To hate when people are clearly trying to suss out what social class you are?

[pukkapad]

I often have to attend black tie dinners etc for networking for work. It's part of the job, albeit pretty nice.

Over the years I've noticed a clear set of questions people ask when they are trying to ascertain what social class you are, how rich/posh you are, your background, how you fit in with them etc.

Do you like to ski? Where have you travelled to? Where are your parents based? (NEVER where are you from) How well do you know London? Oh it's like boarding school!

Gosh it gets so tiring. They're clearly only interested in you if you are similarly living off 'London money' and do things "properly".

Am I the only one that gets sick of people trying to find out what your social class is? No I'm not aristocratic nor rich, I'm solidly middle class but who cares!

Some of you have no idea what your social class is? Really? It must be terribly inconvenient to wander around in a fog of ignorance.

It really is not that difficult. Do try to work it all out. Remember, Google is your friend.

Bodicea and 3wildones - spot on

Why ask. All you have to do is watch people eat. Says everything.

Maybe I’m missing something but to me those Qs just sound like someone trying to start a conversation by looking for some common ground. Might say something about them that they ask if you ski but it wouldn’t make me assume anything about their perception of you.

Asking where you’re from etc, do you live in London (assuming the event is in London) is just normal chat, isn’t it?

Don’t ascribe to snobbery that which can explained by someone being a bit of a dull conversationalist.

silent

I can't say i'v ever been inconvenienced at not knowing or being interested in people's social class, including my own.
It really doesn't exist anymore, not with the distinct criteria it used to have.

The seven social classes in 21st Century Britain:

Elite - This is the wealthiest and most privileged group in the UK. They went to private school and elite universities and enjoy high cultural activities such as listening to classical music and going to the opera.

Established middle class - This is the most gregarious and the second wealthiest of all the class groups. They work in traditional professions and socialise with a wide variety of people, and take part in a wide variety of cultural activities.

Technical middle class - This is a small, distinctive and prosperous new class group. They prefer emerging culture, such as social media, and mix mainly among themselves. They work in science and tech and come from middle-class backgrounds.

New affluent workers - These people are economically secure, without being well-off. This class group is sociable, has lots of cultural interests and sits in the middle of all the groups in terms of wealth. They're likely to come from working class backgrounds.

Traditional working class - This group has the oldest average age, and they're likely to own their own home. They mix among themselves and don't enjoy emerging culture. Jobs in this group include lorry drivers, cleaners and electricians.

Emergent service workers - These young people have high social and cultural capital - so they know people from all different walks of life, and enjoy a wide range of cultural activities - but are not financially secure.

Precariat-The poorest and most deprived social group. They tend to mix socially with people like them and don't have a broad range of cultural interests. More than 80% rent their home.

The elite are more obsessed with class than anyone else.
Around 6% of the population are elite. However, 22% of the people who took the survey turned out to be in this social group.
25% of the population are estimated to be in the established middle class - but 45% of the survey respondents got this result.
Compare this to the precariat - they make up 15% of our society but less than 1% of them took the quiz.
Savage said this may have been because they found the survey "intimidating".

Remember, Google is your friend.
No its not. It's a massive corporation that gathers personal information about you to sells it to those who wish to manipulate you.

GOOGLE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!

SilentIsla, that doesn’t surprise me at all. That sort of quiz is only fun if you think it’s going to tell you you’re doing well in life. It’s like online IQ tests- no one ever does one expecting to get a below average score. It’s all back-pattery.

I knew you were going to say you were a lawyer. My DD is completing her LPC in Moorgate and starts her T/C next year and is learning to navigate similar situations. We are working class and she was a first generation university student who went to Cambridge and has a slight Merseyside lilt to her accent.

She can't bare the pretentious idiots who try to do this but she frequently comes across them when attending networking events, she remains polite and courteous but makes a mental note to file them as arseholes in her memory bank.

...bear

It still makes me chuckle when I remember something Alan Titchmarsh said he once overheard whilst at the Chelsea Flower Show. Two women were talking and one asked the other if she had swans on her lake. The other said yes... but only on the small lake

I don't fit any of those listed classes, but pretty sure I'm wc if classes still exist.
It's weird though because I find that target advertising is completely wrong for me.

SilentIsla

Sorry!!!!

Habit.

Yes I have definitely experienced this! There is one event I go to, connected with my profession, where I often feel that I am being interrogated to find my "worth". "Where did you vacation this year?" is a popular one, or "Which university did you attend?"

However, I find it quite amusing because my earnings are quite high (6 figs) and I have 1 Bachelors degree and 2 Masters (in their eyes plus points) - but I look quite scruffy even if "dressed up" (very negative). My response will depend on my mood, so recently "Do you ski?".... me "Yes, we all love it, although obviously not in Europe it's so passé, don't you find?" and then they are left not knowing how to respond. They were expecting to discuss the finer points of Verbier, but now they're in a position of knowing that I've said it's passé.... social dilemma! Naughty I know, but it passes the evening.

elQuintoConyo- you fake! Chair of the Eccles Whippet Club is an honorary position, not a job.

I’m reminded of the new arrival who corrected the coalman who addressed him as “Mr Smith.” “It’s Captain Smith, if you please!”

The coalman says: “In that case, I’ll be Major Mackenzie.”

I have experienced this in subtle ways..people checking out your shoes, looking at the dents in the car, asking what area of town you live in. Alot of people can't work me out as I am not very well spoken but live in a very posh area and always have.

We live in an affluent part of London and DS was once asked in a phone interview in a conversational way about his address: "oh I see you live in xxxx is that yours or your parents house?" He assumed they were trying to work out his background, so to string them along replied it was his parents house, which it is but its a council rented georgian terrace.

I don't think he got the job anyway, probably a lucky escape.

Actually there is an group above the elite, the billionaire class, they shield themselves from normal people, apart from business people, politicians and other billionaires. They don’t worry about class, the only lower class people they meet are those doing their numerous gardens, cleaning their massive houses, driving them around and providing security. The don’t engage with normal people, I have met such a family, their main concern is security. CCTV, bodyguards for children etc. They usually live in the mega bucks place in London with other places in the country, most people have not heard of them

Back in the 80s, I took my boyfriend to my parent's house for the weekend.

As we pulled up, he asked,
' Your parents live HERE?'
'Yes. Why?'
'Oh. I just thought you were common.'
' Eh?'
'Because you got married young'

He was more to be pitied than scolded.

Oh, I have it in the opposite, of sorts.

I speak with “an extremely posh accent”, which doesn’t fit my forrin’ face. When sad people dig for my info, I take great delight in saying (truthfully) my dad’s nobody and speaks like he’s from Eastenders.

Actually the really upper class people get on brilliantly with working class people but dislike the middle class people. It’s one of the tenants of British class rules that you loathe the class just bellow you (either to distinguish yourself if you are MC of because they are insecure wankers if you are UC).