At Brooklyn College, part of the City of New York’s public higher education system, I began to be acutely aware of class. I asked a co-ed for a date, she agreed and gave me her address to pick her up on Saturday. I noted that her address was in Flatbush, a middle income community unlike Brownsville, a poor and working class sector where I lived. But I did not think much about the difference in location.
Her apartment was in a nice building. When I entered her apartment, I was in a very large reception room with many decorations and displays. Her father invited me to move into the living room. I immediately noticed that there was a two-step drop to the living room, a sign of opulence in those days. As I stepped down, I said to myself this relationship cannot work because of our differences in money. I never dated her again. Class was evident.
I then dated co-eds who were closer to me in their class situations.
I want the stories, what he learned and why class differences in money made the relationship unworkable and why similarities made them workable. I have my own experiences, but reading others stories about their experiences is what makes life richer.