Anyone going to own up to being a snob?

[rickman]

?

No worries rickman we've been rounf th house since then pardon the pun!!! eeeek!!!

HCM on lighter note I was going to ask what kind of nob you were but you got your 's' in b4 I cud lol though. hob nob away evryone.

handlemecarefully I agree with your def of inverted snobbery my mam is soooooo like this.

Some of what is being described as snobbery here is simply having personal tastes, values and standards.

Ungracious, rude and ignorant behaviour prompted by these tastes, values and standards is snobbery.

I do not consider myself to be a snob - I have friends from such diverse social backgrounds and myself enjoy such a variety of pursuits that I could never be a snob. I will admit to having been judged a snob by ill-advised types who thought that the fact I pronounced my T's and H's, lived with both my parents in a 'respectable' neighbourhood and led a comfortable life made me one. However, it was they judging me, not the other way around. I would, however, say that I despair at the moral decline this country appears to be in. What has happened to the ordinary working class? Where have they gone? I think now anybody who is actually working for a living and not living on incapacity benefit (what exactly entitles you to that and why is it different from invalidity benefit?) is perceived to be middle-class even when we are not. It is all media-driven anyway (Daily Mail, also known as paranoia daily). I will say, though that my local town on market day is really quite depressing - full of spotty teenage girls hanging out with greasy boys with buggies laden with poor unfortunate babies. Is it wrong or snobby to wish that these babies they bring into the world would have a brighter future? It may be generalising to believe that none of them are cared for enough or will be raised with high standards or a belief that they can live a good life which is theirs for the taking, but you know, however PC you may try to be (and to understand that being poor does not equal being unloved by your parents - whoever they are) that in the vast majority of cases, these children are brought into the world because their feckless teenage parents didn't use contraception and are stuck with the consequences. That said, any decent-minded person can also accept that this is not true of all cases, and don't let the actions of the majority cause you to judge those you don't know, because people are NOT all the same, and you never really know anyone anyway. The apparently affluent and outwardly caring parent can be just as negligent of their children in some way or other, and judging on face value is snobbery.

the worst snobbery i ever encountered was when someone pushed me off a train (no, it wasn't be accident, he put 2 hands on my front and pushed me off) i jumped back on and immediately began to swear at him (yes, i was upset, funnily enough) everyone had just stood and watched as i was pushed but some d*head felt the need to tell me off about my language!!!!!!!!

I would like to say that I am not but I do believe that there are the goodies and baddies. I come from a council estate but was brought up to look out for others and mind my manners and respect grown ups. Had certain values instilled into me like not to steal, lie, cheat, etc. So anyone who practices those traits I look down upon because they cost nothing no matter what your background is. Some people I know who regard themselves as middle class have the most deplorable attitude to other sometimes and the most dreadful manners. Likewise the types who roam around smoking, swearing, drinking, vandalising, stealing and being rude and obnoxious to people.
I think it all depends on what you have in common with others. I live in a pretty posh area and whilst everyone is very nice I long for the camaraderie that was abundant on the council estate I grew up in. In my experience the 'lower class' some people are, the more they are willing to give or to help. Here is a prime example. My ex MIL lived in quite a nice street with nice respectable neighbours bar the local criminal hood who lived 2 doors down. We are talking serious underworld here. When her 4 kids all had chickenpox at the same time and she was run ragged, the only person who came to see if there was anything needing done was the matriach of this family. She took my MIL's shopping list and got everything for her and refused to take money for it whilst the other 'respectable' people never bothered their backsides.

I have been brought up to be a snob and DP has come from a totally different background.

I must admit that I enjoy myself more with his family than my own because they are less inhibited and they care less about how they are perceived.

In the meantime I struggle with own preconceptions and try to worry less about peoples perceptions of us...which is the burden of being a snob IMO.

