Middle class tribe - ever get on your nerves - light hearted rant 😄

[ginorwine]

I live in a middle class area which is dominated by lecturers , gp s , social workers etc -my Dh fits into that catagory and I am an x that catagory .
It's a really pretty area and the kids roam between houses etc
Recently - I seem to be a little irritated by its predictability and 'niceness '- tho am aware it's a good area I really am .
I'm
Grumpy menopausal creature at present !
The paint work is mainly Farrell and ball, same kitchen appliances , similar dress code .etc . Whilst I too have Farrell n ball in one room and may therefore fit into the cliche myself (!) I'm becoming quite amused by it all in a way but don't know why .Part of me loves it part of me wants to say rude words and act up and be a Harridan !
Why do we follow these 'tribal 'things ? .the estate agent once reffered to the area as all lentil s and lintels . 😃

I call it Kwinowah because that is how it's spelt. Like Parrisssss. NOT pareeeeeee......

Quinoa is not keeenwah. It is Kwinowah.

And before you ask, I am well middle class.

OhThe Roses Yes and wood chip wallpaper ! Plus brown and or patterned fitted carpet everywhere YUCK!

Vanilla It depends on where you live, I live in Fr. 50% of the time and THEY say Pareee because they don't usually pronounce the last letter in their words.

I never understand why people on MN say 'keen-wah'. It's an indigenous Latin American word adapted into Spanish. I haven't actively spoken Spanish for a few years now but afaik that doesn't reflect actual Spanish pronunciation, which is (almost entirely) phonetic and places the accent on the first syllable unless otherwise indicated.

So, KEE-no-a afaik. It is not French........... people on here pronounce it like (imaginary) Fr word quinois would be pron.

I always just assume people who say KEEN-wah don't actually speak Spanish, like people who say choRITzo obviously get confused between Spanish and Italian and don't know how to pronounce Italian either as there is no double z

As for Farrow & Ball, organic lentils, Frugi clothes etc: some of that stuff is good quality and good for the environment. That's why I buy it. Don't really give a stuff if other people think I'm pretentious. I don't really get why people would actually spend even 90p on Gregg's. Equally, some stuff - actually imo F&B is a good example - are 95% clever marketing rather than better quality.

Buy stuff you think is worth the money, end of.........

If I was French and lived in France I would call it Pareeee when speaking French.

But I'm not and I don't so I won't.

It's the menopause ... I have been just the same, still am really.

Menopause is like becoming an adolescent again .. all those raging hormones. Remember being a teenager and so scathing of the adults, society, rules etc.

Well it's the exact same thing now ... two fingers up to conventionality and this absolute liberation at being able to recognise the bullish** and not buy into it.

Like this?

Pom
Wow
You are so right !!!!!!
Never thought of it like that !
I'm off to a gallery opening this eve - tee hee - shall look at that one with fresh hormonal eyes over the canapé !!!!! 😜

God yes I've become Ms Zero Tolerance since the menopausal stuff came along. I give no fucks anymore - it's actually very liberating and almost worth the hot sweats. I haven't yet punched the man who runs the local Artisan Bakery but it's probably only a matter of time before I do.

This "light-hearted rant" sounds more like some not very well concealed boasting to me. I too live in a nice middle class area but claiming it's such a bore, darling, would strike me as pretty bloody insensitive when lots of people live in areas where drunks shriek at night and the parks are full of dog shit.

Agree with you prawn. The inverse snobs might love to mock the artisan bakeries, or the F&B decorated homes, or the glossy Audi on the drive...but they make for a far more pleasant environment and lifestyle than the conditions that millions of other people live in.

Prawn, agree with you there. It's just a pretend "problem" when the actual reason for the OP is to do a little mild boasting. Lol

Ok, let me do the " I too..." bit now. I live in a beautiful National Trust village! Get me!

Wish this site had a Like function.

MN is weird. Living in a nice area with nice neighbours is fantastic.

Seriously a debate over Paris and Quinoa when we can't agree on a British pronounication of " bath"?

I agree that living somewhere nice is better day to day than living somewhere shit. But there research to show that mental health is better if you are classed as top of income of your neighbours be that in rich or poor area. So effectively being swamped by people prepared to pay £50 a can for paint doesn't make the rest of us feel good.

I don't think social workers are typically middle class....

you even go to gallery openings.. you are like the rest of the people you hate.
maybe shake it up in your own life.. slum it up a bit?

RevoltingPeasant We live in Spain and the Spanish speakers (from Spain and America) all pronounce "quinoa" "key-noe-ah".

I asked my Peruvian friend about the "keen-wah" pronunciation and she said she had never heard it but that sometimes quinoa is also called quinua (key-noo-ah) in Peru and Bolivia.

I say 'keen wah' because that's what the nandos adverts taught me to say.

Haven't read the full thread. But I am really sick of Farrow and Ball paint. Not sure I would choose it again. Was really pleased with Sanderson paint when I tried it. And am now keen on Benjamin Moore paint from the USA which is now being sold in Britain.

Just have to educate DH...

I live overseas and I do find when I return to the UK that there are certain 'groups' of people, that wear the same clothes etc It is much more noticeable than where I live, all the mums I know here dress differently to each other, there isn't that typical MC mum in: boden stripy top, jeans, converse/knee boots look you get in England.

Part of it is they are less fashion aware/conscious so don't they copy/get influenced by each other the way people in England do. We do have most of the same shops though, so I guess more or less wear the same things as you lot.

I think it has to do with country size, where I live is enormous so home, style and fashion trends take years to filter down to the general population, which is very spread out. In the UK you are all on top of each other, reading the same magazines/newspapers, watching the same TV (well not so much now with multiple channels but for a long time), so maybe you influence each other much more and therefore end up with large tribes of the population looking the same?

I know its not everyone but there is a fair size portion of the UK that has a keeping up with the Jones mentality, easily impressed by material things.

All the MC mummies are desperate to look like Kate Middleton hence why they all wear the same clothes.l

I know what you mean OP. I like to spend the day or weekend in a lovely Cotswold town/village and the house's front doors are painted in a sage green probably by Farrow and Ball but not sure I'd wan to live there. I think I might die from an assault on the senses of Joules stripey Breton tops or coloured chinos!!!

I find it funny that areas of London like Stoke Newington and Islington are so MC now when not very long ago they were slums!

oh gosh yes i lived in Albion Road N16 in the early to mid 80s, next door to a pub that the police refused to enter, and would go to sleep to the sound of gunshots. Now that pub is luxury apartments...