# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/121 "2010-04-28T23:26:57Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Perfume. I will save up for months to buy a real perfume I love, than spend a lesser amount on something cheap n’ fruity. And I will not give one red cent to any company hawking “celebrity” perfume. I wear perfume oils almost exclusively, and anything that is perfume and in a spray form in my collection is in the $50+ range. Why? Because there’s something in cheaper spray perfumes that makes me gag and retch or get a nasty sinus headache. It just doesn’t work for me. Same goes with those cheap body sprays that smell like sugary butthole had a baby with a bottle of cheap vodka. The lotion equivalent makes my skin break out in rashes, so it’s apparently a sensitivity issue with whatever they put in their scents. > [@overlyverbose](#): > > I like that I make most of our stuff from scratch and look down on people who regularly give their kids convenience foods like frozen chicken nuggets, canned foods (like ravioli and other Chef Boyardi products) and lunchables. It doesn’t affect me at all, so I should just tamp down those thoughts. Plus, even though my kid has never had McDonald’s or food from another traditional fast-food chain, it’s not like he hasn’t had food that’s probably just as bad for him (possibly worse) at a regular restaurant. > > I hate the coffee at work. I think it’s swill and will only drink it if I’m desperate for caffeine. Same for desserts - I prefer to eat only those sweets I’ve made myself. Part of it is a diet thing - it makes it that much harder for me to get dessert if I’ve got to make it myself. But part of it is that I think the stuff I make tastes better. I’m snooty about a lot of food. I make a lot of food from scratch these days and greatly dislike the “genetic modern American” style casual dining restaurants. Why? Because I like to taste things other than salt and fat in my food, and I like to eat at places that aren’t so stingy about their vegetable offerings. I vastly prefer smaller chains, ethnic food, or restaurants that are more geared toward seasonal offerings and people who like healthier foods. (I really wish I could stop getting Olive Garden gift cards and get my in-laws to start giving us Bonefish Grill gift cards-- they sell them at the same place, and they’re equidistant from our house. However, one is vastly preferable to the other for me.) I like coffee strong and with real milk/cream; creamer tastes bad and oily and the powdered form of it is even worse. > [@puddleglum](#): > > Hot dogs. The difference between a good hot dog and a bad one is huge. Nathan’s or Hebrew National are the only national brands that are any good and only cost a couple dollars more. There is no other food product where spending less than three more dollars for a package gives you so much superior a product. That non-poor people willingly consume bad hot dogs mystifies me. > Books- I was into Somerset Maugham in college and the device he had in his books for identifying stupid characters is for them to read detective novels. Now, I can’t help looking down at people who read detective novels. My feelings for Ashenden fans are complicated. I grew up with Hebrew National and Sinai Kosher hot dogs as the standard. I still can’t stand the taste of pork-chicken-tofu-cardboard hot dogs, as they don’t taste right-- it has to be 100% beef or it tastes “weird” in my book. There are, however, exceptions for good Polish sausage and Icelandic lamb hot dogs , but those are different “sausage inna bun” experiences. Also, none of this yellow mustard nonsense-- it tastes wrong. As for books, I’m a librarian who can give genre advice based on my own readings with the exceptions of three of the most popular genres: detective novels/popular mysteries, Christian fiction and paperback-type/Harlequin romance novels. I read all sorts of stuff, but haven’t gotten into any of the genres because it doesn’t hold my attention. I do, however, make sure that I either know readalikes in all three genres or can look them up readily when others ask. > [@kushiel](#): > > You’re not that much younger than me - DBZ on TV was the first source of anime for a lot of people in our age group. I’m not an anime elitist, but I admit that, though I like DragonBall, I detest DBZ because I get bored with it so easily; neither are high quality anime, though. My genres tend to range more toward shōnen (Azumanga Daioh is cute and mindless, and so is Tenchi Muyo!/Tenchi in Tokyo/etc.) or some of the more dramatic films. Most of what I learned about anime I learned from Cartoon Network and a handful of otaku acquaintances. I do, however, love me some Miyazaki films-- my favorite so far is probably still My Neighbor Totoro. (Am I really a five year old at heart? Probably.) ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/122 "2010-04-29T00:40:16Z")
