# What class are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988 "2004-08-02T16:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AmericanMaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@AmericanMaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmericanMaid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/1 "2004-08-02T16:33:21Z")
PBS has been running a documentary called “People Like Us” this past week. It deals with class in America. Some of the findings aren’t too revelatory - ooh WASPs are snobs! But the fact that wheat bread versus white bread can basically be boiled down to a class issue is fascinating. They interviewed a woman who grew up lower class and married rich who now hires herself out to help other women marry rich. Another woman who was interviewed lived in a trailer with her three sons in Ohio. They didn’t have any heat or car and she walked to work at Burger King. One of her sons constantly belittled her and mentioned how ashamed he was of their living conditions. Quite a stark contrast in inerviewees. I’ve felt that a lot of the problems in America basically stem from class issues. Acquaintances, who grew up well-off, flatly deny that there’s a class system in America. Working class/middle class acquaintances acknowledge the American class system and usually there is a level of hostility/resentment. According to this quiz, I’m middle, middle class. [http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/games/index.html](http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/games/index.html) Since I saw the documentary, I chatted with my parents about class. My mom’s family was basically working class and my dad’s was landed gentry in Europe. So, I teased my dad for marrying below his station. We basically agreed that our family was middle class with a yearning for serfs to do our dirty work. 😉 How do you stack up? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/2 "2004-08-02T16:45:15Z")
My PC at work is stupid and won’t download the flash viewer, but I think I’m a bard. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/3 "2004-08-02T16:55:34Z")
Dammit. I wonder if there will be repeats? I saw this documentary before a couple of years ago, but only really caught the segment with the hard working poor woman with the mean, Vanilla Ice-wannabe son. And wasn’t there a story revolving around a small town and the debate about the new grocery store and whether it should be an organic co-op or a “white bread” grocery store? I thought that was interesting because I had never figured bread could indicate class. According to the test (which was so fun and cute), I am “middle middle”. Everything was “middle middle” about my selections, except for the 32" color TV (trailer park, apparently). ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/4 "2004-08-02T17:04:54Z")
On the furnishings one, I got: > [@](#): > > Boy, it’s great to meet another person smack dab in the middle middle class like me. If you ever want to go shopping together at the mall, give me a call! The one that tells you what class you are put me at working class, mainly because of one question. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/5 "2004-08-02T17:19:19Z")
Mostly middle class, with a dab of noveau riche and old money (my dog is pretty close to an Elkhound) thrown in. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/6 "2004-08-02T17:19:45Z")
I’m middle middle class. Here’s an indicator as to what class I truly am: The illustration on the website for the Name That Class game reminds me of Powdered Toast Man from Ren & Stimpy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/7 "2004-08-02T17:48:36Z")
I’m eclectic. But I’m also labeled nouveau riche, depending on my tastes. I love playing that game. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/8 "2004-08-02T17:58:57Z")
I’m headed for trailer trash?! Goddammit. But I apparently confused the heck out of the game because I picked things from other classes, too. What sunk me was picking the pit bull for a dog. Game wouldn’t let me NOT choose a pet, tho. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/9 "2004-08-02T18:06:20Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > My PC at work is stupid and won’t download the flash viewer, but I think I’m a bard. This is the funniest thing I think I’ve seen all damn day. Now I have bits of my tuna sandwich all over my monitor. Thanks a lot. . . 😃 Tripler Newest dumb thread title: _“Why does my computer smell like cat food?”_ ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/10 "2004-08-02T18:22:55Z")
On the furnishings one, mostly middle middle with dabs of old money and nouveau riche thrown in. On the “name that class” nouveau riche until the spouse question - where I went with the trailer park answer. (_I_ go to the opera and ballet alone, on my own now, there’s no requirement that he would want/need to go with me.) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/11 "2004-08-02T19:08:33Z")
I took the third quiz and got put in “blue collar”. I was unhappy with the choices. Like, when I have time off, I don’t go to Disney World, Branson, floating casino, or Nantucket. I stay home and read. And if I traveled, it would be to natural or historical destinations, not scary tourist traps. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/12 "2004-08-02T20:35:48Z")
The choices were either very stereotypical or very strange, I thought. I always knew exactly what to choose to be labeled “old money,” but it isn’t what I actually _have_, because I’m sorry–I’m not old money! I guess it was a _fantasy_ living room. There is definitely a class system in America; movement between classes is very fluid, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/13 "2004-08-02T20:38:16Z")
I can’t get flash to work either but I suspect I’d be working class. I distance myself from things that I consider too tacky, trashy, or redneck but I doubt my taste is “sophisticated” enough even for the middle middle class that everyone else seems to be getting. I’d rather be a rogue or a ranger though. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/14 "2004-08-02T21:57:27Z")
Polls go in the IMHO forum. Let me move this for you. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/15 "2004-08-02T22:04:08Z")
No Flashplayer at work, but I wouldn’t have time to take the quiz anyway. I have to go make sure “those people” did a good enough job detailing my BMW before cocktail hour. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/16 "2004-08-02T23:14:13Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I’d rather be a rogue or a ranger though. Well, in 1st Edition, I **might** consider being a ranger – they get two hit dice at first level. But really, the class with the biggest overall kill power potential has got to be the paladin. Particularly if you have a Monty Haul DM who hands out holy swords when you’re still below 4th level. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/17 "2004-08-02T23:21:41Z")
That was stupid. Don’t bother, people. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/18 "2004-08-02T23:33:07Z")
I have tons of breeding, and no money. An empty thimble of aristocratic power and a bottomless well of aristocratic disdain. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/19 "2004-08-03T00:45:17Z")
I thinik I probably walk the line betwenn upper to middle-middle class if that makes sense. However most of my core group of friends are mostly lower middle class. This larglely due to the type of family I grew up in. I’m just used to hanging out with these kinds of people. I’ve always felt guilty for thinking this but sometimes I do wish I had some more friends that were a little more financialy secure. Only because I’d like to have friends that could afford to go on vacations with me. Last year I was so deprate for a vacation I took three friends on a ski trip with me. All expences paid on guess who? ME! :rolleyes: My credit card is still smoldering from that one. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988/20 "2004-08-03T01:38:19Z")
I live very cheaply, but I make good money (low six figures). I have three college degrees, but since they’re in engineering (and applied math), I’m mostly self-educated. I was unsure about how to answer some of the questions (especially the Branson/Disney/casinos one), so I took it several times. The results always placed me in either blue-collar or the trailer park. _Yee ha!!_ (Except for furnishings – they suggested I take _that_ test again, because it couldn’t peg me – I think what threw it off was my selection of the worn Chippendale chair [which I picked because it was the only arm-free choice, so I could sit in it and pick my guitar]). Upon reflection, I conclude that since there were no _direct_ references to music, books, politics, health habits or economic viewpoints, the people who created the website are shallow idiots. Which makes me a cultural snob too. I can live with that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-class-are-you/257988.md?page=2)