Ms Macbeth Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I find it impossible to put myself into a class. Some background: My grandfather was a pharmacist with 2 shops - definitely middle class. Family problems in the 1920s meant my father left home and worked as a clerk instead of going to university, although he'd had private schooling. He was in a salaried management role when I was a kid, we had good holidays, we didn't have a tv til around 1960, although we had a phone, we didn't own our home, it was privately rented. (Big mistake!) Still probably middle class. My mum was widowed in her 50s, dad had left her reasonably provided for, but inflation wiped out her nest egg and as she hadn't worked for 30 years (wasn't done you know ) all she could get was housekeeping/cleaning jobs. Were we now working class? I was a teenager, didn't fit in with the well off kids, or the ones who spoke with broad accents. I left school/college at 16 and went into an office - nice and respectable, but not much money. Working class? I married at 21, OH made his living as a professional singer. Mixed fortunes, but we managed to live in a reasonable area when the kids were growing up. I got supervisory then lower management jobs, while he stayed in the music business. Our kids have had university educations, and both have decent careers. Now OH has a part time job, I'm on a state pension and not much more, but I still have some of the tastes and attitudes I was brought up with. I feel classless - I haven't got strong working class roots, (although one of my mum's brothers was in the communist party for a while. ) and I've moved away from my dads fairly traditional form of conservatism...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Prime Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Going to uni makes you middle class by definition. Madness, I am the son of a truck driver and a hairdresser and am constantly given hassle for being middle class because I went to uni on a full grant. The saddest thing is, the loudest mouth belongs to a man who has a mum who sounds like Margo Leadbetter and received a fat inheritance. He considers me MC because of my education while he seeks the kudos of being a real worker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leg-end Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Madness, I am the son of a truck driver and a hairdresser and am constantly given hassle for being middle class because I went to uni on a full grant. The saddest thing is, the loudest mouth belongs to a man who has a mum who sounds like Margo Leadbetter and received a fat inheritance. He considers me MC because of my education while he seeks the kudos of being a real worker. Exactly mate, like i said: I'm from a working class family. They have worked bloody hard to make sure my kids will be from a middle class family and i'm as proud as can be of my parents for that. I'm middle class (based on socio economic definitions), but my principles are still working class at the moment and the change will probably only be noted by my kids, who won't have working class parents / background. I went to Uni, i worked hard to get there and it had nothing to do with being from a middle class family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 But that's the point of the whole thread isn't it? That sons and daughters of truck drivers and hairdressers and machinists are going to university in order to give themselves a far greater choice when it comes to seeking a rewarding profession. Hence the numbers of those categorised as middle class goes up. I get the impression that a lot of people equate being working class with being a socialist. It isn't the same thing. Others seem to think that it isn't possible to be middle class and come from a working class background. It is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beckelina Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 I would be interested to know what class other people would put me in? Mum - teacher, no degree, grandad worked on railways Dad - orphan, no qualifications, worked on motorways (and had odd job business) Me: Degree and MSc, income ~18K, manual/conservation work, just bought first house. But as Tricky said, I 'went to university in order to give myself a far greater choice when it comes to seeking a rewarding profession' be that in a manual career of countryside worker. Although as I went to school in Tunbridge Wells, my accent singles me out as middle class straight away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathom Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 But that's the point of the whole thread isn't it? That sons and daughters of truck drivers and hairdressers and machinists are going to university in order to give themselves a far greater choice when it comes to seeking a rewarding profession. Hence the numbers of those categorised as middle class goes up. I get the impression that a lot of people equate being working class with being a socialist. It isn't the same thing. Others seem to think that it isn't possible to be middle class and come from a working class background. It is. Someone from the Upper Middle Class is highly likely to be a socialist! Especially if they live in Islington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CockneyMafia Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Someone from the Upper Middle Class is highly likely to be a socialist! Especially if they live in Islington I live in Islington. Anyone would think I was some kind of inverted snob, the way you carry on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildrneil Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 I'm not even sure what higher, middle or lower professional means, so I don't think it helps. As an example - profession: medical: lower - Pre-registration house officer middle - Senior House Officer, Registrar higher - Consultant, GP Principal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie9865 Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Ill bum ya all out cos im lower class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarSparkle Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 But that's the point of the whole thread isn't it? That sons and daughters of truck drivers and hairdressers and machinists are going to university in order to give themselves a far greater choice when it comes to seeking a rewarding profession. Hence the numbers of those categorised as middle class goes up. I get the impression that a lot of people equate being working class with being a socialist. It isn't the same thing. Others seem to think that it isn't possible to be middle class and come from a working class background. It is. Not at all. As Mathom says, it's usually members of the upper middle class intelligentsia who tend to be Socialists! StarSparkle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.