Social Class and BMWs

After reading the article "Saints and Roughnecks", I related to the way society creates an 'image' for you by the social class you belong to. For example in the article the roughnecks were from lower class families and were often taunted by the police, involved in theft and violence, and were constantly told by their teachers they would get nowhere in life. On the other hand, the upper middle class saints were involved in crimes like underage drinking, some theft and drunk driving, but because they were from good families, generally excelled in school, and had the resources to stay out their town's visibility, they were told they would go places in life, and most of them did.

So How does this relate to me? I'm glad you asked....

This past summer I got a new car. I was sad to leave the car (a jeep)I learned to drive in and got my license in behind, but I was happy to be driving a car that got more than 12 mpg. My parents leased a brand new BMW for me. I pulled up to a friends house for a pool party and was greeted by this guy I had only met a few weeks earlier and he said "wow, i had no idea you were rich" I immediately shot down his comment explaining the whole situation.. my dad is an employee for BMW, and in june they sent out this special deal that employees could lease brand new BMWs for a reduced price every month. Everytime it got brought up that I had a BMW I felt the need to explain the whole situation. I didn't want to be defined by my car. Don't get me wrong, I love my car, but I don't like the image that it gives off. It screams "HEY IM RICH LOOK WHAT MY DADDY JUST BOUGHT ME" and I try to shy away from that as much as possible. I'm not "rich", both my parents have full time jobs, and I even work 3 days a week.

The image that your social class gives off may get you out of things (like the saints) or get you into things (like the roughnecks) but I find myself somewhere in between letting my social class image define me and making my own images define me, and I'm happy where I am :)