to think that most of us have worked behind a bar/ in a factory/supermarket/ as a cleaner at some point, HAVEN'T we?????

[bejeezus]

Came up in conversation today in the office, that I have worked as a barmaid; my colleagues where and I was equally that non of them have...I thought EVERYONE had worked behind a bar at some point in their life???

Ive had variousjobsinmylife, including factory work, working in kitchens, dog kennels, cleaning, callcentres; and now Im a professional

it gotme thinking--i went to uni and worked holidays/ evenings and weekends...now i think about it, hardly anyone else did that!

Am reading 'Chavs' at the minute and the author makes that very point....very large majorityof politicians have never done that kind of job and so cannot relate to the working classes AT ALL. It really hit home, how very far removed from normal folk, politicians are these days

But,most of yous have done/do these kind ofjobs-right?

I have worked ever since I was 13 years old.

• ice cream shop
• coffee shop
• burger joint
• in various clothes shops (including The Gap where I had to hold a small XMas tree while greeting shoppers! Cringe!)
• temporary tattoo stall at a festival (wouldn't recommend that but I was desperate for summer money)
• waitress during uni and f/t in the summer (I made a mint...in student terms)
• upon graduating from uni I then worked in finance, advertising and now in marketing for a bank

My family had a good work ethic and I hope to pass that onto my children so they know the value of money, can pay for some of their own things and also keep busy.

I think working from a young age is healthy, provided that it does not detract from studies and allows still for socialising with friends (which is also important whilst growing up).

Kelpie my sentiments exactly. A work ethic is one of the most important things you can pass on to your children. I don't get this turning up their nose at things that people deem beneath them.

so porters and cleaners - working class
nurses and drs - middle class

I find that quite bizarre tbh

I have never worked in a bar, supermarket, factory or as a cleaner and certainly haven't been mollycoddled by my parents!

First ever paid job was a paper round over the summer holidays, then worked in a self service cafe type of thing, then in a carpet manufacturing company in the offices,, moved and been with my current employer just over 20 years, again clerical

i should add, i don't think being mollycoddled by parents/ unwilling to do boring/ repetitive jobs is a MC preserve.

I saw lots of people walk off jobs and refuse to work there again - even in the more pleasant factories I temped in, and in the supermarket - of all walks of life.

some people just have a lower tolerance for boredom/ crap.
some WC kids are bankrolled by their folks so they don't have to take these jobs just the same.

and having seen how my brother has gone (unemployed, and too much attitude to be employable) i'd say I wouldn't be too sure of being able to pass on the willingness to work to your kids.... for my parents, i suppose three out of four isn't bad...

DSS1 (who will soon be 17) goes to the gym assiduously in the hope of getting a job in Abercrombie & Fitch

now thats what you call amibtious bonsoir

ambitious even

I've never worked in a bar, but have worked in two call centres, a cinema, a supermaket, a Blockbuster and a furniture shop. Started work at 16.

I knew several people at uni who didn't work. For me, it was a necessity - I moved out when I was 18 and my student loan was only £2000 pa (my grant was £21 pa broken into 3 instalments, just in case I went completely mad and spent it all at once). I never took money from my parents when I was at uni - it was a pride thing. And I am proud of myself for that.

I've heard it said that the 'class' system in the UK is actually more like a 'caste' system.

It's strange to hear people in professional jobs claim to be working class. Technically, you ARE middle class. I come from a working class family but I'm middle class now because myself and my partner are teachers. There's no getting away from that, I'm afraid, no matter how much covert prestige the label 'working class' might have for some people.

However, if you look at it as a caste system things start to make more sense. Being working/middle/upper class is really more of a cultural thing than an economic one in the UK. For example, you can be dirt poor but still be an aristocrat and still be judged 'posh' due to certain cultural markers. Accent/dialect is a massive one in the UK. I'm sure we can all think of dozens more.

Kate Fox's book 'Watching the English' deals with the issue in a really lighthearted way.

Interesting. I was born WC and assumed I had become MC by virtue of education and career. I have been told on MN before that, no you remain WC if that is where you were born. Truth is I don't fit anywhere - I no longer have much in common who were born WC and still are, nor those who were born MC. I don't want my DC to do WC jobs and I would prefer if they had a profession but I don't think that makes me particularly MC since my WC parents wanted the same for me.

freerangeeggs I'm clearly not considered properly middle class by the posh people with whom I work in the city.If I hadn't 'done so well for myself' (as we used to call it when I was a kid) it wouldn't be so noticeable. But all my peers and subordinates are public school types and in a myriad of little ways it shows that I'm not like them even though they would all happily agree I'm better educated than most of them. I'm clearly not working class any more either and I don't actually want to be. But whatever I am, it's not middle class. Despite my salary, despite my aspirations and despite my cultural capital. My kids are middle class though, despite not going to private schools. :)

I agree with you about cultural markers but cultural capital isn't one of them - most of the people with whom I work regard my musical 'other life' as bizarre, ditto the fact that I regularly go to the theatre etc. We do find proper common ground in sport, though. Well, I say common ground, it's basically bitter deadly rivalry with most of them since we all support different teams.

I think actual life experience is more important than something like accent, though. Some things mark you forever even though the mark isn't obviously visible on your face, it screams out in the way you live your life, the choices you make, the things you value.

I've worked in a shop, behind a bar, cleaning the bar, and did 12 hour factory shifts doing all sorts of stuff when I was a student

I guess in theory I'm now middle class as I went to uni and due to the job I do, but in reality I'll always consider myself working class