Question from Class Action

What object symbolized class in your youth?

Dad's cars. My sister and I learned the word Porche before we learned the word "car." Dad always wanted a Porche, but would never buy one because of complicated Jew stuff. So instead he bought a Camaro. And then a Corvette. And each time he traded in his car for a new one, it was shinier and flashier and more and more beautiful. We said it was his payback for not being able to buy the stuff he admired when he was a kid. That he deserved his fun, his toys.

And plus, kids thought it was cool. I never felt shame about Dad's cars, because a lot of kids at school had cars that were just as fancy, but in different directions - huge SUVs instead of small, sleek sports cars.

It wasn't until I was in college that I first felt embarrassed when he pulled up in front of my house in his latest silver Corvette. That I got into the passenger seat and felt the magic ebb, to be replaced with hot blood in my cheeks. I never pretended I was anything but upper-middle-class in college, but I still dressed out of the same freebox as my housemates. Was this the beginning of a divide?