u00a0(I hated relying on my mom for having to drive me everywhere. \u00a0I wanted my independence and missed my NJ, across the GW bridge lifestyle where I modeled in NYC from age 1 – 7 when I moved to Florida.)<\/p>\n
Was I poor? \u00a0To some people yes. \u00a0I had no idea what college was. \u00a0I thought it was collage and who needed extra school for that I could do all the time by myself? \u00a0I did not know people who went to college. \u00a0Teachers? \u00a0They never talked about it until 8th grade. \u00a0College fund? \u00a0What you donate to colleges? \u00a0But only vets (for animals) and lawyers went to those. \u00a0Teachers just graduated high school and then knew everything to teach you. \u00a0Yes, that was me. \u00a0I was good in school too, always top 5% of the class. \u00a0I never had tutors. \u00a0I always thought that was for the slow kids and asking for help was out of the question for me. \u00a0It hurt my ego if I admitted I needed help so I spent hours figuring out problems by myself until they were solved.<\/p>\n
Oh, and I remember the arguments I had with my friend who had brothers in high school and college already about the words: freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. \u00a0None of those made any sense to me. \u00a0I thought a freshman was a 12th grade because it was a fresh new person full of education waiting to use those ideas in the workforce. \u00a0What the beep did I know? \u00a0Here is the irony, I bought Apple stock when it IPO’ed and knew all about how the stock market worked when I was 7 years old. \u00a0Yes, I have my shares today. \u00a0My mom gave me money for that. She likes slot machines and why not teach your child how to gamble? \u00a0We were miles away from Atlantic City so the stock market was the next best thing.<\/p>\n
Then compare me to the kids I went to high school with in south side St. Petersburg, FL. \u00a0Kids who had to work and contribute to the family’s income (AND NO, they were not teen parents either!!!!) \u00a0Kids who walked and took the bus because cars were too expensive. \u00a0Kids where the military was their only way out of skid row. \u00a0They mostly had food to eat all the time although a few did not (and I often shared my lunch with them) and I did not know of anyone who lived on the street but I bet a few did. \u00a0These kids were poor, especially by first world standards.<\/p>\n
So OK, there are two definitions of poor. \u00a0But then I met and taught the real poor in Bombay. \u00a0The ones that lived in slums and studied under street lights because to buy electric light from the lighting company cost a few days’ wages. \u00a0This is in 2014, almost 2015 now.<\/p>\n
I guess in defense, Bombay is rather brand new again, sort of like NYC in the 1800s where electric was questioned as to whether or not it was a fad. \u00a0You can still see houses in Brooklyn with both systems.<\/p>\n
Or so I thought I met the real poor of Bombay. \u00a0I remember writing in a blog that I have and that poor dressed beautifully too. \u00a0But no, those people are not the true poor of Bombay. \u00a0The truly poor folk are the ones with sacks made of tattered cloth who just spent their last rupee commuting to Bombay from the feudal villages they live in. \u00a0Feudal meaning middle ages feudal by all sense of the word. \u00a0They escaped. \u00a0They are the lucky ones. \u00a0They wish that they were part of the groups that sleep underneath the overpasses at night but they are steps below that class. \u00a0You hardly see these people, or at least if you are me, you hardly see them. \u00a0But I was told that is how you spot them. \u00a0They have no English, but that describes most of the people in the slums. \u00a0They are completely illiterate (maybe a few can read in one of the many Indian languages out there.) \u00a0But somehow they knew that where they lived was not right and so they came to Bombay for a better life. \u00a0I must talk of these people in my paper and presentation but will be unable to say much more because most of Bombay is not exposed to them. \u00a0I would love to know how they claw their way up. \u00a0I know that some do but how?<\/p>\n
The rich are the rich. \u00a0They don’t have to think about spending money on things and do not have to budget. \u00a0They don’t have to millions or billions of dollars in the bank either. \u00a0They are rich. \u00a0Simple as that.<\/p>\n
So where am I going with this? \u00a0I defined a few groups of people. \u00a0Well, there was an article I saw on Facebook today talking about how the elite in UK are the only ones getting conservatory style music education:\u00a0https:\/\/news.tes.co.uk\/b\/opinion\/2014\/11\/14\/39-an-education-in-the-arts-is-limited-to-those-already-economically-privileged-it-is-an-unjust-waste-of-national-talent.aspx<\/p>\n
I would tend to agree with that but I think the author is missing something: the middle class.<\/p>\n
When I think of middle class, I think of Leave it to Beaver. \u00a0Classical definition. \u00a0What couldn’t be better?<\/p>\n
This is a different time and people often talk about the disappearance of the middle class. \u00a0When they talk about it they mean the Leave it to Beaver definition \u00a0I will agree with that. \u00a0OR I can do one step better. \u00a0(Please note that I am just throwing money figures out. \u00a0Don’t take them seriously. \u00a0Take the scenarios seriously.)<\/p>\n
