I was in a fancy restaurant today and got excellent service from a young woman in her early twenties. She was exceptionally nice and as she served us I couldn't help but think about the class system in the old days of England before America began — the times when it was impossible to move out of your social class. If you were born low, you stayed low; the same with the middle and upper classes.
I didn't see the waitress's social class as any different than mine. Should I have? In some ways it seems we have come full circle to those days. Dumb luck on a TV reality show or a winning lottery ticket can make all the difference in class nowadays. After thinking about it a bit, I realized very quickly there are still three classes that keep people "stuck." Let me explain.
First, there are "American royalty" folks. These are the Gwen Stefanis who grew up in American middle class neighborhoods, became exorbitantly successful, and now can't walk through a mall without being mobbed. Shows like Extra and ET propogate their regalia to the minions and events like the Academy Awards transform them into virtual deities.
Next there are the middle class peeps. This is my target audience on my blog. Why? Because they're most like me. The middle class is an array of folks such as: your child's teacher, the policeman that wrote you a ticket, the manager of the restaurant you just ate at, the gamut runs long. As a general rule, this class longs to "make it big."
Many "middle classers" are hoping to write the great American novel, invent something, have the next raved-about blog, hit it big with singing skills as the lovely Gwen has, or any manner of instant catapults out of the middle zone. The shelves at Barnes and Noble tell the story well with titles like How to Write Your Hit Novel In 30 Days, or How to Make It in the Music Business, or Think Big, Live Rich. The middle class pays its hard-earned money for dreams like these and they line up to buy them like Dr. Seuss' Sneetches paying Sylvester McMonkey McBean. What is this saying about us? Are we as a class feeling stuck in the middle?
Article comments
1 - gonzo marx
you missed something...
those born "Upper"
the ones who will never have to work a day in their life, not because of anything they have done, but because of who their parents/grandparents/ancestors will
the Inheritors
some do well, learn and grow and contribute to the world
many are just leeches
a fine example is Paris Hilton, an Inheritor who contributes nothing but scandal and papparazi
or our current President
Excelsior?
2 - Damien Riley
Yep, that's exactly my point. So are you a middle classer who secretly wants to "make it" above your class? Or are you one who is content and class means nothing?
3 - gonzo marx
i enjoy earning what i have..."class" is an artificial construct for the most part...social convention or a way of describing income levels
the latter being much more relevant
you can find some of my take on the subject here
keep up the fine writing!
Excelsior?
4 - bliffle
You didn't mention the huge numbers of Cheaters coming up in the world. Children of rich people who bought them degrees. Children of not-rich people over-promoted by lying cheating school officials anxious to improve the appearance of their own performance by improving a grade from D to B between the computer and the report card, and then to A on the transcript.
More and more one encounters these cheaters in high positions they are incapable of executing.
Scofflaws everywhere. Perhaps inspired by the examples set in the Whitehouse. Now we have drunken astronauts.
Ptooey!
5 - Damien Riley
That's interesting. But does having a degree, or good transcripts change your class? For about a year I was working in a coffee house at age 26 making an hourly wage with a BA, MA, and most of my teaching credential. My article is mostly inspired by the idea of middle class people (like you I assume?) holding that internal carving to "make it" big with a book, an idea, investments, whatever. It's like we treat the rich like royalty. But your point is very interesting and if you end up posting something on it please notify me, I'd be interested in reading it. Thanks for your comment.