If you've made it to later middle age without having been resented or despised, that's actually pretty good.

I have an education and live in a nice area, so people assume I am privileged. They don't see my farm upbringing where I worked all the time, my college years where I worked three jobs, or the fact that I can afford to live here only because I am a townie who got into housing before housing prices went absolutely bonkers. I worked hard and lived within my means--but I also need to understand that some financial truths have changed, the world has changed, and I want to engage with others to find ways we can better share resources. Do I always like those people I need to share resources with? No. But do we all need to learn to get together better? Emphatically yes.

A lot of what looks like entitlement is sometimes people not knowing any better. Never having seen or participated in anything better. All of us have the capacity to be jerks sometimes. But I try to teach my kids--you gotta leave it better than you found it. Is that fair? Not always. Is that fun? Definitely not always. But it's the only way this is going to get better.

Thank you for the exchange and thanks for taking your neighbors a plate of food. You did your best. It's going to take a lot of us trying to do our best, even when it bites us in the butts.