Those people now work in middle management at financial firms making 300K per year. \u00a0They are comfortable in that the family can live on the income, even in Manhattan, of one spouse (give that they don’t blow their money and know how to save.) \u00a0Even if they have to financially support elderly parents too. \u00a0They can do this. \u00a0They go on vacations once every 2-3 years, do not own a car, take public transit, eat out twice per week, etc. \u00a0These people are comfortable. \u00a0If a job is lost, they can live a year or two off of savings, get a job, and rebuild them again. \u00a0They can give their kids music lessons (within reason) without batting an eye. \u00a0If the local school loses their music program, or the program stinks, they just turn to the private sector. \u00a0They are few and far between. \u00a0They make too much money to take any of the government housing tax breaks and other breaks though. \u00a0They are equated to 750K and millionaires. \u00a0They are on the lowest end of the highest tax bracket. \u00a0They are the new Leave it to Beaver middle class, like it or not. \u00a0(Make your adjustments for other areas of the United States. \u00a0This is Manhattan only I am talking about.)<\/p>\n
Then, there are the people underneath them. \u00a0They make, oh about 75K – 100K per year, combined income. \u00a0However, when it comes to providing lessons for their kids, they question it. These people would become devastated if the bread winner(s) lost their income. \u00a0The savings would dry up, if they had savings to begin with. \u00a0Music lessons are a luxury and they try to give it to their kids on a constant basis if possible. \u00a0Thankfully there is You Tube and the Internet now. \u00a0If the school music program goes belly up, it becomes a big problem to the parents. \u00a0Now they have to pay for a private youth orchestra too on top of private lessons? \u00a0****!!!! \u00a0Ulcer, ulcer, ulcer, stress, stress, stress. \u00a0I want my kids to have it, I want MY KIDS TO HAVE IT, I NEED MY KIDS TO HAVE THE DAMNED MUSIC LESSONS! \u00a0Hello Wal-mart? \u00a0I studied Spanish in high school, do you need a bilingual, grave yard shift cashier so that I can pay for my kids’ music lessons? \u00a0Sure, that will be 8 bucks an hour on top of your full time job. \u00a0Shoo. \u00a0My kids have lessons! \u00a0(That is best case scenario.) \u00a0Let’s call this class and the one below: \u00a0Squeaking by.<\/p>\n
Then there are the people in the above category who do not get the second job and just say: Kid , keep practicing on your own. \u00a0Music becomes a memory.<\/p>\n
One class below that are the people that work 3 jobs for their kids to put food on the table and may pay for a lesson here are there but are too rich to qualify for needs-based anything and too poor to do much else for their kids. \u00a0Let’s call this class: No Man’s Land. \u00a0The parents don’t have time to fight for the child’s terminated music program but he is sad just the same.<\/p>\n
For both classes that I defined, transportation is another serious issue too and it is much worse for the people in No Man’s Land. \u00a0No driver’s license, no public transit. \u00a0The screw you of suburban and rural societies (and some cities that do not know how to do public transit.) \u00a0No freedom for the kids to work and go to activities on their own and have to wait for their overworked parents. \u00a0(That was the personal hell I grew up in.)<\/p>\n
Squeaking by and No Man’s Land. \u00a0The two classes that get ignored by 95% of research, philanthropists, and educators (many educators fit in these two categories to and may not realize it.) \u00a0These are the kids that need music too. \u00a0Everyone needs it. \u00a0I flitted between the classes of Squeaking by and No Man’s Land. \u00a0I finally realized what I was growing up. \u00a0I was lucky. \u00a0I had the consistency of music lessons to the growing debt that I found out later in life to my mother and grandmother. \u00a0(I now financially support them.) \u00a0Had I known they went into debt like that, I would have quit and got a job. \u00a0Everything was a secret.<\/p>\n
What does this have to with Mumbai? \u00a0I was not introduced to anyone in the \u00a0Squeaking by or No Man’s Land classes and nor were in the hundreds of hours of conversations and interviews were these people mentioned. \u00a0I did meet a few people from this class outside my research though so I know they exist.<\/p>\n
I will have to go back and dig but right now, I have my operational definitions for middle class and I have finally defined myself.<\/p>\n
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So this post is a little personal to me. \u00a0I always thought I grew up poor. \u00a0My friends had two parents, I had one and two grandparents for a short while until one died when I was ten. \u00a0No cousins and the rest of the family are the unspeakables. \u00a0 But that is OK. \u00a0The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-music-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70,"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions\/70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.melissachalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}