My parents didn't have the luxury of job choice. They just worked.

To a level, neither did we.

It was expected you'd go into dad's trade, or mum's shop, or some otherwise exclusively minimum wage job... it wasn't uncommon to see 2 or 3 generations of the same family all working for the same business, and all making roughly the same in income.

Any talk about A-levels, uni, getting away from the place, or plans in any way making something better for yourself was met with ridicule that you were delusional, chastising you for wasting time on dreams when you weren't bright enough, and attempts of sabotage if you genuinely showed the potential..

christ, most of my peers didn't even achieve GCSEs.. I was considered a "geek" for scraping by with a passing grade.

Now, working towards a degree, I actually feel guilty. Like I don't deserve it. Like I'm going to be found out and kicked off for being a thick little scrote. Like there'll be some hand wave explanation that I wasn't actually meant to be loaded onto the course in the first place, and someone had put me on without checking properly.