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Peter Dunst
WRTC 103
Professor Fielding
9/14/2015
What is Reality? The Farmington Valley Bubble
What is does poverty mean to you? This question was constantly asked of my
peers and I in high school in Farmington, Connecticut. Its an ironic question
considering Farmington holds a demographic of predominantly white individuals
with high income whose children live off their economic success. The lifestyle the
upcoming generation is living in is all depicted by the economic and sociological
measure of their parents or guardians whom support them. My father is a National
Leader in Absence Management at The Hartford and my mother is an Actuary for
Cigna. As an actuary my mother compiles and analyzes statistics and uses them to
calculate insurance risks and premiums. Together they earn a very high income,
which gives my siblings and I the opportunity to live and attend one of the top
public schools in Connecticut, let alone the United States.

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We live amongst other people who live as luxury members of the upper class. In
Farmington, poverty is a rare sight and something many parents hide their kids
from. From a young age reality has been skewed in The Farmington Valley,
consisting of many high class families scattered across all 4 towns.
The word poverty was always defined as those commercials aired on TV that
show a starving child in Africa. The problem is no one ever has a firsthand
experience of what poverty is really like in the United States. To this day I still
havent had a legitimate personal experience of what poverty is like in the U.S.
Although I have seen a homeless person when I visited Boston, I have never seen a
group of individuals living as members of the low class, because my parents kept
me sheltered from that part of society.
Socioeconomic status was developed when individuals worked and made
money, allowing them to buy goods and services. Obviously the more money a
person had the better quality of goods and services they could purchase. A person
making and holding more money, more times than not, also had a higher education
achieved than those of the lower class. There are three categories that make up
your class designation, Education, Profession, and Income. As a result of the
education obtained and current profession, usually but not always, there are
variables that allow people to gain large amounts of money in many different ways.
Such as winning the lottery worth 5 Million Dollars, or hitting a hot streak at the
casino. Familys with a large income at their disposal tends to mean that the family
is in the upper class, like mine.
The highest socioeconomic status comes with many generalizations and
stereotypes. A common stereotype is that the upper class only consists of white
individuals who hold high paying corporate jobs because they went to college. The

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stereotype of the lower class is just the opposite, multiple ethic groups working
minimum wage job(s), just to make ends meet. Obviously there are many ethnicities
in both categories, but these are the most common generalizations about the two
classes. Farmington Valley doesnt do much to defy these generalizations either.
Many people individuals who are of the upper class fall into this stereotype, as the
valley is predominantly white with individuals working big corporate jobs as
Hartford, CT is the insurance capital of the world.
Political Affiliations are another stereotype that come with a familys
socioeconomic status. Upper class members are often affiliated with republicans
because their representatives tend to advocate for wealthier people having to pay
less taxes. Typically the lower class is affiliated with the Democrats because they
dont enforce harsh taxes on lower class families. My family, however, defies this
stereotype. As a high class family, my parents identify themselves with the
Democratic Party because growing up, both of them were part of low income
families. They did not have a privileged lifestyle and saw their parents struggle to
pay taxes along with the mortgage. They sympathize with people that are members
of the lower class because they too, were members of the lower class, and
understand the burdens and daily struggles these families go through.
Snow storm Alfred was one of the worst snow storms Connecticut had ever
received. It hit Connecticut on October 29 th, 2011, my freshman year of high school.
Farmington and many surrounding towns were without power for roughly 2 weeks.
The high school has a backup generator, so the school had electricity, heat, and hot
water therefore it turned into a shelter for those without adequate utilities. This was
my first real exposure to poverty. I went there originally to hang with friends, but I
soon began to just sit and people watch. The families looked tired, worrisome, and

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upset, as some lost their homes in this storm. Many fathers, looked distressed and
continued to check on their houses since thefts had risen drastically since the storm
hit. As I chatted with those staying at the shelter, I was shocked to learn that many
of them did not own a generator like my family did. I assumed it was a common
amenity for people in New England to have especially with the amount of winter
storms we receive per year that knock our power out. I felt bad but I also felt like I
was being judged because I would talk to individuals there who acted like I was a
part of the shelter but when I would say I was there to just hang with friends since I
had a generator back home many of them changed the tone in which they talked to
me. This experience definitely made me think about what I truly am provided with,
my parents working long days to provide my family the life we have vs. other
families in society. Even within my town and where we live, considering not many
people struggle financially.
As a senior in high school my parents offered me a trip as a graduation
present that the family can take anywhere. I had never left the country before, so
after doing my research I chose to go to Jamaica, to an all-inclusive beaches resort. I
was shocked at how developed some parts of the country were, but how behind
other parts still remained. Lots of individuals had iPhones but when it came to the
houses they were living in and the cars they drove, they were outdated and beat up,
barely staying together. Most housing lacked electricity and water. Many workers
worked upwards of 12 + hours a day, seven days a week, to try to provide for their
families. This made me feel bad for those countries that are even worse off because
at least Jamaicas economy is held up by tourists. After this experience as I came
home and had time to reflect on all that I witnessed, I realized that I thought
Jamaica was bad in terms of poverty, but that isnt the worst underdeveloped

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country. If I was able to go to a third world country or an area in the United States
that had been affected by a natural disaster, I would finally be breaking out of the
bubble my parents and the Farmington Valley had created around me, as well as
helping out those who really need it.
It means a lot coming from a very successful group of individuals but it also
means Im expected to obtain that status. Its a big deal to be from where Im from
and to be given the opportunities Ive been given up until this point in my life. I
dont let a day go by where I dont thank my parents for the things theyve enabled
me to do by their success. Such as obtaining a higher education, playing sports at a
higher more competitive level, and for giving me a sense of security when I go to
bed at night. I thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to be an upper class
citizen, but I wish my parents didnt try to keep me in the Farmington Valley bubble
for so long. I wish they gave me more of an opportunity to explore other parts of the
nation and world. Show me what families who arent as privileged as ours have to
endure and go through and what their day to day worries are vs ours (whats for
dinner tonight). Philosophically I want to do more to give back to individuals in my
community whether that be through coaching a childs sports team to volunteering
my time to just help clean and repair an individuals house. Just to do more to look
out for the well-being of people that are not as fortunate and well off as I am. I view
my younger self now as a spoiled individual who didnt know what the real world
was like until this past summer. I was in a bubble of my parents liking but now that I
go off to college and move forward in life, they cant keep me in that bubble
anymore. Im now growing my knowledge about the actual challenges and struggles
individuals in our own country go through. I want to do more to help out because
not enough people take action, too many people are in their parents bubble or they

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think oh someone else will help them so its fine, but thats what everyone thinks so
really there isnt enough help to go around to all the places and individuals that
need it. Im now going to make a change to benefit myself and society because now
I have burst that bubble and there are endless possibilities of what I can do.