To think working class shows?

[MrsBonnie]

I work in a lovely school where they’ve all had very different upbringings to me. Very much working class here. Sometimes I think it shows with little things I’ve noticed.

Having sugar in tea, using a tumble drier, not having a cleaner, using the wrong glasses for different drinks (I.E using the same one for everything!)… what else am I missing that excludes me from the club 😂 sometimes I will mention something like the above and get “oh I never use a tumble drier” … then I just think oops have I said something weird there?

Sometimes I think they’re judging me with things I say and do but I hope not! I grew up being homeless at a certain point, council houses, single teen (but amazing) mum, a very specific type of circle. I feel like Mum did everything she could to get us out of that way of life, but I can’t help but feel I don’t belong sometimes. Or that I stick out like a sore thumb. Am I being daft? Imposter syndrome a little bit!

Well I suppose it rather depends on the dryer.
I mean, is it a good old fashioned vented one with a hose that you hang out of the window?
Is it vented through the wall of the utility room?
Is it a modern condenser blue tooth job that can be activated from your workplace?
Do you only use it to dry your horse and hounds blankets, or do you throw everything in regardless?
These things are important to know so it ensures that you choose a dryer indicative of your class.

I thought it was the norm for working class people to go to the launderette, those aspiring to be middle class get a service wash of course but most just push the washing into the drier before trundling it home in the same old pram they have collected the coal from the coal yard in ( having given it a wipe out with dads old string vest first).

middleclass people use a tumble drier , however those with aspirations to being earth kind hang it all on a ceiling rack and turn up the heating in the utility room - though not the towels as middle class skin is awfully sensitive.

posh people don’t understand what happens to garments and household linen that needs cleaning, something must happen because there are freshly ironed sheets on the bed, but frankly it’s a mystery.

Good God, you Brits and your class obsession. 🙄

So bizarre.

*dryer. Ffs. Yes, i'm totally working class for calling it a drier 🤣

It’s very strange, isn’t it?

It really is.

This discussion just would not happen in any other country.

I think having a cleaner is down to income rather than class. A dryer could be related to time, income and/or environmental awareness. So more likely to be MC but as we all know, there's plenty of WC people on a decent income.

Sugar in tea as a WC 'stamp' is an interesting theory though, and definitely borne out in my family. I think biscuits with tea, too?

@DirectionToPerfection Yes.. I'm as British as they come & never think about class.. I think it's outdated.

Not brought up in UK so find the whole class distinction hilarious. And baffling. In US , there is no other way to do laundry than to use a tumbledryer. Everyone has one.
It is breakfast, lunch, dinner. Supper sounds like something an invalid would have or to my ear , either something peasants used to do eg. to sup or something sleazy aristos used to do with bawdy actresses.
Teachers I think come from all backgrounds as there is no special, unique way to qualify . Women tend to do it as it is quite compatible with family life
Just my experience and my opinion.

I never really noticed my class until I taught at a school where every staff and child /family was upper middle class. Holidays were a big giveaway, I’d be over the moon with my two weeks in a 4 star hotel in the Mediterranean while they’d all be going on cruises or on safari every single school holiday.

@TheOnlyBeeInYourBonnet

depends what biscuits you are offering…..

I suppose it does!

I'm thinking cheap packet biscuits like digestives, I suppose an artisan white choc and macadamia cookie is a different story.

@TeaPleaseNoLemon Yes , even in a trailer , it is as standard as a sink . Yes , even in a housing project , it is pretty common. And I know what I am talking about as I worked in these areas with the people you describe. Class is not so defined by your family history in US as your ability to earn or be educated .

What do all the posters claiming to be "working class" mean by that?

For example how can anyone seriously claim to be "working class" and a teacher?

I'm middle class- family was middle class, farming background. I'm in a different profession, still middle class. Husband's family was urban working class, he's middle class now.

His family weren't hard up - whereas mine probably regularly lived on overdraft and spent money we didn't have. I suppose the difference was his family would have had no access to an overdraft and it was normal for a farmer to have overdraft facilities.

Is there a reason you brought race into this?

Not even every “insert race” family in a small family may have a tumble drier but many do. It is the norm for most as is having outlets in bathrooms which is something I miss. Heck, my parents in a two bedroom, one bath, one wc two-story apartment had a full-size washer and dryer as did the entire complex.A three story apartment I lived in in the city had a full-size washer and dryer in the basement. It is standard.

If you want to call the US racist, just say so.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/07/hillbilly-elegy-by-jd-vance-review

Or the people described here?

People saying they are middle class are rather like the saying "Those who can't be Doctors become Dentists". Anyone who defines themselves as any class quite simply have none at all.

Not sure what tumble driers have to do with class but I’m always amazed when people don’t have them. How can you not have one?! My clothes would take forever to dry otherwise! I’d rather get rid of my oven than my tumble dryer

It really is!

Also oddly fascinating to me, I admit. But then I'm common and have sugar in my tea.

Hard to believe in 2022 people are still willing to put themselves into a 'class'.

Even more amazing to believe owning an appliance (like a dryer) is meant to be an indicator of 'class'.

“Anyone who defines themselves as any class quite simply have none at all”

there’s a big difference between defining oneself by class and stating ones class.

it is disingenuous to suggest that class isn’t in almost all cases quite obvious, but an ability to describe ones perceived class membership is not synonymous with a belief in the same.

I'm like you. The tumble dryer comment from OP confused me. We are on the upper end of middle class. Maybe many would consider my family upper class. But the thought of hanging my laundry instead of using a tumble dryer though! No thanks! I don't want my house littered with wet laundry and I don't even own a washing line. That was the first thing we ripped out in the garden when we moved in. Sometimes my tumble dryer is on 3-4 times a day I will get slated for this, but I cannot stand to see the neighbours washing out. It looks a mess and I can only alliken it to a cheap market stall. Who wants to see their neighbours pants blowing in the wind

Going back to the whole tumble dryers are for lower working class people, I don't understand why you would assume this

• don't they cost quite a lot to run? I would have thought that lower working class people would be the ones hanging their laundry while middle + class would be the ones more comfortable buying and running a tumble dryer.

There absolutely is a class system in the US, though.

Because it’s yuck.