We are in the process of buying a house and of course we've been chatting about it with a few people. I'm from Ireland and I haven't lived here long so people don't know me that well. I've lost count of the number of times that people have warned me off different areas because "it's near a council estate" or "they are ex-council houses." What they don't realise is that I grew up on a council estate and my family was quite poor. The way they warn me you would think people in council or ex-council houses have a contagious disease (perhaps called "poverty"??) and that they should be avoided at all costs. Naturally this makes me feel like shit, as though if they knew where I came from they wouldn't consider me good enough.
The reason it really surprises me is that living in a council estate isn't a source of shame where I'm from. I went to school with people whose parents were millionaires, people whose parents were professionals and people who were from council estates like me. People don't tend to be segregated according to how much money they have.
As it turns out we're in the process of buying a very nice ex council house that is about twice the size of the houses in "better" areas and costs less than half the price. So I'm happy about that :) but disappointed that my "friends" clearly don't think the area I'll be living in is suitable for them :(
Is this just a southern thing?