spoiled?

this thought has been something that ive been mulling on for quite a while now. lately, a good friend of mine has been asking me for my thoughts on the issue, and i think now would be a good time to explore the thought.

are we spoiled? hmm...

i do believe that i am part of a group that i like to call "children of leisure". we are children of men and women who came from meager means and climbed to where they are through hard work and determination. we sleep in comfortable rooms, live in fairly comfortable homes, eat at good restaurants (not all the time though), have the use of household automobiles (again, not all the time), and have some expendable credit as our parents' extensions.

does all that make us, or me in particular, spoiled? what does? i remember a friend of mine from college said i was spoiled because i always had money for a cup of coffee at starbucks. a law blockmate called me spoiled (actually - a "prodigal") because i always showed up on clothes she didn't recognize. but can a judgment such as that be based on what is outwardly apparent?

now, if you're reading this and you don't really know me that well, i suppose the logical conclusion would be for you to deduce that i am indeed spoiled. and maybe on some levels, i am. but then, these things that I, and others like me, enjoy are not demanded by us. in better days when i got to eat out at the better restaurants with my dad, it was because he "wanted me to enjoy the finer points so that I would be inspired to work harder to be better". and really, they did. most, if not all of the things that I enjoyed, I did as "rewards" that were pre-set for goals reached. if you know me, than you can understand what i mean by this.

i suppose, in some sense I have paid for those things by being fairly compliant (dare I say obedient), mostly responsible, and on the overall reasonable. I realize that these things are not particularly noble or esteemable, but they are what they are. those were the circumstances laid out for us, and we dealt with them as best as we could. it is unfortunate that some people (as in the case of my friend) will choose to take things such as that and just attack our entire persons without seeing the full picture.

i don't think i can truly answer if i actually am spoiled or not. the things that i enjoy, while I did not have to physically "work" for them, did not come for free either. The comfort, the standards of living - are the norms in our house. I make my own bed, I fix my own closets, I clean my own bathroom. The car, I use when I need to - because it is safer than commuting...especially when evenings end up late, as they do, in my current field of work. And besides, I do know how to commute. The credit card is there for emergencies, and whatever doesn't fall under emergency, I pay for out of my own pocket anyway (most of the time - hey, have to be honest).

the other things -- the restaurant meals, theater subscriptions, cultural experiences, trips to nice places, and all other things I experience that others may not -- I did not ask for. But I appreciate everything that is given to me, and let's leave it at that. I do realize that they are not the norm, and that I have to work hard to provide the same for myself in the future. For now, I will just take what is gladly given, and appreciate, because really, what else is there to do?

what i'm trying to say i guess is that everyone is entitled to their own opinion - but at the end of the day, mine is the only one that matters (in this particular issue at the very least). for now, i think i'm okay. and for my friend who inspired this post, in my humble opinion, so are you.