Quiz: Who lives in an "upper class bubble"?

[Elijah Craig]

I scored a 66 and am considered "uppity" by some people simply because of my street address and the fact I typically wear collared shirts (with blue jeans) and leather shoes. Oh and my beer of choice isn't Bud Light.

I'm guessing some of my female relatives would score just as high if not higher than me. I don't think housewives with law degrees and a household incomes in the mid six digits who drive BMWs and have a cabin in the mountains qualify as "welfare queens." Their husbands probably pay more in income taxes than the person who said that makes in a year.

I know guys who wear hunting boots, blue jeans, and flannel to church and are multi millionaires.

[amyrose5]

(03-15-2012 02:16 PM)Elijah Craig Wrote:  I scored a 66 and am considered "uppity" by some people simply because of my street address and the fact I typically wear collared shirts (with blue jeans) and leather shoes. Oh and my beer of choice isn't Bud Light.

I'm guessing some of my female relatives would score just as high if not higher than me. I don't think housewives with law degrees and a household income in the mid six digits who drive BMWs and have a cabin in the mountains qualify as "welfare queens." Their husbands probably pay more in income taxes than the person who said that makes in a year.

I know guys who wear hunting boots, blue jeans, and flannel around and are multi millionaires.

And that's where I think the whole thing is about mindset and not money. There is a certain crunchy liberal pretentious mindset that exists where eating at Applebee's is just unacceptable. I know people who would not be considered upper class by their income or address who have that pretentious mindset and look down on those of us who figure that 2 for $20 is a good deal.

I think there is a prejudice toward certain regions and lifestyles at play here, too. My father managed multi-million dollar companies with diverse interests for most of his working life. Yet having retired in a city, he often encounters people who do not take what he did seriously as business at all. I encounter those people all the time as well. The reason? They were agricultural businesses and thus not considered to be serious or real businesses by certain types of urban dwellers.

Another example is the assumption of the figure skating fans that they will while away two weeks in Omaha with no access to espresso or Indian food next January simply because it is Nebraska and therefore automatically rural and undeveloped. A CNN reporter stood in the parking lot of an enormous mall by the freeway in Omaha a few years ago with traffic whizzing by her and announced that she was in the middle of rural America near a cornfield. I have been looking for it and still haven't spotted a cornfield anywhere near that mall. Corn doesn't grow well on concrete. But the mindset is that people here are somehow less. And I think that's what this quiz is getting at.

[Elijah Craig]

Come to think of it... I have another female relative that (re)married a good ole boy.

He's a security guard at a factory, works about 80 hours a week. Makes more than me. He also owns a farm with a few gas wells on it. Last one that was drilled on him produced so much gas they had to run more line to it. That one well alone gives him $5k a month. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes $20k or more a month just off royalties.

He's 66. He still works all the hours he can get. He drives either a pickup truck or a Harley. Has a very thick country accent. I've never seen him not wearing a tee shirt. Definitely watches NASCAR. Definitely listens to country music. Drinks Bud Light.

I'd call him working class... but he's probably in the top 3-4% for annual income... I laugh at the idea that every redneck is poor or stupid.

Fundies typically listen to classical music and do "uppity" things... and make $18,000 a year teaching in a Christian school.

Income and social class aren't necessarily related. This quiz is trying to express a reality-- there IS an upper class bubble in America but it's hard to quantify. Even in the world it's hard to quantify... Warren Buffett makes a lot more money than the British Royal family. He lives in a modest $200,000 house. They live in a 300 year old palaces.

[tena]

I scored 60. I was the first member of my family to get a college degree, and the only woman in my family to go to college. My husband and I are considered white collar professionals, but I definitely grew up dirt poor.

[JordanMaria]

I scored a 40.

The questions are odd though. It's like they assume you do the opposite of what they ask if your answer is no. That's not always true.

[amyrose5]

(03-15-2012 02:38 PM)Elijah Craig Wrote:  Come to think of it... I have another female relative that (re)married a good ole boy.

He's a security guard at a factory, works about 80 hours a week. Makes more than me. He also owns a farm with a few gas wells on it. Last one that was drilled on him produced so much gas they had to run more line to it. That one well alone gives him $5k a month. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes $20k or more a month just off royalties.

He's 66. He still works all the hours he can get. He drives either a pickup truck or a Harley. Has a very thick country accent. I've never seen him not wearing a tee shirt. Definitely watches NASCAR. Definitely listens to country music. Drinks Bud Light.

I'd call him working class... but he's probably in the top 3-4% for annual income... I laugh at the idea that every redneck is poor or stupid.

Fundies typically listen to classical music and do "uppity" things... and make $18,000 a year teaching in a Christian school.

Income and social class aren't necessarily related. This quiz is trying to express a reality-- there IS an upper class bubble in America but it's hard to quantify. Even in the world it's hard to quantify... Warren Buffett makes a lot more money than the British Royal family. He lives in a modest $200,000 house. They live in a 300 year old palaces.

Exactly. My father didn't make a low salary by any means. Especially the last few years he worked. But it involved farms and fertilizer and sometimes manual labor and he wore a uniform shirt. My mother worked with some people who had spouses making a lot of money--dentist, university administrator, elite golf club owner...and she was treated as if she were a bit below by these women. My dad's position was not considered as prestigious and my parents' inclination to save rather than flaunt their money--likely related to their roots in working class Appalachia and a farm family-- as well as our living outside the city in a rural town made her not fit with them.

And Warren Buffett's neighborhood is likely no longer dominated by college grads. I happen to live not so far away from him. I wonder how Warren would score. I can imagine him at Applebee's quicker than I can imagine him at the (just closed) French Cafe or vegan/vegetarian uppity McFoster's.

What is worse than the bubble, to me, is the view of many of those in the bubble this quiz is looking at that those of us outside it are unworthy, not too bright, and generally to be looked down on.

[EmilyKing]

I got a 59.

[captain_solo]

69 - pretty accurate description I would say. I am certainly not in an upper class bubble, but I am around many people, both geographically and socially who could certainly be described that way.

[redbeardiam]

67. meh.

[beensetfree]

(03-15-2012 01:06 PM)amyrose5 Wrote:  On the other side of the coin...I have Appalachian hill billy relatives who might score a 100 on that!

Awesome! My mom lives in Hot Springs, NC. She's originally from Amityville. She's always defending mountain folk. She's learned how to live in their culture. She gets really offended when educated idiots hike the trail and want to judge the locals. She's the first to point out that though they may not all be educated formally they are far from dumb or uncultured.

I scored a 55. It's funny though, cause my criterion is def not average anything. I like organic but I'm not a purist, was at one time. If it has 4 wheels and runs I'll drive it. There are plenty of educated idiots I don't want to hang out with.

In Europe, sounds snobby but wait, people don't lead out with the quintessential question, "So what do you do?" You just talk to the person and get to know them first.

Not to mention the more I read Scripture and think about it; the more God has used it to change how I think about people. Not saying I don't have any biases but that whole "love your neighbor" line kills me on a daily basis.