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Original poster

Why does Surrey seem to have quite a few stuck up people

102 replies

UrbanMan27 · 01/02/2023 20:49

I was working in Surrey today and people there seem to turn their nose up a certain people. Why are people like that there? Has anyone else noticed this there?

OP posts:
CatAssTrophic · 01/02/2023 22:08

If you think people in Surrey are stuck up you should try parts of NW London. It's not just working people they look down on, it extends much further than that. You have to 'belong'.

WisteriaLodge · 01/02/2023 22:21

Has anyone actually said anything to you OP? Or are you just assuming everyone in Surrey is a total snob?

mathanxiety · 01/02/2023 22:25

Surrey has some fine old names you don't find anywhere else.

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DavidBattenburgh · 01/02/2023 22:33

How do you cope with all those old people in Worthing OP? Grin

EzzieM · 01/02/2023 22:47

You aren’t imagining it OP. I’ve lived in many different towns in UK and overseas and the people in Guildford were obsessed with money/status in a way I haven’t seen elsewhere. Lots of little comments boasting about eg the size of their garden / that their cousin’s brother once met the royals / how far back their family tree goes. I even had a stranger mock me in a supermarket over my jacket!

I loved the physical town, the river and the countryside, but I chose to settle down elsewhere because I didn’t like the culture there.

I guess it’s all a bit “bankers and bankers’ wives”.

Definitely wouldn’t want my children at school with those attitudes when they could eg be somewhere like Cambridge ot Winchester where intellect and arty interests are more important than money and social background.

Rockbird · 01/02/2023 22:55

What a load of bollocks. And yes I live in Surrey. I know precisely one person who I would class as stuck up and she's not from Surrey originally. Everyone else I've come across is the usual mix of people you'd find anywhere.

NearlyMidnight · 01/02/2023 23:12

"Bankers' wives" ! Sexist or what?

NearlyMidnight · 01/02/2023 23:15

PS I live in London where everyone is rude and unfriendly and my DP is Scottish where everyone is mean and miserable, luckily my DD has married a man from Somerset who cheers us up with bottles of cider and Country Tales.

OnGoldenPond · 02/02/2023 00:02

Surrey is a big county. They even have (gasp) the odd council estate!

007DoubleOSeven · 02/02/2023 00:08

I was born with a turned up nose and I had to move to Surrey to fit in.

It was tough.

SleepyMathematician · 02/02/2023 00:38

UrbanMan27 · 01/02/2023 21:27

Worthing

Show quote history

Ah, so you must be really old. It’s not that Surrey people are stuck up, it’s that you can’t see or hear them properly. Grin

NowDoYouBelieveMe · 02/02/2023 00:43

Tbh I'm surprised you're surprised. Surrey has a bit of a rep for that! A bit like the "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" stereotype.

AlansApprentice · 02/02/2023 05:40

JackieDaws · 01/02/2023 21:00

They're proud that it's the only country with no Iceland supermarket.

Although that’s not correct is it.

Foxywood · 02/02/2023 05:48

www.openingtimesin.uk/iceland-horley-surrey
but to be fair there is also a big
www.openingtimesin.uk/waitrose-horley

socialmedia23 · 02/02/2023 05:57

EzzieM · 01/02/2023 22:47

You aren’t imagining it OP. I’ve lived in many different towns in UK and overseas and the people in Guildford were obsessed with money/status in a way I haven’t seen elsewhere. Lots of little comments boasting about eg the size of their garden / that their cousin’s brother once met the royals / how far back their family tree goes. I even had a stranger mock me in a supermarket over my jacket!

I loved the physical town, the river and the countryside, but I chose to settle down elsewhere because I didn’t like the culture there.

I guess it’s all a bit “bankers and bankers’ wives”.

Definitely wouldn’t want my children at school with those attitudes when they could eg be somewhere like Cambridge ot Winchester where intellect and arty interests are more important than money and social background.

I have a friend who grew up in weybridge and while she admittedly has struggled with her mental health, she says things that I have never heard other say (I live in a relatively affluent part of north London and work in the City), like ' you can tell that no one here (in an NHS mental health ward) has ever worked in an office, I am middle class so I deserve private healthcare'. She is also obsessed with material possessions..she is a lovely person otherwise though so I think it may be just where she grew up that has influenced her to think in this way.

erinaceus · 02/02/2023 06:11

I hail from Surrey.

OP - it is insecurity. Surrey is commuter belt territory and there is a lot of keeping-up-with-the-Jones mentality and its close relative competitive parenting for example.

You say you were working there, are you lower down the class pecking order than single-income-family, hedge fund manager/lawyer/financial services professional with detached house, two point four children and a well-behaved but dim pet dog and were those the people you encountered.

Very far from everybody behaves like this but that is the vibe IME.

erinaceus · 02/02/2023 06:12

A colleague once I moved to London once commented on my heritage "you people keep horses don't you" and I mean my family didn't but I had several friends whose families had land and a couple of ponies, made for a good playdate.

camelfinger · 02/02/2023 06:18

I agree with erinaceus about the vibe.
It is a pretty county, close to London but with excellent road and airport connections. Lots of people who’ve earned a lot in London move out to have children or when they’ve had enough of living in London.
So it is generally a rich place, and comes with associated attitudes. But there are plenty of normal people too, it’s a big county, with lots of shops, hospitals, racecourses, schools.

MargotChateau · 02/02/2023 06:22

I live in Surrey and most of my partners friend’s are manual labourers and I don’t notice this at all….

PortiasBiscuit · 02/02/2023 06:31

Blimey, did you meet everyone in Surrey in every corner of Surrey in one day. I’m impressed.
There are at least two people in any human interaction, OP. When you notice a pattern it’s best to look at the common element first.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 02/02/2023 06:55

Who let you into Surrey? 😱

Did you not see the curfew signs for outsiders, or did you sneak under the barbed wire?

HerbalTeaAndChocolate · 02/02/2023 06:56

Middle England

minefieldmess · 02/02/2023 06:57

There is this stereotype about Surrey though.

Outtasteamandluck · 02/02/2023 06:58

Surely you could have predicted the replies OP?

Dippyeggz · 02/02/2023 06:59

I'm from Surrey and op you're not wrong. It's why I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Ofc #notallsurrey etc etc but plenty of people obsessed with status, money, class, and makes for a soulless atmosphere.

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