Aibu to wonder how the Upper Middle class are surviving with all the ski trips, Xmas in the Caribbean & weekends in Norfolk?

[Starzinhereyes]

Just that... Old friends of ours are part of the UMC set & pre covid had at least 2 ski trips a year, Xmas in Antigua, Safaris in South Africa & most weekends spent with "mummy & daddy" in Norfolk.... Obviously there are plenty like them. We haven't heard much from them over the years, lovely family but we drifted.. I'm pondering out load really, are the UMC making the most of lockdown or secretly breaking all the rules! This couple were fairly active on social media up until lockdown!

Oh and btw all those trips your friends were taking were paying peoples wages

@CaraherEIL.UpsyDaisyTheThird
I am passionately in love with you

How sweet of you, dear. If I ever bat for the other side, I'll let you know. Between you and me, I've long thought most men are a little de trop . I'm not sure I would have fallen in love with Mr UpsyDaisy had it not been for the offshore trusts, the London townhouse and the country estate.

Thanks to you, Stratfordplace and Dilemma8188 for all your kind wishes - it's so important to be kind to each other at the moment, isn't it?

OP, I completely understand that you must be feeling dejected about having to cancel your week's all-inclusive in Playa de las Americas. I hear it's lovely there. You must have been looking forward to all that lovely food and free cocktails, not to mention the kids' club for dear Chardonnay and Dwayne (how you manage without a nanny, I just don't know. I take my hat off to you!). As an alternative, may I recommend Southend-on-Sea to you? Although we've never had a chance to visit (the children prefer Cornwall for the surfing and to be with their school-friends), I hear it's perfect for persons of a certain class. Nanny swears by it. She often takes her great-niece and nephew to stay in a caravan there (dear Nanny has always been so devoted to the family that she never had a chance to have children of her own). Apparently, they have great fun on the dodgems and stealing coins from the penny slots on the pier, little darlings! It could be just the ticket to cheer up the little Starz this summer, if your friends don't get round to inviting you to their Polzeath beach house .

A lot have houses abroad which need maintenance (allowable exception).

More than a few got ‘stuck’ abroad and expect their children to be educated via Zoom from the classroom. And private schools mainly oblige...

Not sneering just genuinely interested....

Clearly don't know yourself very well....

@Starzinhereyes your OP certainly reads as sneering and nasty. I certainly wouldn’t consider myself UMC (indeed my accent and family occupations would plant me in the firmly WC category,) but I am missing my skiing holidays. I’m spending that money instead on building a riding arena and putting new windows in my Grade II listed house.

What else has been going on? Well, I broke lockdown to visit daddy and take him on a few day trips (we even went to Whitby when MN was frothing about people going to Whitby!) but he died a few days later of cancer. Covid lockdowns robbed him and us of our last months as a family and his funeral - still got his ashes in an urn waiting for a time we can have the whole family together to scatter them. We had 10 people together for half an hour to cremate him, and one of his children had to watch on a zoom link from Australia. Fortunately his brother died of Covid just a month before, so we didn’t go over the numbers allowed at the cremation.

As for holidays, without breaking any rules at all I’ve had a lovely week in the Med and a week in autumn in the Caribbean. And (again without breaking any rules) I was on safari just yesterday. Even so, it’s been a shit 12 months all round. I appreciate all the good things I have, and am more grateful than you can imagine for my lovely, hard-won home and lifestyle, but none of it brings back all the family and friends who have died.

It has been a tough year for everyone. Sitting behind a computer screen and going ‘oooh, I wonder how my rich friend copes without holidays’ shows just how big that chip on your shoulder is.

What a bad minded thread. Bet OP voted Brexit to fuck her ‘friends’ over too. After all why should anyone have more than her, let’s make everyone poor, that’ll show ‘em.

Also, @UpsyDaisyTheThird do I know you? You do sound very much like someone I know. Did you marry the Viscount, the Baronet or the TV company owner heir? Keep writing here please, I haven’t seen you in so long now the children are at school and you are so busy with running the estate/your charity work. I’d call you for a catch up, but I am so terribly working class that I don’t have people for my people to call your people and arrange something.

You sound nice OP

@HeadsetHarpy. Lovely to hear from you again! I still have fond memories of meeting you and your delightful family on our Courchevel ski trip a few years ago. If I remember correctly, we were slumming it in the Hotel Barrieres les Neiges at the time since our ski chalet was being refurbished. You will be delighted to hear that the work is now complete - we'd love for you all to come and visit us when this unpleasantness is behind us. Great to hear that the little Harpies are managing to keep up their riding lessons...life skills like skiing and riding are so important, aren't they?

