New British Class System

I think the questions about whom do you know SOCIALLY were the most snobbish part of it ("My deah! KNOW a tradesman socially? How infra dig") and the questions regarding income the most irrelevant. I mean, these people might be in trade
But there, what would I know.

Tosh really and only in the news because its done by the BBC.
Daft thing is that to somehow illustrate what they perceive to be our 'old' ideas on class they have been running the clip of John Cleese and the 2 Ronnies doing their class skit. It was a peice of Satire - not to be taken seriously and poking fun at the missconceptions on class even then!

I think that was exactly the point that absent was making, Harrigran!

I was always proud of being a nurse until I read what Absent said about high powered professionals looking down on shop floor workers such as nurses, teachers and clerical workers I worked very hard and sat a lot of exams to get my qualifications.

I apologise to you lot for ruining a perfectly sensible discussion.

Deeda I may, at sometime, share another disagreeable experience that I had when I travelled to Bristol to meet a member of Dateline. He had no sense of decorum and not the slightest interest in the subleties of how to treat a female with basic, common courtesy. Finished up motoring back to Devon on a dangerously low tank of fuel...but with my dignity still intact.
#dontgetmegoing. I've a house to clean in readiness for the estate agent's visit.

Deeda You also possess a good sense of humour!

Beats my evening trapped i8n a flat in Victoria trying to protect my virtue from a yugoslavian soop

Apparently I'm new affluent worker - not sure how when I've been retired for 6 years and on an adequate rather than affluent pension. I obviously have hidden assets ???

Okay! In brief...as it has nothing whatsoever to do with the post.

In the early 60s, I worked weekends in a rugby club. A decent looking young man asked me for a date [on several occasions.] The manager assured me that he was respectable, so eventually, I accepted. I was collected from my flat and travelled to London in an Aston Martin something or other? We went to a super Japanese restaurant. A first for me. Mid-way through the meal, he lost his temper [with the standard of service] so he paid the bill and marched out. I was deeply embarrassed. As we we reached the car, a police siren sounded. He panicked and reversed with rubber burning down a one-way street. We travelled the M1 at a nerve-racking speed. He didn't utter a word of explanation. I was terrified. Reached home and I escaped with the excuse that grannie was living with me [had deliberately left the lights on.] He asked for a second date. I mumbled a refusal. Some time later, it was brought to my notice that the young man had controlled a luxury car theft organisation based near Birmingham. He was aboard a ship when arrested by police. He went to prison. #youdidask

Oh come on Soop. Don't leave us hanging on!

Between established and technical middle class mainly because poor social life due to being very immobile

'Twas at a time when I managed to meet some peculiar men. Sometime, I shall tell you the story of when I went on a date with a seemingly "decent and respectable man" who turned out to be a right rogue and wanted by the police.

gracesmum Sadly, I forget whatever it was that I said. I focused all my energy on getting down the umpteen stairs and into the fresh air.

Knowing your talent for the mot juste, soop, I would love to think you gave as good as you got replied appropriately.

I had a date with a chappie who lived in Eton Square, London. He invited me to see his grand apartment. As we were drinking coffee, he placed a hand on my knee. I asked him to remove it [the hand.] He did not oblige. I gathered up my coat and bag and said, I'm going home - 60 miles away in Northants. As I left, he called after me..."Country Bumpkin!"
Well, now we know...

Yes, the oik comment made me laugh as well.

Frank Thanks for making me x

I am so interested in this subject that I haven't checked what I am, just read what the rest of you are. I don't think £500k would make anyone in Sutton Coldfield elite though. Large parts of it are far more expensive than that.

Bliley!! This thread' s moving quickly! Who'd have thought it.

Should have said, I don't think many people do that. sorry

When my father separated from his ex she said I was an oik.

Frank

We have never considered ourselves "posh" , indeed many years ago when DD1 started at her girls' school she came home and said "Mum, I thought they would be posh, but they're not - they're poor like us!" (Yes, they were paying the fees!)
However, one day DD2 and her friends were playing a game not unlike the BBC survey - but with simpler criteria. DD came out as "poshest" the deciding factor being that none of the others had streets named after their grandfather!! (We have a street, a square and an avenue in Normandy named after FIL!! - and no, his name was not Gare/ Napoleon or de Gaulle)

Crickey Absent! Validate your own social position by looking down on others?! That's a sad thought. I don't think do that.

I think where you've come from rather than where you are now, makes the person what they are. And, to a large extent, extent, I think class is an inborn thing.

Must get off here now. Got two grandkids to drag round a stately home. #godhelpthestatelyhome

Class still informs much of British society. Look at the government front bench. Who you know rather what you know can still make a huge practical difference to people's lives – for example, think of the insidious growth of internships in this country. Lots of people, including many who are very influential, still think in terms of "people like us" even if they don't use those precise words. Many people feel that they validate their own social standing by looking down on others – not just Nancy Mitford's aristocrats casting a glance askance at fish knives and doilies, but also skilled workers looking down on unskilled workers and the attitude of high-powered professionals and business people to the "shop floor" workers, such as nurses, teachers and clerical workers. (Not all, of course.)

If you have some sort of grasp of how the class system works, you can play it to your advantage. You can also comprehensively undermine snobbery – which is great fun when you're bored.

But it's only a stupid label. You don't have to believe in any of that bullshit or to accept that it is 'true'. Why feel insulted about something so silly? You could just laugh at it.