# Elitism that you (ashamedly) participate in. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232 "2010-04-24T18:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/81 "2010-04-27T20:21:46Z")
I’ve been to more operas than rock concerts. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/82 "2010-04-27T20:23:45Z")
I can’t stand watching beginner or even middle-of-the-road people use Excel. I know its not their fault since they just don’t have the experience I do, but it still bugs the crap out of me watching them plod along. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/83 "2010-04-27T20:44:16Z")
> [@JCorre](#): > > I can’t stand watching beginner or even middle-of-the-road people use Excel. I know its not their fault since they just don’t have the experience I do, but it still bugs the crap out of me watching them plod along. I don’t know if I’m middle-of-the-road or better (I can do the things I need to do Really Fuggin’ Quick), but yeah, that too. “All right, so highlight column J from cell 3 to cell 7” … “No, not the whole column” … “You’re a little too far - you only need to highlight from, shit, just email the damned thing to me and I’ll fix it and email it back to you.” * * * And nothing impresses people more (hyperbole!) than seeing me use column Filters combined with Subtotal functions - you’d think from their reactions that I’m adding up the damned numbers in my head: “Oh, wow! That’s so cool! You’re so damned smart - how’d you learn all this?” ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/84 "2010-04-27T20:59:23Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > And nothing impresses people more (hyperbole!) than seeing me use column Filters combined with Subtotal functions - you’d think from their reactions that I’m adding up the damned numbers in my head: “Oh, wow! That’s so cool! You’re so damned smart - how’d you learn all this?” I’ve had that experience before too. I’ve also had people look at me like I’m some cross between Mr. Spock and Gandalf when I start demonstrating VLOOKUP or pivot tables… ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/85 "2010-04-27T21:13:05Z")
When I exercise, it’s free weights or nothing. Even though logically I know machines have their uses, I won’t touch one. If I couldn’t do barbell squats, I’d rather my legs wither away to nothing than get on a leg press machine. I’m also a bit snobbish when it comes to booze. If it’s a brand that’s popular with frat boys, I don’t want it. I’m not much of a drinker in the first place, so I figure since I drink so infrequently, I might as well spring for the good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/86 "2010-04-27T21:49:29Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > I’m especially interested in what happens in yaoi fandom once the new Ai no Kusabi OVA comes out. There’s going to be the people like me who remember waiting impatiently for their fansubs of the original to come in the mail and were thankful to have that, and the new kids that’ll bitch if each episode isn’t fansubbed and downloadable within 24 hours. But what are your thoughts on yaoi? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/87 "2010-04-27T21:53:13Z")
I can pose as an anime elitist until I let it slip that I like Dragon Ball Z. Then it’s curtains for me, over 9000 of them. I was never gosu but yet still elitist when I played WC3. Noobs made my skin crawl. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/88 "2010-04-27T22:00:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Art. Visual art, specifically. I hate art put out by people with BFAs. I don’t even know where to begin… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/89 "2010-04-27T22:22:55Z")
I hope this doesn’t come across poorly. I’m an anti-elitist elitist. It bothers me so much that I will go ahead and learn more than the person who is being snobbish to me, and then be snobbish back to them. It seems to me that elitism exists to make people feel bad in order to make yourself feel good. And I can’t stand that. But for some reason, I can’t avoid fighting fire with fire. I’m such a hypocrite. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/90 "2010-04-28T01:03:42Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > Sci fi geeks don’t go mainstream. We are with the dungeons and the dragons - not with you fluffy types that think Harry Potter is cool but haven’t read any of the books or seen Draco Malfoy or Neville Longbottom in person at Dragon\*Con. And we know that Tom Baker is the best Dr. Who and what “all your bases are belong to us” is all about. And we understand the joke about how there are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary code, and those who don’t. And _some_ of us remember a little further back and know that, for example, Patrick Troughton _ruled_ as the Doctor. Tom Baker? Pshaw. Newcomer. Okay, I admit, I’m a little too young to remember Hartnell, at least on the original runs. