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Original poster

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:
middleager · 29/01/2021 14:53

And there are many independent, self employed traders on Amazon whose livelihoods also depend on orders.

MessAllOver · 29/01/2021 15:38

I think the premise is broadly true... more well-paid and "professional" (although the two don't necessarily go together) jobs can be done from home compared to low-paid jobs like caring, working in supermarkets etc. But there's also a health and ethnicity angle to this... many of those in high-risk groups for Covid happen to be working in these types of jobs which cannot be done from home.

A less important but interesting question is the negative effects of prolonged home working. Is staying at home and being cut off, except virtually, from the rest of the world such a privilege in the long-run? Certainly the mental health of my DH, who has to go to work, seems to have suffered less than mine over the past few months (I wfh). I think the limited social interaction he still has with colleagues and the fact he gets to go out of the house has played a part in that. It does depend largely on personal circumstances... for the clinically vulnerable or older workers, clearly being able to work from home is absolutely crucial.

marieantoinehairnet · 29/01/2021 15:41

Yes, I'm middle class and wfh, however my husband is working class and bringing me things home from work.

It's not quite as simple as that, the the race to the bottom we seek to be using every which weapon we can to divide and conquer. It's nonsense to suggest it's this simple.

trilbydoll · 29/01/2021 15:45

Well yes, but I don't really have a choice, someone closed all the places I'm interested in going, like dc's school for example. I don't shout about how great lockdown is because I hate it, but opportunities for breaking the rules are pretty limited at the moment.

I click and collect my shopping because I always have done, I hate supermarkets.

TheKeatingFive · 29/01/2021 16:15

A less important but interesting question is the negative effects of prolonged home working. Is staying at home and being cut off, except virtually, from the rest of the world such a privilege in the long-run?

I totally agree with this, I absolutely hate it.

marieantoinehairnet · 29/01/2021 16:17

@TheKeatingFive

A less important but interesting question is the negative effects of prolonged home working. Is staying at home and being cut off, except virtually, from the rest of the world such a privilege in the long-run?

I totally agree with this, I absolutely hate it.

It's not a privilege, it's taking me to the edge of my sanity...
TheKeatingFive · 29/01/2021 16:20

So the fact remains that he needed the deliveries to continue to earn his income.

That’s true of lots of people whose businesses had to shut down to keep them and others ‘safe’, like them, he could have been supported by the government instead.

TheKeatingFive · 29/01/2021 16:21

It's not a privilege, it's taking me to the edge of my sanity

I’m so sorry, I totally understand.

This seems to be being brushed under the carpet though.

marieantoinehairnet · 29/01/2021 16:26

@TheKeatingFive

It's not a privilege, it's taking me to the edge of my sanity

I’m so sorry, I totally understand.

This seems to be being brushed under the carpet though.

It is what it is, and I am not alone. The thing is, the sentiment of staying home and staying safe is also tenuous as I am staying home, but I'm not staying safe as my husband goes out to work with the public every day.

I am so envious of his freedom to leave the house each day.

RedskyBynight · 29/01/2021 17:12

@TheKeatingFive

A less important but interesting question is the negative effects of prolonged home working. Is staying at home and being cut off, except virtually, from the rest of the world such a privilege in the long-run?

I totally agree with this, I absolutely hate it.

Yes, I don't understand why wfh is considered to be such a privilege. I'd be back at work like a shot if I was allowed. I've spent most of the last year sitting in a room on my own staring at a wall, scarcely seeing another person in real life. Yesterday, I found myself jealous that my friend has a cleaner, not for the cleaning, but because it means she gets to talk to someone different.
GreySkyClouds · 29/01/2021 17:19

I don’t think that having a degree makes someone middle class.

If it does, as lots of people have said, then that would explain why so many people think they’re middle class.

Isn’t your official class based on your dad’s profession?

marieantoinehairnet · 29/01/2021 17:34

@GreySkyClouds

I don’t think that having a degree makes someone middle class.

If it does, as lots of people have said, then that would explain why so many people think they’re middle class.

Isn’t your official class based on your dad’s profession?

Who even cares?!
Cheesecats · 29/01/2021 17:39

Middle class like teachers, doctors, teachers... ?

ZoBo123 · 29/01/2021 17:42

I am not sure it is a class thing but there are definite divisions in the way different people are treated during the pandemic. Those who can work from home, don't work, can't work etc were told COVID was deadly don't leave your front door your gonna die. The people who couldn't work from home were told to carry on as you were, here's a piece of magic cloth and a plastic apron.

RedskyBynight · 29/01/2021 17:43

I don’t think that having a degree makes someone middle class.

My parents were the first in their respective families to get degrees, and they very much consider the possession of one to be the thing that moved them from working class to middle class. And they still consider my DH (who doesn't have a degree) to be firmly working class despite being a reasonably senior project manager (which I would have thought was very much a middle class profession).

GintyMcGinty · 29/01/2021 17:45

Teachers, Doctors, Nurses, Scientists, Researchers, Opticians, lawyers, bank workers are just some of the middle class professionals working.

Its a flippant saying in these times - that's all.

ktp100 · 29/01/2021 18:26

Those of us at home haven't caused it & there are obvious exceptions but I can definitely see that that's how it's worked out broadly, yes.

trulydelicious · 29/01/2021 19:46

@Windchangeface

In our ‘nice’ village lots of middle class teens and young people who had PT minimum wage jobs were pulled out pretty much overnight by their middle class parents

You don't seem to be suited to living in such an affluent area. Have you considered moving yet?

trulydelicious · 29/01/2021 19:56

@mysonsnose

He'll already be hated for being male and pale anyway

Well, it's appalling.

It seems that hate is condemned only when it's directed at certain genders and races. Others have to shut up and put up with it. I hope people started being more vocal about this. Why are some expected to tolerate abuse but not others?

namechanging202020 · 29/01/2021 20:02

It has nothing to do with class ffs

So all the surgeons etc and hiding at home and not working ?

Then the bar staff hairdressers wedding industry etc all furloughed are now middle class ?

What a load of bollocks

It's just your luck depending on which career you have chosen!

I bet there's a lot that can't work due to being closed by the government who actually want to work!

groovergirl · 30/01/2021 06:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

groovergirl · 30/01/2021 06:12

Oh hell, so sorry, I posted on the wrong thread! Will ask MNHQ to remove the above!

hettie · 30/01/2021 09:07

Interestingly my solidly middle class friends who are working outside the home (teachers, social workers, allied health professions, nurses) feel immensely lucky to be able to get out the house and have meaningful engagement with people and structure to our day. We also are immensely greatful we have work. We see how tricky it is for our other friends wfh and trying to homeschool. I also recognise there is and has been massive inequality in the UK and the health inequalities we have been storing up for decades are really having an impact. Our social and economic structures left too many to become physically and mentally unwell and now those groups are even more vulnerable (as is everyone obviously)

opanon · 30/01/2021 13:28

I'm a nurse earning £18k part time ish 25 hours I don't class myself as middle class neither is my nhs office manager partner £21full time

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 30/01/2021 13:43

Definitely middle class and exposed regularly to germilicious children in a primary school.

Feel lucky to be out and about, tbh.