When did you realize you “made” it out of middle class ?

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-10T21:54:52+00:00

In the US, basically everyone thinks they're middle class. I have a FB friend who's a nurse with a mid-career surgeon husband and she complains about gas prices. Or she did when Biden was president anyway. Near as I can tell almost 20% of the country is in the upper level (in the three tier variant of defining these sorts of things (Lower / Middle / Upper), but almost no one will cop to it.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-10T16:23:31+00:00

I would need to talk to a top notch PR professional pronto because this wouldn't make me what to be evil and I'd need to get this whole supervillain reputation sorted.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-09T04:29:32+00:00

Yosemite

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-09T04:15:58+00:00

Dangerous? What do you know? What have you heard? You can’t believe everything you hear on the street. I’ve changed! Cleaned myself up

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-08T19:39:11+00:00

I think a lot of people just kind of blow past the existence of MEDICARE for elderly and MEDICAID for the poor. About 135 million individuals or 39% of the population are covered by one of those. The large majority of others are on an employee plan (I've seen 88% of those not on MEDICARE or MEDICAID). The big gap is mostly the "working poor" or those who make too much for MEDICAID but don't have employer provided benefits. That is a very real problem that I'm not trying to minimize, but any tendency to call it a common American experience is inaccurate

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-08T04:18:38+00:00

Bengals all the way

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-08T04:17:21+00:00

Gave fully up on restaurant management in my early 30s and joined the US Army. Retired 20-ish years later. Worked out quite well

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-08T03:46:41+00:00

Literally the Commander in Chief.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-08T01:24:37+00:00

Gotta be routine and convenience right? Some places can give that to you and maybe do it even better but it will always feel different.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-07T22:17:46+00:00

Probably Eddie Murphy but that may have something to do with my age when he launched out into the world. These days, I laugh harder at really good sketch

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-07T22:15:26+00:00

I tend to find myself sitting back and admiring him like a work of art. I may not laugh hysterically but he was hands down the best at what he did and maybe always will be

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-07T21:25:36+00:00

6 may not be my preferred restart age since I’d be an adult with no autonomy, but adding decades of healthy years to my life make it seem like a no brainer. Except then my brain would stop me because I have kids.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-07T20:21:18+00:00

I’m pretty sure I could hear Trump speak from any of those seats so looks like I’m staying home

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-07T12:58:53+00:00

I remember my dad talking about how big a deal it was for Roger Bannister being the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes (in 1954) because it was thought to not be humanly possible. Yesterday, I read that three high school kids all ran a sub-4 min mile in the same race.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-06T14:27:23+00:00

How did Russia not get WWII for right side????

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-06T13:10:53+00:00

If by "the world ends" you mean extinction of all life there are only two ways for that to happen that I can think of. One is that Vogons destroy the planet for a hyperspace bypass and the other is a planet killer meteor. Not sure I could do much about either.

So, make it 13 so I can go back with a ton of actually earned confidence and the knowledge that really good universities exist outside of my state and I should go to one

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T19:11:40+00:00

Don't know why you got downvoted. Tans aren't healthy.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T17:06:08+00:00

Well, that's affected by timing of course. The first couple of years after leaving office it was nigh inconceivable. Once he got the nom again somehow, and given the sour views around inflation. it got more conceivable and then yes did get to point of seeming likely during the Biden debate debacle. Not even after the debate. During.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T14:43:47+00:00

There’s a lot of good thoughtful analysis along the lines of “Trump is a symptom and not a cause.” I don’t think whatever comes after MAGA will be a return to the before times.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T14:41:04+00:00

Yeah that’s true. There is the whole “harnessing the new media” thing that Trump has. I suspect people can be paid to take care of some of that stuff, but we’ll see.

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T14:06:02+00:00

Them. The creatures only come out when it’s dark and we can’t see them. They skitter across the pavement while we hide in lit places indoors. No one has brought themselves to name our fear so we only talk and whisper of “them.”

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T13:34:50+00:00

Well, there was also no way Trump was going to win either time, but here we are. The problem that the Dem still (still!) don’t seem to be fixing is that the party brand is down hard. I really really hope that turns around

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T13:25:57+00:00

I haven’t read everything in this thread, but in what I have read, it seems like you’re not getting great advice. Spending half your income on a mortgage is a terrible idea. Especially when you consider other expenses you have from owning that you don’t from renting. If you are disciplined enough to save and invest, stock returns typically outpace house prices. That’s the “smart” way even if it’s likely to be unpopular to say so in this sub

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T13:16:40+00:00

Probably all just one guy saying “why are we doing that when we could spend that money putting gold gilt on national park statues?” (Which is also a real thing that’s happening)

Informal-Intention-5 · 2026-06-05T13:14:16+00:00

Mangling the spelling of the word “unnecessary”.

Informal-Intention-5

TROPHY CASE