Early Christmas decorations = working class

[FaLaLaLaLaaaar]

I know Mumsnet loves a class debate, so thought I’d share an argument I had with a friend last night.

She insists that only working class people put their Christmas decorations up in November, I insisted she’s a snob and class is more redundant these days so it’s a ridiculous argument.

So Vipers, I’ll ask the question as if it is coming from me to make it easier:

AIBU to think only working class people put their Christmas decorations up in November?

Yabu - No, don’t be such a snob, middle class people do too.

YANBU - Yes, it’s a working class thing.

I will be showing her the results of this.

I love some of the phonetic spellings.

@lawnotorder

The key determinant of nouvo riche is that MC and UC can look down on them despite them likely being more wealthy!

I think they hate them for being richer so it's a small comfort that despite being poorer they are classier 😆

Haha exactly! They’re so much happier with their battered old Range Rover and cold uninsulated houses and zero Christmas cheer until the 24th

[quote Alwaysgoldtome]@BonnesVacances can you explain to me why , specifically, it’s tacky putting them up in November and taking them down on the 26th?

Is it still tacky to have done this in 2019 as I was off skiing in Val d'Isère on the 27th …

What a sad little life to judge people when they put up or down their tree.[/quote]
Lol! No I don't need to explain. But it's also tacky trying to make out that going skiing for New Year makes you exempt from that. As is calling other people's lives sad, when in fact you're being just as judgemental.

@RaRaReba

I have asked why it is tacky (generally meaning gaudy, vulgar, tasteless, or trashy) rather than just cheaper as some people can’t afford expensive baubles, but the poster has declined to explain. Cheap stuff in general is tacky. Unsustainable, cheap materials and low quality, produced by slave labour in a Chinese sweatshop. It’s not just cheap - buying it is a bad thing to do. Especially if you’re sending perfectly serviceable decorations to landfill and buying a full new matching set. Excessive consumption is tacky. MC tend to think of other concerns such as sustainability and lasting quality, not just price.

Very posh people, on the other hand, often don’t even own any decorations. My ex-boss used to pay a company who would deliver a fully decorated tree then take the whole lot away after Christmas. He had multiple houses so it wasn’t realistic for him to decorate a tree for every house. He wanted to turn up at his London house for a Christmas shopping trip and have a tree already there. Then go to his country house for the big day and have a tree there too. Then fly to his Swiss chalet for New Year and have a tree there. I once asked him what would be under his Christmas tree that wouldn’t be under mine? He said the keys to a Bentley.

You are sounding more delusional and bizarre with every post you make. So now buying cheap decorations is not only tacky and common, it makes you an actual bad person. And nobody was suggesting buying a whole new set every year. That’s a whole other issue.

What you’re basically saying is if you can’t afford baubles at £40 each, you don’t deserve to have a tree. Because somehow £20-40 baubles are much more morally correct than cheap ones.

But congratulations on having a super posh boss. That must have been nice.

can you explain to me why , specifically, it’s tacky putting them up in November and taking them down on the 26th?

I don't think it's tacky to take them down earlier but I do find it a little strange. I think it's nice to have them up for the christmas holiday period plus our council doesn't start collecting xmas trees for recycling until Jan so by default you often keep it up.

Lots of W/C people don’t do it though. I don’t think we should generalise about whole swathes of people.

Most of my W/C relatives don’t decorate early.

@BonnesVacances ah ok so it’s not tacky at all then. Just something you decided in your head that has such little basis you can’t even explain it! Thanks!

Also love how you don’t give people exemptions From your bizarre notions of what is and isn’t tacky. That’s one strict system there. Hilarious

And to anyone who thinks it is just posters being over sensitive about class etc - literally a poster has just said buying cheap baubles ‘makes you a bad person.’

She thinks she is a better person because she has inherited mismatched Christmas baubles and buys more at £40 each.

That’s the issue. It’s not ‘how funny, mc people do it this way and wc do this.’ It’s more like ‘mc people do it the right way and wc don’t.’

@LolaSmiles Well, I genuinely had no idea about the Christmas decorations thing. My parents were academics (albeit often skint ones) and I went to grammar school/uni/professional job so I guess that makes me middle class. We've always had a fake tree with multi coloured lights and tinsel from Poundland 🤷‍♀️ My parents weren't really bothered about Christmas and didn't put much thought into it. The artificial tree was convenient and didn't shed, the coloured lights looked nice and tinsel is tinsel.
I'm very aware of most class distinctions but it really never occurred to me that Christmas decs was one of them until I started reading Mumsnet.

