financial security, now available in your grocer's freezer.

My senior English teacher was looking for details. She wanted to demonstrate the difference between explaining something and explaining it with examples. We were talking about the term "comfortable" and what it meant in terms of economics. Everyone wanted to be comfortable, but no one could tell her what comfortable was. We kept just restating the idea. "Not having to worry about money," we said. "Having enough," we said. "What is enough?" she shot back. Suddenly, I had the answer, straight from my childhood.

While I've been alive, my family has never been poor. My older siblings knew what lower class was, but by the time I came around, cash was not so tight. But we were all thrifty anyway, a vestigial trait left over from harder times. I grew up on generic and store-brand products, and am a firm believer in them. I could always tell when there was a name-brand product in our house that it must have been on sale, and a really good sale at that. Mama was no fool at the grocery store.

I remember the first time I tried Edy's ice cream. I grew up on Superbrand. What a difference. In the cases of most products, I either can't tell the difference (peanut butter) or prefer generic over name-brand (mac and cheese). Ice cream is a different story. Since then, I've become a big fan of those tiny little pints with the creamy goodness inside, but can only bear to spend that much money on so little every once in a while. I grew up on Superbrand ice cream and Superbrand prices. I remember one year that money was so tight no ice cream came through the door at all. Something like Edy's was a luxury, a treat.

All this ice cream trauma came back to me as I sat in my English class, second row, third seat from the front. Again, she asked us, "What is comfortable?" and I knew the answer.

"Name-brand ice cream!"

(As a side-note, you may be interested to know that Sandra's parents are officially comfortable now. Old habits die hard, and Sandra's mother still clips coupons and shops the sales. But there is always a steady supply of Klondike bars in the freezer at their house. The real thing, not Food Lion Arctic Bars, which are a dollar a pack cheaper.)

Update: 9.30.03
My mother wants you all to know that we were never lower class. We didn't have any money, but still had middle-class aspirations. I hope that clears everything up for you.