One of the few times I had been able to finish my homework and chores relatively early, I went down the street to a local store where the other kids from the town would congregate.

I was hit by a dose of someone else’s reality one day. By the time I had reached secondary school, the family financial situation had long since become normal. In primary school, I may not have been aware of the “Jones” concept, however, it was clear that our family was not like the others at my school or many of the families at our church. My mother worked on the third shift in a plastics plant. My father had a full-time day job and had three or four part-time jobs on nights and weekends to be able to pay down the medical bills my mother had accumulated, as well as pay the tuition for the parochial schools my brother (10 years my senior) and I attended.

My parents worked hard to provide for the family. This may not have been a direct thought, nor might it have been anywhere near the truth, but, it appeared, or rather felt as if, we were near the bottom rungs of the socio-economic ladder. Over the passage of time, in retrospect, I can see the various Jones families I had created in my life and my reaction to them.Įarly in my life, I lived in an area in which, from my perspective, everyone else was a member of the Jones Clan. Many people become trapped in the race to “Keep up with the Joneses”. They may have a larger house, they may have more cars, newer cars, better jobs their kids may have the latest designer wardrobe, and on and on, the list of “stuff” continues. Over the passage of time, I have observed a change in the Jones families I have encountered.The Jones family is that stereotypical family in the neighborhood, school, church, social setting, or otherwise known to each of us those who “have it all”.

Keeping up with the joneses xxxcomic