I remember the first time the “fit in” Bug bit me, it was way back in 1995 during the infant stages of South Africa’s democracy, 1994 was my best year and the only flashes of memory of that year I have are the dusty streets of Daveyton, the scorching heat, my dad making me a kite and also a wire car(a car made out of wire...duh) I guess I was a lazy child and my dad had the experience and the perfectionist quality that I lacked at that time so I figured the best thing to do is make him make all the street toys I wanted while I act like I’m listening and paying attention to the process...
Those were the days where I was just me and the only influences that I had in my character and appearance were those I received from the parents...then mother f*@% 1995 arrived and everything changed, I was transferred to a multi racial school called Arbor primary where I was a part of a small group of black kids that had never been around white kids before and so we had to learn English, make new friends, go on tours all over south Africa...blend in...adapt, that’s when the accent came in, we were eating marmite and going to pool parties and munching down hot dogs and sippin’ on Oros, making fudge at home for fun days, it felt comfortable at that time I mean who wouldn’t want to learn about a species that you used to “wow” about in town when your mother would tell you not to stare? and that is when I learnt to blend in. I started to question the difference in the quality of life and so in my township I was perceived as a cheese boy and in the “burbs” I was just another black boy. That’s when it hit me, people perceive you by the way you look, act, speak and carry yourself, people tend to be more comfortable around the well-off than around the disadvantaged...and 16 years later the question evolved and popped up as random as a pimple on date night...
We live in a world where social or financial status plays a major role in people’s perceptions of others, Idealistically one would enjoy a world that requires nothing of them, a world where you as an individual can be accepted as is, but on a more realistic front the world is shaped in a way that you have to look and think in a certain way and talk a certain way in order to fit in a certain place. what I find peculiar is that the people I find stick out are usually the ones who feel no pressure to be equal to any social and financial standard, so with that thought in mind I decided to ask the facebook people: “is it more attractive/socially acceptable to look rich and live poor or to look poor and live rich”.
These are some of the comments:
"I would rather be Mentally Rich, Bank account rich, Physically rich, and to hell with anything that says poor...Now you jus took up 25 secs of my money..."
"As long as I have food and water I'll make even PEP boutique clothes look reg so I really don't care about money or the status that comes with it. Its nice to have it, but people give it far too much precedence."
"It's more attractive for stupid ppl to look rich and live poor (wich is wat most ppl do 2day) bt it's more logical and sane to look poor and live rich"
"Real Talk.......... People with no money wanna live like people with money, and people with money.......well they jus trying to get mo money... Money is everything to people without it regardless of what they say.... Some of the rich and famous wanna look poor only cause they trying not to get noticed.. But those with no money wanna get noticed cause they are seen as nobodies..... That is the Realness of things my friend"