I'm glad DS will grow up with both perspectives because once it's ingrained it's difficult to reprogramme.

oh dear, I am a snob too! AND I HATE IT! We currently live on a council estate and I do look down on some of the people who live here. How can you afford a new car but seemingly not work? why do the police and firebrigade need to come here so often with sirens blazing? and yet I worry that other people will judge me!

I take my Daughter 5 miles away so she doesn't have to walk through a cloud of smoke and swearing at the school gates around the corner. I know more than most that you shouldn't judge people based on appearences (i had DD! when I was 17, although have never felt the need to dress like a chav) but is it so wrong to judge people by their actions? DH and I have worked really hard not to succumb to the stereotype of being teenage parents, so alhtough we live on a council estate we bought the house and this is the area we could afford!

Living in a rough area has nothing to do with being rough. It's a question of manners and morals. Wherever you live, working or not, you can still be polite and kind and dignified. many people lack these things, both in council estates and leafy suburbs. I admit to being a snob when it comes to these things, as I detest rudeness and would happily "look down on" people that behave rudely or badly towards others.

I used to live in Ealing in west London and found it to be quite unfriendly. I then moved to Streatham south London and within a fairly short time felt at home. West London is posher and Streatham is more of a mixed bag. Snobs I knew made jibes about our buying a flat in Streatham and asked us about us moving to the Burbs. One person pointed put how big a building the Benefit Office was in our area.

Streatham is not the prettiest place (although there are some very pretty streets) but it is the only place I know where a couple walk a shetland pony down the middle of the road every day for exercise. Apparently they rescued it form a common when they found it starving.

I am an intellectual snob, but also a reverse snob - if someone has started from a deprived background, had to struggle for some reason I tend to be more impressed by their achievements than the person who has it all handed on a plate to them..

But yes, I make judgements about people by the way they look and act as do we all. But I do not believe that I am instrincilly better than them or indeed seek the company of those with more money etc... although I like to look at there houses

How is an intellectual snob different?

Oh and in your last sentence you used there instead of their.

After having a healthy debate on this thread earlier its interesting to see the range of responses. I think how we have all responded to the title depends upon what your definition of a snob is. and how serious you take yourself.

A point I would like to note that whatever we all are and live (as the latter seems to be a prevailing theme) as soon as we chose to step outside our own front doors we are at the mercy of others judgements (rightly or wrongly informed or not) and no-one likes to think they have been judged.

insert 'what'

Oh S**t I can't even read never mind check posts.

huh?

??

Does a food snob count?

In my book no - I lv most foods of any kind of 'class' cept squirmy seafood sucker things.

i think the point here (or should be) is not where you live, but how you conduct yourself. my council street is nestled in between "private" streets and hardly anyone in this street sends their children to the local school as it is very rough. (first hand experience here). One of the women i so used to look down on is in fact, i admit, a much better mother than me, with an immaculate house.

the sense of community here is something else. when i lived in the mortgaged house one day i was outside the doctors and my son had a mild athma attack. i saw my neighbour walking down the road, my son was slumped in a doorway, we were waiting for a taxi to the hospital. he was ok compared to most of his attacks (you know your own child, when its dangerous and when its not, he was exhausted but not in his asthma danger zone as such) but i imagine he looked pretty bad to passers by. this neighbour stopped, uuummmd and ahhhhd and said she was so sorry but she could not give us a lift to hospital. i explained that we didnt need one and she continued on her merry way.

yet if it had been now, where i live. i am in no doubt whatsoever that my neighbour would have insisted we jump in their car to go to a & e, no questions asked.

im glad i live here. i may be regarded as a scrubber but i know i have people here that will look after us. they never expect anything back, they are happy to help.

Yes I agree nightowl observing a persons actions are very important in this discussion the old saying stuff or presenting a certain image are 2D. My estate is private but i don't feel we have a sense of community one little bit. My neighbour has boom boom music on this minute.

The old saying I meant to refer to was 'talk the talk but can you walk the walk'. Oooooh that music is driving me mad.