Lower class, Middle class, Upper class

Pretending Not To Be Poor

Visiting a posh country club, I wonder why everyone feels so much pressure to pretend they’re better off than they really are.

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When you’re not rich but you have a few rich friends, you will occasionally be invited to enter their rarified world for a few hours.

I have never been a member of a country club, but as a young reporter, I was often sent to such places to cover events I’d never be invited to.

A friend’s birthday party took place at not just any country club, but the crème de la crème of country clubs in my area.

I spent an hour worrying about what to wear.

I’m embarrassed to admit I cared so much, but for some reason, it felt important to try to fit in.

So I went through all my dresses. It was a luncheon, so I knew it would be casual but not my kind of casual. There is rich-casual and there is poor-casual. There is a difference.

I’d have felt mortified if I’d shown up looking sloppy. I’d have felt equally mortified if I’d shown up looking like a poor person’s idea of what rich people wear.