No, it wasn't the Viscount or the Baronet (it turned out neither of them had a feather to fly with and I have no taste for draughty castles or crumbling manor houses). I was deeply, madly in love with the media tycoon's son but he fell head over heels for some blonde stick-insect, poor man. Ahh, young love! He will always remain the one who got away, sigh! No, Mr UpsyDaisy is just a plain 'Honourable', although he will of course inherit the title when his father pops off.

I’d call you for a catch up, but I am so terribly working class that I don’t have people for my people to call your people and arrange something

Oh you know we don't worry about all that nonsense! Mr U and I are really the most egalitarian people. He was a socialist at university, you know, before he grew out of it.

@HeadsetHarpy. Also, deeply sorry to hear of your loss. Your DF sounds like a trooper. I'm glad you managed to take him to Whitby... life is for living and at least he and you managed to do that right till the end. I hope you and the family manage to give him a bloody good send-off once this nasty business is over!

Why didn't the "genuinely interested" OP come back?

@Starzinhereyes

Not sneering just genuinely interested.... Everyone is missing out on normality but i just wondered how the UMC who were so active are coping that is all.... Not jealous, just curious...

Why would you be “genuinely interested” in why a specific group are doing and not everyone else, makes no sense. Only thing that makes sense is you started a thread just to be sneery and hope other would join you in your sneering.

And the oddest thread award goes to,,,😂

@UpsyDaisyTheThird 🤣🤣🤣 We would love to join you in your chalet when the opportunity allows. You know we love a holiday in a hut and glamping pods are more our usual thing, but a chalet is just a big plush hut, no? I am sure we can arrange it if the village allotment society show is on this year - I know you love the village show, Mr U always wins everything even though he has a gardener doing the actual growing for him in his medieval walled veg plot.

And (on a serious note) thanks for the condolences. Wont be having a proper funeral until people can come from overseas, and since they will be coming from places like Australia it could be some time yet. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t matter what your lifestyle normally is, when a loved one dies (and I’ve lost 3 this year including my dad, who was indeed a bloody infuriating trooper) it’s still crap, and Covid restrictions have only made this worse.

Apart from a few rogue private jets to Barbados types everyone seems to be spending the time getting super fit running/cycling/outdoor swimming whilst spending holiday funds on landscaping gardens/extensions/luxury purchases.

Is that the sort of answer you were looking for OP?

But of course @UpsyDaisyTheThird response was so much more appropriate

If you take those chips off your shoulders you can have a fish supper...

It’s be absolutely ghastly darling :-)

@UpsyDaisyTheThird 😂😂

Worth reading the thread for UpsyDaisyTheThirds post 🤣

@SoupDragon

Why didn't the "genuinely interested" OP come back?

Perhaps they're trying to find any remaining "friends" to bitch about.

We are still going up to family cottage in Norfolk, when allowed under Covid regulations. In the meanwhile, we are spending a lot of time walking at our two most local National Trust properties, and doing jigsaws and board games, in between watching Netfix box sets.

It would be nice to ski next winter again, and we have flights/self catering accommodation booked for Feb 22 in Austria, but who knows what will happen next winter....

Does that sound suitably UMC? Honest answer, but probably a bit boring.

Coping just fine thanks. Means we can roll over the money we saved from last year to this year or next depending on what the rules are, and work on extending the house in the meantime. Anyway, you can be reassured that the holidays will be even better so don't be too concerned.

Worth reading the thread for UpsyDaisyTheThirds post 🤣

Definitely. Best thing I've read on MN for ages

@HeadsetHarpy. As you know, the village allotment society show is one of Mr U's favourite social occasions. Covid permitting, we'll be there! Mr U adores a little friendly competition between the Big House and the village. And of course the children and I treasure the opportunity to catch up with all our neighbours. While we do adore jetting all over the world and staying in 5* hotels, there's nowhere quite like home and all of us in the Big House look on the villagers quite as family, you know .

Speaking of family, I feel we've all grown terribly close during the course of this thread and that, happy band of pilgrims that we've become, we should unite our efforts to help the dear OP who brought us together. The poor thing is sounding so awfully sad and down about life and it behoves us to help the less fortunate among us. As you will all be aware, I am a generous donor to the Widows' and Orphans' Seaside Excursion Fund and I feel we should start a similar charitable venture to aid the distressed OP. Our butler (and before that sounds terribly privileged, he also acts as chauffeur and is responsible for security so you will see we have quite the usual number of staff, nothing excessive!) found £1.17 down the back of Mr U's Chippendale armchair which I'm sure he won't mind throwing into the pot to start us off. Dig deep, everyone! Search your chaise longues, armchairs, sofas, couches, settees and recliners and let's see if we can raise enough to buy the OP a return bus ticket to Cleethorpes and a stick of commemorative rock. Knowing the OP as we have become privileged to do, an outing like this would be such a treat for them and I'm sure dearly appreciated. En avant!