If you grew up wealthy, finding out how little other people had as children and how much it still affects them as adults can be a very humbling experience. When a Reddit user recently asked rich people who married someone significantly poorer than them to share what surprised them about their significant other's upbringing, the responses quickly rolled in.
The stories are eye-opening and will make you feel grateful for everything you have. Here are the most moving and surprising ones.
1 "They don't have enough food for everyone."
One Reddit user wrote that when their spouse's family had people over for dinner, they would end the prayer before the meal with "F. H. B., Amen," which stood for "Family Hold Back."
"It was a signal to let the children know that they don't have enough food for everyone, so take smaller servings and let the guests get a regular serving," the Redditor explained. "They were always generous to their friends and didn't let their lack of funds embarrass themselves when doing so."
2 "I camped because it was fun, she camped because they couldn't afford hotels."
"When we were first married she would get visibly uneasy if the food in the house was running low," one user wrote of their wife. "She never overate or anything, she was just always concerned about it. A lot of times when she was younger, she went hungry. On the humorous side though, she hates camping. Her answer is always the same: I camped because it was fun, she camped because they couldn't afford hotels."
3 "I paid off her credit cards … and she cried."
"I paid off her credit cards when we were dating and she cried from me being so nice," one user wrote of his wife, noting the debut was only $1,300. "I bought a condo, then we got married, then we bought a house. I never really considered myself rich until I started dating her and learned that a trip to Wendy's was a treat."
4 "She still goes crazy for fresh fruit."
"My wife was born and raised in the Soviet Union," another user explained. "She still goes crazy for fresh fruit like it's the most extravagant luxury."
5 "It didn't even occur to me that this was his first ever holiday."
"When I got a job, for my birthday I decided to plan a holiday and offered to bring him along," one Redditor wrote of their college boyfriend. "It didn't even occur to me that this was his first ever holiday he'd ever taken. His family could never afford it growing up, and he'd never really thought to do it as an adult."
6 "Insurance was something only rich people had."
"The prevailing mindset in his community growing up [was] that insurance was something only rich people had," one user wrote of their husband. "Not health insurance, mind you (well, not just health insurance). Auto insurance. Going without it was a way of life for most everyone he knew."
7 "They were probably living off less that $0.50/day."
"I'm from an upper-middle class American family and my husband is from a poor South East Asian family," another user wrote. "It is hard for me to wrap my head around how poor they really were when he was growing up. He told me about eating only rice with sugar for meals because they couldn't afford meat. They were probably living off less that $0.50/day for a family of 5 at times."
8 "Heating food up in a microwave was a totally foreign concept."
"My husband came from a very poor Mexican village. He told me he used to shower outside (because there was no in-house plumbing) and use leaves as toilet paper," one user wrote. "When we first met, it was so interesting seeing life through his child-like eyes. Going to the cinema was a huge event for him. Heating food up in a microwave was a totally foreign concept. And staying at fancy hotels when we went on vacation was like, 'Woah.' I still see him surprised by things now and then and it just reminds me how much I take my middle status class for granted.
9 "A good snack for her was a spoon of just peanut butter."
"My wife grew up not poor, but not very well off, and a good snack for her was a spoon of just peanut butter," one user wrote. "I had never used peanut butter as anything but in combination with at least SOMETHING else, i.e. bread."
10 "I always had to put what I wanted back because we couldn't afford it."
One user who grew up with no budgetary restraints wrote that their husband grew up in a family of six and a mother with a disability. "One day we were at the grocery store and he always insists on walking up and down every aisle. I finally lost it because he was taking so long and asked him why he did it. 'Growing up we could only spend $100 a week on groceries for all of us. I always had to put what I wanted back because we couldn't afford it. Now I can afford whatever I want, so I like to look at everything I could have.' Took him 10 years to tell me this."
And for a personal testimony on what it's like to marry someone with more money than you, check out I Married for Money. Here's Why I Regret It.
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Diana Bruk Diana is a senior editor who writes about sex and relationships, modern dating trends, and health and wellness.Read moreFiled UnderMarriageRead This NextScience Says Attractive Women and Rich Men Are the Recipe For a Happy Marriage
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