Working Class Sheffield

[Eater Sundae 12]

Its all meaningless.

 

From what you have described, there will be plenty on here that would argue that you are not from a "working class" family at all.

 

Father a police offer, mother a midwife. You yourself are not only a sales exec but also a company director.

 

If anything one would argue that would fall into the qualified professionals bracket. Lower middle class at the very least.

 

The point is that we should simply be who we want to be. There should be no them and us. If I have money and CHOOSE to hang around with other people with lots of money. That's my choice and I should not be attacked for it. On the other hand, if I have lots of money but still keep to my roots living in a lower income area. Again, that's my choice and I should not be seen as out of place for it. People without money who have friends with lots of money should not feel that they are "not good enough" or excluded from sitting in certain restaurants/bars/stores. I lost count the number of times I hear people say "oh its too posh for us in there" even if they had the means to pay.

 

This obsession with classification and stereotyping is uniquely British and the world mocks us for it.

I hate the huge labels and presumptions people put on everyone.

 

I earn a so called "professional" wage but still modest in the big world. Can I shop in Waitrose / Harvey Nichols / Selfridges? But, hang on, I live in a small flat in North Sheffield. Doesn't really fit in does it. Maybe I should stick to Aldi / Primark and Home Bargains. But wait, Im a Lawyer, that shouldn't be for those kinds of shops should it... Professionals don't shop in those stores, I had better get back to my gang of so called greedy rich lawyer on the champagne lifestyle....

 

Round and round it goes. I hate all this box ticking. Be who you want to be. Shop/eat/drink where the hell you like. If I walk into Harrods, how does the person behind the counter know whether I have £5 or £5000 in my wallet. If you have money to pay the bill nowhere should feel "too posh" or "too poor" to spend it in there. That's a stigmata we created in our own heads and we need to grow up and get over this class assumption.

 

People say they are "proud" to be working class. Why? Why is anyone "proud" to be any classification. You make your own way in the world. Some of us born into poor families can work hard and make a fortune. Some people are lucky and are born into wealth and privilege only to blow it all and end up pennyless and jobless. There is no automatic lifestyle for anyone. Nobody should be defining us as to how we should bracket our income and spending.

 

Re bib. I don't necessarily agree that it is totally British.

 

I don't know how widespread it is, but I've come across an Egyptian (in the Middle East), and a couple of Pakistanis (in Pakistan) who nurtured very long finger nails on their little fingers, to show that they did not have manual jobs. Is this really any different.

 

Also, again in Pakistan, there seems to be great status in working in professions, (although that might just be financial), and also people being set at one particular level. I was in Pakistan, in Karachi, for a period. All the administrative office staff at the office where I worked were descended from Indians who came over at partition. the professional staff were Sindhi and the drivers were from the north, near Afghanistan.

 

Also, a preference for lighter skin in some countries may be to show that they don't (need to) work in the fields.

[Flanker7 20]

The common meaning has been explained several times though, and obviously google would be able to help you out as well.

 

You still don't get , after all these posts.

There is no common meaning. Google can give you several different ones too.

[Cyclone 10]

It certainly doesn't mean "anyone who works for a living" does it. There might be competing definitions, but they all have similarities and a common core.

[smiggs 10]

The old meaning is simple

 

Working Class - blue collar (factories, mines)

Middle Class - white collar (office workers, teachers)

Upper Class - country estate owner, the queen

 

But since factory jobs have declined many working class people find themselves in middle class jobs however they have not become middle class overnight they still have working class attitudes. In Britain today class is a state of mind and not decided on whether you wear overalls to work or not.

 

Young professionals is estate agent talk for young person with job rather than at university or on the dole, it's got nothing at all to do with class.

[Flanker7 20]

It certainly doesn't mean "anyone who works for a living" does it. There might be competing definitions, but they all have similarities and a common core.

 

What bit of "it means different things to different people" don't you get?

 

Give up Cyclone. It's getting embarrassing.

 

(prediction - Cyclone can't give up!)

Edited June 9, 2015 by Flanker7

[Cyclone 10]

What bit of "it means different things to different people" don't you get?

 

Give up Cyclone. It's getting embarrassing.

 

(prediction - Cyclone can't give up!)

 

Tell you what, you make up whatever you want, and we'll never speak of it again. But please don't try to talk to me about it.

I'm going to redefine one of the words in the next sentence to mean something else, but I'm not telling you which one.

 

Without common definitions, communication about a subject is digital.

 

Edit - prediction, you don't get it.

 

---------- Post added 09-06-2015 at 17:44 ----------

 

 

Young professionals is estate agent talk for young person with job rather than at university or on the dole, it's got nothing at all to do with class.

 

Not true at all. YP means someone at the start of a career who's young. It doesn't mean someone stacking shelves or working at McD's.

[The Joker 10]

I have a degree, I work full time for a private company as a National Sales Executive and I also co-own a company that employs 10 men in the construction industry. I own two properties, one paid for and one with 9yrs left on the mortgage. I drive a 7yr old SEAT! and I shop at Sainsbury's and Aldi.

 

<snip>

 

I class myself as working class, I come from a working class family. Father was a policeman and mother was a midwife until they retired 5yrs ago.

 

You won't be middle class unless you get rid of the SEAT

[Onthetyne 10]

Good to see the debate is alive and well

[phoenixboy 10]

I thought young professional meant anybody young who is working?

[Cyclone 10]

Why would it mean that? Does stacking shelves in Tesco mean you're in a profession?

[phoenixboy 10]

Why would it mean that? Does stacking shelves in Tesco mean you're in a profession?

 

If retail is a specialism. Then its a profession? Dictionary says that anyway.

 

It could also refer to white collar workers only. Cant be sure but I think estate agents use the term to imply a young person with a career or speciality, a young person who is working.

Edited June 10, 2015 by phoenixboy
....

[Cyclone 10]

It might be a specialism, but it's not a profession.

 

profession

prəˈfɛʃ(ə)n/Submit

noun

1.

a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification.

 

They use it to refer to a young person who most likely has a degree and is at the start of their career in a profession.