It’s getting hard to watch movies at other people’s houses for me. Watching a movie on a lowly 60" TV with no external speakers pales compared to my 100" projector screen with a 7.1 setup. Luckily, my friends are starting to get their own projectors. I can watch TV shows just fine on a TV though, as my main TV is a little 26" LCD. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/123 "2010-04-29T01:09:18Z")
Oh, dear. Someone’s opened the Olive Garden Pandora’s box. There’s no chance of this thread stopping now before page 23. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/124 "2010-04-29T01:16:13Z")
Everytime I’ve eaten at Olive Garden, I’ve liked it. This has only been twice, but I loved their bread sticks and pasta fagioli. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/125 "2010-04-29T01:37:37Z")
Chit mang, I’m a _Charter Member_ of the **Ess Emm Dee Bee**. I’ll now go read the REST of the thread and determine I was the fourth person to be sobbishly elitist about the forum I frequent. ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/126 "2010-04-29T02:41:45Z")
I don’t see how people can watch pan&scan movies. Either they don’t know that it’s crappy or worse, they do know but they’re too unimaginative to care. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/127 "2010-04-29T09:37:40Z")
Pot. I haven’t smoked a joint in years because I insist on weed that is too sticky to be rolled. Stems and seeds? _Please!_ I’m also on board with fonts and aspect ratio. We just got a new widescreen TV in the break room at work, and it’s going to be a long uphill battle for me with the clowns who want to stretch out the picture so it fills the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/128 "2010-04-29T11:38:03Z")
I am an unashamed elitist because I am better then most people in so many ways. This is confirmed by many of the posts where people quote things as being their elitest preferences, but those self same things are what I consider to be of normal standard, not out of the ordinary. I realise of course that there are many people who eat crap, drink crap, and watch crap on t.v. I don’t consider that to be the base line, but sub standard Also some of the posts are about things that they like which are by no serious definition elitest. The mere fact that they hold these mistaken beliefs only goes to show just how much inferior they are to me. Those who are my equals will understand that which I am talking about. For those who don’t, sorry but you’re posting above your level. Out of your depth isn’t in it. I think that elitism is a good thing as it causes people to want to be like myself and even though most fail miserably in their attempts to emulate me they still improve themselves personally out of all recognition. Don’t get me wrong snobbery and arrogance are abhorrent to me, I still have the common touch and even still speak to ordinary people now and again. But now I must go as I’m having a pint of half and half Glen Fiddech single malt whisky with Seven up(I expect \*\*Bricker \*\* enjoys this quite often) and watch Britains got Talent and Eastenders. Maybe listen to some British Rap music afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/129 "2010-04-29T13:27:12Z")
> [@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. 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. > [@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. Yeah to both. I am also a snob about cheese. Velveeta is not cheese. Mild cheese of any sort really isn’t cheese either. Cheese is the stuff that has flavor and taste. If you can’t deal with that go get your calories elsewhere. I won’t set foot in a Wal Mart, eat white bread or respect anyone who writes badly written sentences. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/130 "2010-04-29T13:38:01Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Fonts. > > Any font installed by Microsoft Office (Arial, Verdana, Comic Sans, etc.) shall never be used in any design work. Neither any of the “knockoff” fonts that are mere tracings of the genuine original (_“Baskerline”_ instead of **Baskerville** , _“Alphavers”_ instead of **Univers** , _“Clarion”_ instead of **Clarendon** , etc.) Oh… and fucking _[Papyrus!](http://www.papyruswatch.com/)_ It’s sad that a well-designed face can be undone by a combination of distinctiveness and omnipresent usage. We are living in an Arial world, and I am an Arial girl. (I actually wrote a whole song about it - won’t bore you.) And I pity you fools who don’t think Tom Baker is the best Dr. Who. You clearly don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/131 "2010-04-29T13:40:25Z")