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/91 "2010-04-28T01:25:47Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Pizza. It has to be made by a locally owned place that actually has some control over the ingredients. I scoff at the peasants who eat Domino’s or Little Caesar’s! The only chain we buy from occassionally is **Jet’s**. Amen. This doesn’t fit the thread, because I’m not at all ashamed of it, but seriously - Domino’s or Little Caesar’s or Papa John’s or Pizza Hut is not pizza. Here are the requirements for pizza: 1. The dough needs to be made, on-site, the same day that it will be baked. I want to see the delivery truck bringing sacks of flour and yeast and salt, not frozen lumps of dough. 2. Same for the sauce. Using canned tomatoes is acceptable. Using canned _sauce_ is not. 3. Mozzarella cheese. I don’t want your “pizza cheese”. And I mean honest, made-with-love-for-food mozzarella, not “buy a one-pound brick next to the bologna at the grocery store” cheese. 4. Brick oven. Wood fire. No alternatives or substitutions. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/92 "2010-04-28T01:29:48Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I’ve been to more operas than rock concerts. 😛 I’ve _sung_ in more operas than I’ve been to rock concerts. (That sentence was a grammatical mess. But you know what I mean.) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/93 "2010-04-28T03:49:48Z")
Coming into threads like this to apologetically draw attention to my superior… uh-oh Never mind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/94 "2010-04-28T04:41:21Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I hope this doesn’t come across poorly. I’m an anti-elitist elitist. It bothers me so much that I will go ahead and learn more than the person who is being snobbish to me, and then be snobbish back to them. It seems to me that elitism exists to make people feel bad in order to make yourself feel good. And I can’t stand that. But for some reason, I can’t avoid fighting fire with fire. I’m such a hypocrite. I’m with you on that. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/95 "2010-04-28T09:58:36Z")
As a native New Yorker, I’m an elitist about urban living. “I don’t know how they do things in your cow town, but…” “I’m actually from Phoenix, population 1.5 million.” “Right, like I said, cow town.” I just hope I never meet anyone from Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/96 "2010-04-28T10:49:07Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > As a native New Yorker, I’m an elitist about urban living. > > “I don’t know how they do things in your cow town, but…” > “I’m actually from Phoenix, population 1.5 million.” > “Right, like I said, cow town.” > > I just hope I never meet anyone from Tokyo. Or Shanghai, or Hong Kong, or Seoul, or Mumbai . . . ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/97 "2010-04-28T13:05:32Z")
> [@MacSpon](#): > > And _some_ of us remember a little further back and know that, for example, Patrick Troughton _ruled_ as the Doctor. > > Tom Baker? Pshaw. Newcomer. > > Okay, I admit, I’m a little too young to remember Hartnell, at least on the original runs. Jon Pertwee was the Doctor to me. Elitism? Steak! And real books. ---
**Author:** ![thebenn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@thebenn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thebenn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/98 "2010-04-28T13:22:20Z")
Computers. I’ve never purchased a pre-built computer. I’ve always built my own. I’m a pretty big gamer, and like to be able to build pretty fast machines that can handle the latest and greatest game engines. Every 2 years, I’ll get the itch to build a new machine, and will research components for a couple months, and then buy them online. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/99 "2010-04-28T13:26:33Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Many store brands are not only “just as good,” but are literally the _very same products_ in different boxes. Many name brands can’t sell enough of their products under the name brand and for the premium price to keep their production line going all the time, so it’s more profitable for them to sell what they can under the brand and then let various stores take the rest at a discount. > > Of course, if you’re talking food, the “elitist” position is probably to avoid buying boxed processed products entirely, branded or generic. 😉 Thank you! I was all set to point this out, but you beat me to it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/100 "2010-04-28T13:33:31Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Amen. This doesn’t fit the thread, because I’m not at all ashamed of it, but seriously - Domino’s or Little Caesar’s or Papa John’s or Pizza Hut is not pizza… Actually, I take mine back, because I’m not ashamed of it either! I proudly flaunt my pizza superiority over the lesser beings around me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232.md?page=6)