Shows like The O.C and Laguna Beach

I watched Family Matters as well while I was growing up. You know, I grew up in a family where my parents watched every penny that came in and thought we were killing them if we had the light on in the daytime. Our house had a lot of windows so there really wasn't a whole lot of need to turn on the light in the day unless you went to the bathroom or were in the hall.

My parents didn't have a lot of money until I went to college because they inherited my granddad's business when he passed. My parents just got lucky but they did work their a$$ off for what they had when I was growing up and still are working their a$$ off for what they have now. I admit I am a trust fund baby because my granddad set it up for me when I was born. I have never had access to it nor will I until my brother turns 21, which is a few years away. I was lucky enough to have my parents pay for my tuition and expenses. My grandmother paid for my sorority dues. Unless I didn't want spending money, I did have to work during the summer for that so I wasn't just handed money whenever the mood struck.

I think I enjoy life more because I didn't grow up with everything handed to me. I had to work for it or "be good" to get it. Most of the time, I had to wait until Christmas or my birthday to get a certain toy or some clothes because my parents couldn't just scoot on over to Louis Vuitton and buy stuff. My parents didn't let either set of grandparents just gourge our sensibilities with crap we didn't need. They set a spending limit on each grandchild and didn't spend more than that.

I do agree that these shows are sending the wrong message and aren't just reincarnated versions of 90102 and Melrose Place. Granted, they have the same feel to them but we knew that the characters on Melrose Place and 90102 were fake characters. The characters didn't exist in real life . . . yes real people played them but we knew the difference. Laguna Beach and the My Super Sweet 16 are based on real people doing real things. I hope kids realize The OC is just a group of fake characters.