Cody, some of us are speaking from experience from a time some 20 to 30 years ago that allowed parents to focus more time on their children than seems possible today. Instead today we have parents so bent on keeping up with the Jones that the only real attention they can give their kids are material things.
20 to 30 years ago many of us drove what our parents drove. Or we brought promising to to pay them back on. And as i stated in another post here, driving to school was considered a privilege, not a right.
I will not disagree with you that having a car in HS, makes life more enjoyable. The issue is that in the last 20 to 30 years the wealth of the nation has grown, but as it has grown the gap between the classes has grown even greater.
Wonder how some of your peers would "survive" if they had to live to the standards that some of us had growing up. TV? Go down to the living room and watch it down there. Telephone? We have one in the kitchen you can use. A Walkman? Save your money, or hope that you get one as present for your birthday or holiday.
That is not to say that we did not have some of peers that came from truly wealthy homes that did not enjoy the good life. But even then, the cars they drove were more modest than a BMW or Land Rover.
I for one do not blame you or your peers on having better things in life than I did. For my peers. I tried to do the same with my parents. The thing is that at least my parents were strong enough to say no when they thought it was in my best interest. Many parents today I think either feel guilty or are to weak to say no.
Some of what I talk about is from first hand observation working in a camera store. I have seen more than a few of your peers pitching a fit that they needed the very best, when the parents had hoped to do the same for half the price. I know that when my parents helped me buy my first SLR, I was just grateful that they were willing to help me out. Did I try to get a slightly better SLR? Sure I tried, but was quickly reminded that I had to stay within both of our budgets. And if I got argumentative, we went home empty handed.
Keep in mind we are talking about stereotypes. And stereotypes are not just based on a small subset of "offenders", but a broader group sometimes. Stereotypes are brought by real world observations that tend to taint our view of the real world. When a day doesn't go by that a luxury car or SUV driver takes up two parking spaces in an area that has limited parking, that reinforces the stereotype that these drivers are jerks that only care for themselves.
But in the end there are life lessons to be learned through "hardship" (not getting that New Beetle or Mini convertible, or Land Rover as your first car.; or by getting "only" a iMac G5 instead of that full blown PM. It teaches us that we can't have everything in life that we want. My parents went through the Depression. I went through the Recessions of the 70's and 80's; and now have to deal with me and my peers being labeled "redundant" - and forced to change even "modest" lifestyles because the jobs that we can find are paying half of what we used to earn.
Some of your peers (if they are lucky or unfortunate as the case may be) may be seeing the "hardships" that I am talking about as their parents are finding themselves out of work, or working below the income levels that they all had grown accustomed to as they grow older. People over 40 are finding themselves replaced in the workforce by those that don't cost companies as much in healthcare. Or that some one in India or Pakistan can do their work for half the cost.
What I and others have written is a warning that there is not always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For I see higher drug use, alcohol abuse, and suicides as your peers reach the 40 year old market, once they are not able to sustain the "quality" of life they think they "deserve". Only because they never had to deal with a life of not having it all.
For in our youth, we think we will live forever (or at least a long life), and that we will end up being rich in our old age. None of which is guarantee.
