Privilege

Found here

1. Father went to college No, though he did eventually get a real estate license when he was about 60.
2. Father finished college n/a
3. Mother went to college No. She would have rocked, though.
4. Mother finished college n/a
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor Not exactly. Lots of teachers, two academic librarians who teach/taught.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers No clue. Probably similar: lower middle class.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home Try, more than 50 boxes of books! Not to mention the weekly--every Saturday--trips to the library, and my dad's attempts to read something of all the Great Authors (including Joyce, whom he hated).
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home See above.
9. Were read children's books by a parent Some of my favorite memories of childhood revolve around dad and Jean reading to me. Dad read to me virtually every night before I could read myself, which is why we had to go to the library every week!
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 Two years of piano before age 11, five years of flute.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 I suppose this is where I say "define lessons." Hey, yeah, I just remembered: one disastrous attempt at swimming lessons! That puts me at three lessons.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively The only people from Colorado in the media when I was a kid were John Denver and the characters in Dynasty. So, no-ish. People who dress like me...hah! Major NO.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 I had an emergency-only card for Sears (or Penneys--I can't remember) when I left for college, but nothing before that. I didn't have a 'real' credit card until after I was married.
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs Ignoring the whole "trust" business...no. Well, maybe. I got a LOT of scholarship and loan money, but they paid a good chunk of it. I'm actually not sure.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs No. I will say this: they took out a second mortgage on the house to put my oldest sister through college, the first person in our family to go on to higher education.
16. Went to a private high school Nope. Same public school everyone but Mom attended.
17. Went to summer camp No. A couple of church retreat weekends is the closest I got. Two nights: best possible "camp" experience!
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18 Not for academics. I suppose my flute teacher was technically tutoring me. Insert flute/tutoring joke here.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels The first time I stayed at a hotel was overseas, because they don't have motels in Europe. We always stayed in the cheapest mom-and-pop motel Dad could find. And that was a BIG step up from my siblings' childhoods, where vacations were rare and one memorable night they spent sleeping (i.e. camping) in a mortuary my dad was building in New Mexico.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 No. Lots of hand-me-downs and home-made clothes.
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them My parents did not ever buy me a car of any kind. This is a sore point in my family, good ammo for when my siblings start in on how spoiled I was.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child Original 'craft' but no art that I'm aware of. Lots of homemade stuff that was various shades of hideous.
23. You and your family lived in a single family house Yes, after my dad finished building it in 1947.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home Yes, but they were both over 60 when I left for college.
25. You had your own room as a child Yes, dammit, I did!!
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18 I don't think I had a phone in my bedroom until I was about 26.
27. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course Not really. I don't think one 2-hour class counts as a 'course.'
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school I'm 44 and still refuse to have TVs in bedrooms in my house!
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college Hah!
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 Loads of times: Milwaukee (once or twice), Casper (alone!), California (twice, at least), England....
31. Went on a cruise with your family No. My parents left on their first cruise about two weeks after I started college. I still haven't gone on a cruise.
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family n/a
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up We went to the Denver Art Museum ALL the freakin' time. I think my dad wanted to go strictly to bitch about the architecture--it's a terribly ugly building. We also went to the symphony regularly for awhile, and the botanic gardens. There were loads of class trips to the natural history museum and planetarium. When we traveled, we almost always went somewhere that involved learning, too: museums, historical sites, etc.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family I vividly remember the first time we broke $100/month. You must remember: I was around during the first energy crisis in the 70s, when everyone turned their thermostats down to 62 in the winter.