For those who didn't grow up privileged, name something you thought was a luxury when you were a kid.

[godofwine]

Converse Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers. I grew up with Bobo's from the grocery stores. Eventually saved up enough money to afford the Sears Winners sneakers.

Those were the days!

Same here
Except they were buddies from Kroger's
Or Payless shoes

We all know the song

"Buddies they cost a $1.99, buddies they make your feet feel fine"

 

[HellBoy]

Name brand anything. Our clothes and shoes all came from Sears or Zayres. I didn't get my first name brand shoes until I was 16 or 17.

 

[godofwine]

Nosebleed seats.

Man, The best thing about having some money is not fucking with them goddamn nosebleeds. I told myself a while ago, if I can't tell the difference between Jill Scott and Kelly Clarkson I ain't going to a concert.

If I can't tell the difference between Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, I ain't going to a football game

I went to this Ice Cube concert back in October and sat in row nine. (Also, if I wanted to upload the concert to put in the basement for y'all what could I upload it on? Because I recorded the whole show, all 2 hours.)

 

[Lurk Diggler]

Steak - REAL steak. I was almost 40 before I truly found out.

When I was a kid, we got cubed steak, bullshit steak, and 'I can't believe this shit is actually meat' steak, So as an adult, I ain't know no better.

In 2016, I had a roommate and Acme Supermarket had a steak sale, so I went up there with like $150 and bought a bunch of steak, what I thought was good steak.

One day in the spring, We're sitting around watching The NBA playoffs and I throw a steak on the grill and asked him if he wanted one, he said yes so I threw two on. I seasoned it and cooked it, gave him one and I ate one.

He took one bite, set his on the counter and said, I'll be back

He came back with what I now know is filet mignon. That shit was butterflied and he seasoned it and threw it on the grill. Flipped it over, threw a pat of butter on the back side, threw it on a plate and gave it to me.

I cut into that shit, saw that pink and was like, "Naw, throw my shit back on the grill. This shit ain't done. This shit mooing still."

He said, "Naw, dude, trust me. I wouldn't bullshit you."

I bit into that shit like Simba with the bug on Lion King, but better...



That shit was good, good good. Blew my fucking mind good. I had no idea you weren't supposed to burn the fuck out of steak. I had no idea of anything other than medium well and well done. I had no idea what a good cut of meat was.

All that meat was in the freezer was 'fajita meat' from that point forward. I was filet mignon from that day on

***

Also, I was much older than I should have been before I found out that the butcher at the grocery store can cut meat that's packaged at the store.

After I discovered filet mignon, I discovered that it's much cheaper if you get a whole tenderloin (between $55-80 at most stores), Give it to the butcher and tell him to cut it into filets and you can get 13 or more fillets out of that tenderloin PLUS they give you the remaining leftover pieces as ground meat - and they do it for free!

Till this day I refuse to eat cube steak or Salisbury stake that’s the only steak we had growing up then one day at a coworkers bbq in my 20s I was introduced to a properly grilled t-bone…life changing

 

[godofwine]

Till this day I refuse to eat cube steak or Salisbury stake that’s the only steak we had growing up then one day at a coworkers bbq in my 20s I was introduced to a properly grilled t-bone…life changing

Oh my fucking god, cube steak. Nightmares

 

[Non-StopJFK2TAB]

A house with more than one bathroom. I thought that was amazing!

I grew up in a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom row home in north Philly. (There were 5 of us - Dad, Mom and us children)

Now I live alone in a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath single family home and one of the bathrooms I don't even use.

I’m a west oak lane kid. When I started hanging around your region, I would always joke that you had to park half your car on the sidewalk and the other in the living room. How do you not have a damn driveway?

 

[dade305]

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

 

[Journey]

For me it would be a satellite tv dish, that would be equivalent to an IPTV today. Owning a satellite tv dish as kid meant you had money, came from privilege or had some form of status in you community or neighborhood.

 

[dade305]

For me it would be a satellite tv dish, that would be equivalent to an IPTV today. Owning a satellite tv dish as kid meant you had money, came from privilege or had some form of status in you community or neighborhood.

Same, we were one of the first on my block to get satellite

 

[34real]

I sometime have to tell my older bro he don't know how good we really had it with some of the stories I hear from people

Yes I agree,especially after seeing some of the responces in this thread because if that's what you call luxury than I have nothing to complain about at all as a kid cause a lot of people would of thought we were living luxury but that's why we welcomed alot of family and friends in.

As silly as it sounds watching "Fresh prince of Bel-air" "The Crosby show" I thought that was Luxury looking at how they lived on tv but I was
blessed

 

[HUNTSVEGAZ]

My mom could sow. in the summer she’d make me and babe bro short sets we thought we had fly exclusive shit lol the material was paper thin from a dept store called Hills and would only last the summer but it didn’t matter we’d grow every year anyway

Hills??

You from Alabama??

 

[samh32]

Milk in a jug, rather than card a card board box.

 

[BigDaddyBuk]

i was gonna say this

finally got one as an adult and it was the worst thing i ever had in my mouth.

and i accidentally bit a bug once.

 

[A to Dah K]

Having a car in high-school period was a flex. Shit used to burn my soul walking home and seeing kids driving. Some even in mustangs and lexus.

I remember senior year my mans had the gray lexus gs400. My air max was hurting my feet

 

[Lurk Diggler]

Hills??

You from Alabama??

lol naw KY. they had the best popcorn, icees and toy section, was sad as hell when they went out of business.

