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Lockdown is where middle-class people hide and working-class people bring them stuff

347 replies

havanacabana · 29/01/2021 00:40

I’ve seen this quote on twitter a few times and realised there is actually a lot of truth to it. IRL most of the people I know who are truly able to ‘hide away’ are the middle-class, privileged ones who are currently on furlough or working from home. People I know on minimum wage are the ones having to go out and mix at work in supermarkets, takeaways, warehouses etc. to keep everything going.

OP posts:
LetMeOut2021 · 29/01/2021 11:24

Broadly.

Not true for us. Very MC, DH upper management but in retail. He goes to work and mixes like normal. I hide away.

Bluesheep8 · 29/01/2021 11:27

I did the quiz. I can confirm that I am WCWFH.

trulydelicious · 29/01/2021 11:27

@merrymouse

less depressing than the government’s misleading focus on stopping Covid spread by increasing fines for illegal raves, as though millions of people aren’t working in conditions with limited protection

Working is neccessary, raving isn't

GreySkyClouds · 29/01/2021 11:29

@RosesAndLemonade

"Not based on the practically illiterate midwives I’ve come across"

How offensive. 1. You need a degree to be a midwife and 2. Can they deliver a baby safely? Can they act to save the life of the mother if it all goes wrong? All mine could do those things and quite frankly, as I'm only able to write this now as midwives saved my life, I couldn't care less what their sentence structure is like.

  1. A degree isn’t needed to be literate!
  1. No.

I’m pleased they saved your life though, it’s great that you had a good one/team. It’s a shame to not hear more experiences like this.

trulydelicious · 29/01/2021 11:30

@mellongoose

This is such a daft thread (sorry). Another binary grouping sent to divide people

Exactly. Three or four of these are started every day in the 'Coronavirus' section for traffic

merrymouse · 29/01/2021 11:32

Working is neccessary, raving isn't

Yes, but pretending that spread of virus is due to everyone going to raves is misleading. It's an easy target. The government is doing very little to ensure that work places are adhering to covid safety standards.

trulydelicious · 29/01/2021 11:34

@JS87

We don’t really have time to swap everyone’s jobs round at the minute so middle class go to work on factories and working class take over their office jobs

Yes, that would be Nirvana for the OP

merrymouse · 29/01/2021 11:35

This thread does demonstrate that the twitter quote isn't doing much to win people over, at least in the UK.

It is making an important point, but because it mentions class, loads of people just see it as an attack on people who have a Waitrose card.

Bartlet · 29/01/2021 11:39

Yes there are some exceptions like doctors and some teachers but on the whole, the middle class/ white collar workers who’ve been able to wfh have been hiding away because we’ve been told to and getting everything brought to our door/ provided for us by lower paid staff who don’t have the WFH option.

Most of my friends and I (doctors excluded) have been sat at home since March working in front of a screen on full pay splurging on online crap as our disposable income has increased hugely due to having much less to spend it on (holidays, commute, office lunches etc)

Porcupineintherough · 29/01/2021 11:40

@Tanith I guess your studies into communism never got as far as the gulags or the purges? Your ignorance is embarrassing.

trulydelicious · 29/01/2021 11:40

@merrymouse

loads of people just see it as an attack on people who have a Waitrose card

Not 'seeing it as an attack', it is covertly violent

merrymouse · 29/01/2021 11:42

Not 'seeing it as an attack', it is covertly violent

Not really seeing the violence, but each to their own I suppose.

trulydelicious · 29/01/2021 11:43

@Porcupineintherough

your studies into communism never got as far as the gulags or the purges

They get their info from Tweets

PlanDeRaccordement · 29/01/2021 11:44

@SleepingStandingUp

Yes, all those working class doctors...
Exactly my thought. Since when did all the doctors fighting Covid become working class? (many of them are specialist surgeons, paediatricians, as well)
Freetigerking · 29/01/2021 11:45

Why are most people on mumsnet so desperate to be middle class?

WhingingGiraffe · 29/01/2021 11:47

@LetMeBubble

NHS workers are usually middle class no ?
Doctors and Consultants yeah. The rest not so much
Bluesheep8 · 29/01/2021 11:47

Why are most people on mumsnet so desperate to be middle class?

I'm neither middle class nor desperate to be.

tatutata · 29/01/2021 11:48

@user1497207191 I think @Tanith meant that the middle classes are very naive about communism, given that its stated aim is to destroy the bourgeoisie... (aka middle classes). Either way, we're all a bit fucked long term (war, China, climate, economy) so the whole class thing is irrelevant.

Bluesheep8 · 29/01/2021 11:52

According to the quiz upthread, my cousin, who is a doctor, is also Working Class.

VinylDetective · 29/01/2021 11:54

According to that quiz I’m a “toff”. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need to get rid of the whole concept of class. It’s totally dated and unnecessary.

BoGoFonMNBullies · 29/01/2021 11:54

Doctors and Consultants yeah. The rest not so much

Wrong - to be a nurse you need a degree. Many experienced nurses will have qualifications above degree level, some will have Masters.

These people are as qualified as teachers. The only difference in professional terms is the pay.

The old concept of nurses doing the washing of patients etc is now a role done by healthcare assistants. Nurses now do very highly qualified roles.

So no, doctors and consultants are not the only staff above working class.

middleager · 29/01/2021 12:05

I Wfh. I do click and collect once a week for my family of four so I don't put extra pressure on supermarket numbers. If I need something essential I tend to order online and not traipse around shops. I am essentially doing what is recommended by Govt.

Would others prefer I add to supermarket queues or pop into B&M? I haven't been in a shop for weeks.

Also, during lockdown 1 when MNetters were complaining that people were putting lives at risk for drivers by ordering online, some drivers/pickers responded by saying they needed the work.

The messaging is really confusing. Order online/don't order online, Wfh/go into the office to show solidarity. Don't put workers at risk/keep workers in jobs.

LApprentiSorcier · 29/01/2021 12:13

That might be your definition, but it doesn’t have any connection to any actual definitions of social class which I suggest you research.

Not true. It's very close to the Marxist definition of working class, which encompasses anyone who sells their labour for their living, and doesn't own the means of production.

People who consider themselves middle class by virtue of their job rarely like Marx's definition, though.

Leaving Marx aside, class indicators are much more complex in the UK than what job you do. Your class is like a jigsaw made up of different parts - your parents' class, your upbringing, your level of education, the type of school you went to, the type of university you went to if applicable, your current job, your job history, your partner's class and job, where you live and what sort of accommodation you have. If there are enough pieces in the jigsaw to show a picture, you will fall into a particular class (although you may not have all the pieces).

I consider myself working class, although some elements of my situation and background could be considered middle-class, because overall I have more working class indicators than any other.

BoGoFonMNBullies · 29/01/2021 12:14

Also, during lockdown 1 when MNetters were complaining that people were putting lives at risk for drivers by ordering online, some drivers/pickers responded by saying they needed the work

This is a good point. I deliberately didn't order anything online for the first few weeks of the first lockdown out of consideration for my delivery driver. Then I noticed my Hermes driver still out and about doing deliveries and remembered he gets paid per delivery, so would have lost a lot of money if everyone did like me.

And to reiterate, this is not a working class issue. If that delivery driver needed any hospital attention, he would find a hospital of highly qualified medical and healthcare professionals in work and ready to treat him.

PuzzledObserver · 29/01/2021 12:17

It wouldn't help, but a bit of acknowledgement of what we are doing would be nice.

I say thank you to the staff supervising the Scan it Yourself checkouts at the supermarket. I received an Amazon delivery this morning - I said thank you to the driver and smiled at him.

What more would you like me to do?