Money Ain't a Thang. There's this saying in Chinese: [wealth in a family doesn't last beyond 3 generations]. The idea being that the first generation toils hard to make money. And this presumably goes on while the second generation is growing up, or at least the parents still teach their kids the value of money. By the third generation, the family fortune is well-established enough that the kids get spoiled while growing up; they've got no conception of what it's like to be poor, what it's like to actually have to earn your place in life. This is the generation that rides on the coattails of its predecessors, is prone to reckless overspending, and squandering the past generations' hard work. And by the time the third generation has kids, all the family money is gone (or soon will be), and they've gotta build their way up from scratch again.

I think I'm caught somewhere in between the proverbial third and fourth generations. Counting from my dad's side, I think I'm in the generation that gets screwed over. From my mom's side, I think I'm of the generation that's destined to waste money. (I think the saying only worked back in the day, where money really only came down one side of the family tree.) But yea, so that leaves me with kind of a precarious mindset/upbringing I think. On the one hand, I really have to make my own fortune, but cuz of the other hand, I've been raised to take things for granted. I really feel like I'm spoiled sometimes. I've never had to do a real day's work in all my life, and that's reflected in my somewhat snooty, supercilious attitude towards blue-collar work. Kinda like, yecchhh, I refuse to get my hands dirty! (Hah, I'm not really THAT bad, but I'm trying to make a point.) Anyways, so yea, when it's all added up, I think my upbringing combined with my financial circumstances is gonna lead me to a WORLD of trouble... or at least, significant hardships down the line. =/