 

[Coldchi]

I remember back in the 80s....all the dope boys I used to see with car phones.
I always thought that shit was next level.

 

[yaBoi]

cable TV LOL

 

[SamSneed]

Parents who were not narcissistic

 

[Stix-N-Stonz]

Might sound silly.. but deli ham. My mom would buy that shit in the pack with water. When I went to friends houses and they had that boars head from the deli... as a kid, I thought that was some next level shit..lol

I remember in elementary this white kid I was friends with would always have a bag of Pringles in his lunch box. I had never seen Pringles, the stores in my hood didn't sell them. He fucked with me for like 6 months saying his mom made them, then one day he laughed and told me they were sold in stores.

 

[tallblacknyc]

cable TV LOL

Lol I always had cable since I was born (1980).. didn't know it was such a big thing until my older cuz from bk use to introduce me to his friends as the cuz from Harlem that got cable.. he than would brag about all the access to adult content cable had and how whenever he was over my crib he would watch it.. it use to be funny as hell as this nig would want me to sit down next to my bedroom door while he staring at the tv watching all the perv shit.. he be like you use to this I'm not let me enjoy just watch the door lol.. the 80s was funny as hell.. like I tell everybody showtime use to show x-rated movies after 12 am, mad 80 movies were sex filled, and b4 fcc started banning shit public access in Manhattan showed straight porn after 12am... If you had cable in Manhattan back in the days you know why the female species purpose was lol

 

[SmoothD]

Air conditioning
Fast Food
Having your parents drive you to school.
Snacks in the house
Nice clothes and shoes

 

[Megatron X]

I forgot the name of the robot, it’s not Rob The Master Robot for NES but this robot came out sometime in 1983/1984. It was like $1000. It was probably 3 feet tall. You can control the robot I think remote control. It was mostly white and had like a clamshell head.

This is what cats with money could afford. $1000 in the 1980s was like $4000 today. You can put a food tray on its hands!

 

[The Specialist]

mannnnn talk that tallk! we snuck some in the basket once at Winn Dixie. Tore that shit up lol

 

[Duece]

I forgot the name of the robot, it’s not Rob The Master Robot for NES but this robot came out sometime in 1983/1984. It was like $1000. It was probably 3 feet tall. You can control the robot I think remote control. It was mostly white and had like a clamshell head.

This is what cats with money could afford. $1000 in the 1980s was like $4000 today. You can put a food tray on its hands!

Onmibot 2000?

 

[RUDY RAYYY MO]

Grew up in the burbs....so

 

[APOPHIS]

The latest/any Jordans.
The closest I ever got was stealing my older cousin's pair of Grant Hills to floss.


The joints:

 

[APOPHIS]

At this point in my life, anyone who has bought a home at a 2% Covid interest rate is balling to me.
I'm praying for rates to decline.

 

[scullydog]

Nintendo, that was a luxury I never had as a kid.

 

[yaBoi]

A Damn Happy Meal...never had one as a kid..

 

[tallblacknyc]

A Damn Happy Meal...never had one as a kid..

Was overrated anyway

 

[yaBoi]

Was overrated anyway

Not the point lol

 

[cocobeauty]

A printer that had paper and ink! lol To this day I got neighbors and anyone my wife talks to coming to my house to "print something..." Passport shit, copies of birth certificates. I should start charging sheeeeeeeeet...I do have the Shaq printer that lasts forever, though, which helps.

So that ink doesn't dry up? I have an Epson WF series and I'm always printing something for me, grandkids, making things, pictures etc, and my ink is expensive enough. I may have to look into it because I thought about buying that one.

 

[cocobeauty]

I sometime have to tell my older bro he don't know how good we really had it with some of the stories I hear from people... I be like you don't understand how great our moms was when it came to giving us freedom, buying us certain shit, choosing the location we had to live in, and her teachings and lessons, etc

I've often thanked my parents for the life they provided for us growing up, and after reading this I think I might just call em and say it again. i'm glad to say that even as a jit I was able to recognized that they worked their asses off for us, and never took anything for granted.

I tell my parents thank you all the time as well. A lot of times I can look back too and see how good we had it. From us going to private school, to always having nice stuff and even living in nice areas, now we still didn't go on vacation like I heard other kids but we did go to the Amusement parks, etc.

 

[cocobeauty]

Till this day I refuse to eat cube steak or Salisbury stake that’s the only steak we had growing up then one day at a coworkers bbq in my 20s I was introduced to a properly grilled t-bone…life changing

A friend of mine came to live with me because she had just moved to Texas, and one day she was cooking and I went in the kitchen and it was ground beef patties (salisbury steak), I wouldn't even touch 'em and wanted to scream, I am not broke LOL!

I don't care, how you smother or cover it, I don't want it.

 

[blkking1123]

Flying on a plane for a vacation, staying in hotel instead of a motel, super sizing any meal, izod and polo shirts, brand name jeans, timberland shoes, a computer and I grew up middle class but the people in my neighborhood were middle to upper middle to rich...all black folks.

I realize after talking to other folks all this shit I named I didn't have as a kid but eventually got when I was in high school, they never had and they had to think about not eating, no ac, no heat, daddy not coming home... So I was blessed but the lack of material things I saw the other kids have as a kid made u feel like I was missing out.

In high school the black kids were wearing Giorgio Armani, Coach, Gucci, Timberland, MCM etc...i was happy with my Generra, Union Bay, Diadoras and Coca a Cola sweaters...my folks would never spend that type of cash on that stuff .in retrospect I'm glad they didn't