I forgot about people who stretch the screen to make it fit the tv. If I know you well, I’m going to be relentless about your bad decision. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/132 "2010-04-29T16:07:05Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Cheese is the stuff that has flavor and taste. Warm brie tastes like semen. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/133 "2010-04-29T17:22:55Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Warm brie tastes like semen. Just sayin’. I’ve tried cold and warm brie before and I didn’t understand what the hooplah was about, and then I had some baked brie and it’s my favorite cheese now. I think the baking process cooks away the Windex and semen taste. Not that I’ve tasted Windex and semen before. But they’re both good at cleaning windshields. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/134 "2010-04-29T17:54:20Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’ll admit, it’s been much longer since I watched the series than since I watched the movie, so the latter’s Allen is much stronger in my mind. I might have to re-watch it again sometime soon… you know… _for science_. > > Whoa, and I can get the complete series on Amazon for only $30. Time to replace the shitty Chinese bootlegs I bought over a decade ago! (Not that I didn’t love subtitles that were often completely mis-timed.) Argh, dammit, and now all the suggestions that are popping up are making me want to get into anime again. Dammit, I gave this up when I stopped fansubbing! > > I learned about kerning here! I remember when we were so excited to get shitty Chinese VCDs of Saiyuki, and the subtitles were a little broken but perfectly understandable until the subtitle guy had a heart attack or something and they gave the job to some college kid who had to translate it through classical Greek or something. Seriously, there were hilariously wonderful words in it, like “lection” instead of scroll and “myrmidons” instead of, I dunno, gang. Myrmidons! I don’t know more than three or four other native speakers of English who know that word! It was a work of art. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/135 "2010-04-29T17:56:21Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > All due respect, but I point at people like you and laugh. What about people like me? I still have an old TV in my living room, because it still works. I have no plans to replace it until the current one stops working. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/136 "2010-04-29T18:00:01Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > What about people like me? I still have an old TV in my living room, because it still works. I have no plans to replace it until the current one stops working. No, that’s not very funny. ---
**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 29, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/137 "2010-04-29T18:34:06Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > We are living in an Arial world, and I am an Arial girl. (I actually wrote a whole song about it - won’t bore you.) YOU may live in an Arial world, but I do not. Actually, I usually avoid the garden-variety Helvetica and opt for Helvetica Neue instead. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/138 "2010-04-29T18:47:15Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > YOU may live in an Arial world, but I do not. Actually, I usually avoid the garden-variety Helvetica and opt for Helvetica Neue instead. Oh no, I totally get it. But in my job as a tech writer, I prefer non-serif fonts for easier reading and transferability (nothing like formatting a doc in Tahoma only to have the receiver not have that in their font base and not know how to install a font). When I was in marketing, i was all about cool fontage. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/139 "2010-04-29T18:54:14Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I remember when we were so excited to get shitty Chinese VCDs of Saiyuki, and the subtitles were a little broken but perfectly understandable until the subtitle guy had a heart attack or something and they gave the job to some college kid who had to translate it through classical Greek or something. Jealous. Mine were just awkward. In fact, the first time I re-watched the DVDs after I actually started learning Japanese in college, I could not for the life of me figure out how I’d ever watched them the first time, which was back in high school and before I spoke any Japanese at all, because the timing was so bad. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/140 "2010-04-29T19:15:07Z")
Mm, GW. I grew out of it but I still have a soft spot for it. _hides gundam models_ And I still remember the experience of ebaying manga and laboriously searching for and printing out the text translations to read alongside the action. Fanfic. I got into it in the Usenet and email list days – just as actual paper zines started to fade. The younguns don’t know how good they have it. There’s actual academic work done on fanfic these days as transformative works! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232.md?page=8)