Johns Creek is in the top five richest cities in Georgia and in the top twenty richest cities in America. What? And, as I previously have given my opinion on, growing up around so much money has genuinely corrupted the morals, worldview and attitudes of many teenagers. Kids total very expensive cars and receive nicer ones at the celebration party for them re-receiving their license. Everybody can be seen at every event. People literally bathe in money.

And yeah, okay. I said it last time, and I will say it again before I even begin to make my point: what I am outlining is not a shot at anyone's parenting. In fact, the people I am around are almost adults, and, in my opinion, perfectly capable of understanding how to act and how not to act. They are aware of maturity and classiness, and, given that they are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen years old, they are very much accountable for how they act and how they portray themselves.

Money in itself has always been said to be corrupting. Yet, at least here, the impact is not seen strongest in those who have it, but among those who do not.

Although it may come as a shock to some people, a fair number of our neighbors, classmates and colleagues are struggling to get by. And, perhaps most surprising of all, people are very much not understanding of it.

Just because some people live in gated communities does not mean that everybody does. Just because some people can afford every school trip does not mean that everybody can. Just because some people do not need help does not mean that nobody does.

I overheard a conversation at the beginning of the school year, as we were all filling out the eighteen-million forms that need to be turned in every August, between two freshman girls about how annoying it was to have to fill out that one lunch form that asked about free/reduced lunch. "Honestly," one said in a tone that, even now, I am not sure if it was serious or sarcastic, "If you can't afford a school lunch, either bring your own or just don't eat. We don't even need that program here. Everybody's clearly fine."

Actually, that's really not true.

Almost every extracurricular activity involves some sort of trip. Competitions are at far-away schools, some even in other states, and conferences are expensive just for the day. You cannot make it mandatory for students to go on these trips yet blow off any kind of request for financial help. It's not a joke if somebody asks if a scholarship is available. It's not the time to laugh or make witty comments about trading manual work for the scholarship, especially not as a teacher and a mentor whose job is to help their students to overcome obstacles and succeed. And yeah, kids need these extracurriculars for their college applications. You cannot get into a school with simply good grades anymore.

And the social pressure alone is a destroyer. If nobody said anything, it would be alienating enough to be the only one worried about certain things. The only one concerned about how much things cost - the "party pooper". The only one who can't ever hang out, either because of work or simply because they do not have the extra money to spend on whatever is being done that day.

Yet people do say things. Maybe indirectly, but the comment is there. Just tonight, I heard a young teenager say to a musician performing in a coffee shop, "Well, I'm in middle school and you're still working two jobs and performing in a coffee shop, so who's better off."

It really is awesome that your family is financially secure. I genuinely am happy for you - the opportunities for you are endless, and it's pleasing to see you excited about getting things that you want. Your car is beautiful and so are your new set of nails.

But please remember that you are the exception. We genuinely have normalized money in this town to the point that anybody who does not have enough money is not even taken seriously. "What do you mean, you can't afford that?" - chuckle - "Of course you can, if you're worried because you forgot the check you can just turn it in tomorrow." And the looks people give you when you suggest maybe doing something else because what they want to do is too expensive? Definitely not unkind, but not understanding either - something between confusion and "come on, give it up. We know you're kidding, stop being difficult."

And possibly the most crazy thing of all - "poor" here is, in almost every case, very much not poor. With a roof over our heads, food on a tables and the ability to go to school and have our parents work only one full time job to support our families, we still are very much blessed. There are many who are not nearly as well off. These families would all be considered normal anywhere else, yet here they're "poor" and worth pity or expected to be a rich family in disguise, if noticed at all.

Respect that people are different. Respect that some people need help, and have the respect for them as people (plus a little bit more, because it is extremely hard to ask for help in a town in which nobody is willing to accept that people do need help). After all, they are your neighbors. And, really? Your extravagance and arrogance is a bit much anyway. We all know, you're fine. You're not proving anything by being a jerk.