Mine went up today. They’re up for us. Not anyone else. I don’t give a fuck about class.

We have established who the nouveau riche are, I think, so who is MC, is it the Mumsnet definition of MC which seems to be those who can Work From Home

@Yingandyang

We have established who the nouveau riche are, I think, so who is MC, is it the Mumsnet definition of MC which seems to be those who can Work From Home

On mn the middle classes are people who went to uni and like to lurk on the baby name threads in case anyone is naming their child Jackson or possibly hyphenating their child’s first and middle name (eg Lola May, Ava Rose).

They like to sneer at Christmas Eve boxes and plastic tat, and will at any opportunity fall over themselves to recite ‘something to wear, something to read, something they want, and something they need.’

The actual middle classes? Probably just normal people like the rest of us.

Think you are living in a dream world if you think £20 baubles from John Lewis are any more ethically or sustainably produced than the ones in Home Bargains
Baubles from John Lewis? The horror 😱

Of course lots of us went to uni, but these special mumsnet middle classes will tell you they went to uni. Several times if possible. They also likely have a high earning husband and probably buy their snobbles individually. Their utter obsession with being seen as middle class gives me the impression that they are rather like my aunt, who while solidly working class likes to look down at ‘common’ things.

@Kanaloa, I don't think that was what was said. Buying cheap baubles in a fashionable colour scheme from China and getting new ones every year to be on trend is very nouveau, and wasteful.

But congratulations on having a super posh boss. That must have been nice.
He was a dick and very nouveau riche. The real upper class don’t bother with presents at all from what I’ve heard. They’re so rich they just buy whatever they want, and they give each other small token gifts. Apparently Prince Charles once got a loo seat for Christmas.

[quote XingMing]@Kanaloa, I don't think that was what was said. Buying cheap baubles in a fashionable colour scheme from China and getting new ones every year to be on trend is very nouveau, and wasteful.[/quote]
No, that’s literally what she said. I asked why it was ‘tacky’ to have baubles all the same colour, and she responded that not only was it tacky, it ‘actually makes you a bad person.’

Not sure if anyone has already mentioned this… but The Queen keeps her Christmas Decorations up at Sandringham until February! And you can’t get more posh than her Maj…

I asked why it was ‘tacky’ to have baubles all the same colour, and she responded that not only was it tacky, it ‘actually makes you a bad person.’
Yes I think it’s bad to buy cheap plastic tat made by slave labour in China, with no concern for the welfare of the people who made it or the effect on the environment. That applies equally to baubles and to everything else. I think most people would agree with that.

@Yingandyang

We have established who the nouveau riche are, I think, so who is MC, is it the Mumsnet definition of MC which seems to be those who can Work From Home

It's the very average 60% of the UK population, i.e. those in the middle.

@RaRaReba

I asked why it was ‘tacky’ to have baubles all the same colour, and she responded that not only was it tacky, it ‘actually makes you a bad person.’ Yes I think it’s bad to buy cheap plastic tat made by slave labour in China, with no concern for the welfare of the people who made it or the effect on the environment. That applies equally to baubles and to everything else. I think most people would agree with that.

How do you verify the superior sustainability of your £20-£40 baubles? Or the inherited ones? Did your relatives make sure they were ethically sourced?

And what does that have to do with your insistence that it is tacky not to have a mismatched tree?

Face it, you’re changing tack from ‘this is tacky’ to sustainability to cover a weak argument.

I can't think up an emoticon that distills my distaste for that point of view. Well I can, but I wont.

Yes I think it’s bad to buy cheap plastic tat made by slave labour in China, with no concern for the welfare of the people who made it or the effect on the environment. That applies equally to baubles and to everything else. I think most people would agree with that.

I agree in theory but in reality I'm using an iphone as I type...

@Puddingypops

Although I do partly agree with your mate, most people who think they are middle class are absolutely not middle class they are working class snobs who think they’re something they’re not.

It all depends how you define middle or working class though doesn't it? How would you define them?

@ShinyMe

Well I've noticed on Instagram that Highclere and Chatsworth both have all their lights and tress up already, so I reckon your mate might not be the font of all knowledge.

So the working class can go and ogle them.