The People You Work With

[Anonymous]

In fairness...I think I am fairly cultured and I have heard of Bouillabaisse and know it's French...but I don't actually know what's in it or how it is made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer your question, it varies widely. I am very curious and well-read and I surprise my coworkers frequently with things I know about their cultures, countries, basic trivia, etc. I mentioned to one co-worker that he was a Cassandra- often warning with nobody heeding. He loved that and wanted a link to the myth as he had never heard of that in his country.

I have English coworkers that everyone thinks is posh but they make these crazy grammatical errors that people on DCUM would flag as ignorant in a flash.

So, it's is wild variation. If they mention something to me that I don't know about, I want to learn! There is nothing wrong with googling and learning more. Better than staying ignorant.

I know what bouillabaisse is. It's peasant food. I love when peasant food is elevated like that! Lobsters, ratatouille, tortiere, steak and ale pie, borscht, and on and on.

So NYT has a spinach bouillabaisse — both have saffron so it’s Mediterranean?

[Anonymous]

Meh. I manage about 70 ppl and while it's a good job and career and i made decent $$, I have been to more countries and experienced more food variety than nearly everyone. That's ok. I've learned to just shut up about it and not be too fancy out loud.

[Anonymous]

I'm really glad I don't work with OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer your question, it varies widely. I am very curious and well-read and I surprise my coworkers frequently with things I know about their cultures, countries, basic trivia, etc. I mentioned to one co-worker that he was a Cassandra- often warning with nobody heeding. He loved that and wanted a link to the myth as he had never heard of that in his country.

I have English coworkers that everyone thinks is posh but they make these crazy grammatical errors that people on DCUM would flag as ignorant in a flash.

So, it's is wild variation. If they mention something to me that I don't know about, I want to learn! There is nothing wrong with googling and learning more. Better than staying ignorant.

I know what bouillabaisse is. It's peasant food. I love when peasant food is elevated like that! Lobsters, ratatouille, tortiere, steak and ale pie, borscht, and on and on.

So NYT has a spinach bouillabaisse — both have saffron so it’s Mediterranean?

Well then it's really elevated if it gets a fancy recipe in NYT. It's just fish stew. If you see bouillabisse, the key is you will get fish. I hate fish, so I have this locked in.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:How enlightened are they? How educated? How worldly? I'm struggling to find the right word, but are they familiar with quasi exotic things?

We were all just talking about Christmas being two weeks away and how it has snuck up on us. Somebody said 'what's your meal going to be this year'? The new guy said Bouillabaisse. Literally three quarters of my office didn't know what it was.

And then I realized I was working with people way less cultured than myself.

You must be super old to try and make a troll post using a French recipe as a cultural touch point.

You had to Google it, didn't you?

So you are old then?

So, this hurt your feelings, huh?

Well I answered your question and explained myself, meanwhile you avoid mine. But I would consider therapy as you glide into old age, being “cultured” and judgmental of your peers will hobble and maybe end your career. You should examine why you are searching for a reason to be “better” than them — are you compensating mentally for poor performance or just that they are younger than you? Either way, it will end up with an EEO complaint or similar.

Your entire premise is that 43 is old. Which is not only wrong, but ageist and judgmental in itself.

Stop lashing out and become comfortable with being around perople more cultured than yourself. It doesnt have to be a bad thing. Just man up and admit your weaknesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How enlightened are they? How educated? How worldly? I'm struggling to find the right word, but are they familiar with quasi exotic things?

We were all just talking about Christmas being two weeks away and how it has snuck up on us. Somebody said 'what's your meal going to be this year'? The new guy said Bouillabaisse. Literally three quarters of my office didn't know what it was.

And then I realized I was working with people way less cultured than myself.

You must be super old to try and make a troll post using a French recipe as a cultural touch point.

I'm 43. And honestly I think of Bouillabaisse as more of a west coast thing than a French thing.

I'm 45 from the west coast and have never had bouillabaisse. I was vaguely aware it was a soup.

People have different cultural touchstones, it doesn't make them "uncultured." Right now I work with a lot of people from NYC. I have had to learn about it, as I know very little. Growing up in the SF Bay Area I can promise you very few people there know or care about NYC and many have never been: no one thinks it's relevant. I'm sure we'd come across as uncultured to someone who does care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How enlightened are they? How educated? How worldly? I'm struggling to find the right word, but are they familiar with quasi exotic things?

We were all just talking about Christmas being two weeks away and how it has snuck up on us. Somebody said 'what's your meal going to be this year'? The new guy said Bouillabaisse. Literally three quarters of my office didn't know what it was.

And then I realized I was working with people way less cultured than myself.

They don’t think much of you, either.

[Anonymous]

I know whatcha mean OP. The first time I brought my grandmom's North Dakota Krumkake recipe to the holiday party, I thought all my co-workers must have grown up under a rock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How enlightened are they? How educated? How worldly? I'm struggling to find the right word, but are they familiar with quasi exotic things?

We were all just talking about Christmas being two weeks away and how it has snuck up on us. Somebody said 'what's your meal going to be this year'? The new guy said Bouillabaisse. Literally three quarters of my office didn't know what it was.

And then I realized I was working with people way less cultured than myself.

You must be super old to try and make a troll post using a French recipe as a cultural touch point.

You had to Google it, didn't you?

Trolls gotta troll ^^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How enlightened are they? How educated? How worldly? I'm struggling to find the right word, but are they familiar with quasi exotic things?

We were all just talking about Christmas being two weeks away and how it has snuck up on us. Somebody said 'what's your meal going to be this year'? The new guy said Bouillabaisse. Literally three quarters of my office didn't know what it was.

And then I realized I was working with people way less cultured than myself.

You must be super old to try and make a troll post using a French recipe as a cultural touch point.

You had to Google it, didn't you?

Yep, but I grew up poor and have never had any interest in French food as an adult — I like spicy food.

I grew up poor but picked up the word from somewhere. It's fun to say. I guess the next step is trying it.

I’m a huge Julia Childs fan and I knew I’d heard the word, but my family is vegetarian so fish stew is not a staple nor something I came across. Her section on eggs is AMAZING.

Yes!
It was probably Julia Child. We were a big PBS family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer your question, it varies widely. I am very curious and well-read and I surprise my coworkers frequently with things I know about their cultures, countries, basic trivia, etc. I mentioned to one co-worker that he was a Cassandra- often warning with nobody heeding. He loved that and wanted a link to the myth as he had never heard of that in his country.

I have English coworkers that everyone thinks is posh but they make these crazy grammatical errors that people on DCUM would flag as ignorant in a flash.

So, it's is wild variation. If they mention something to me that I don't know about, I want to learn! There is nothing wrong with googling and learning more. Better than staying ignorant.

I know what bouillabaisse is. It's peasant food. I love when peasant food is elevated like that! Lobsters, ratatouille, tortiere, steak and ale pie, borscht, and on and on.

There are various types of English/Brits/Scots people. Richmond upon Thames is not Liverpool, nor is Glasgow Edinburgh.

[Anonymous]

This is a very weird example of what it means to be "cultured". You'll need to give better examples if you want us to assess it. Also, "uncultured" is an insanely subjective concept.

[Anonymous]

I work in a restaurant. We all know what it is. We all cultured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How enlightened are they? How educated? How worldly? I'm struggling to find the right word, but are they familiar with quasi exotic things?

We were all just talking about Christmas being two weeks away and how it has snuck up on us. Somebody said 'what's your meal going to be this year'? The new guy said Bouillabaisse. Literally three quarters of my office didn't know what it was.

And then I realized I was working with people way less cultured than myself.

You must be super old to try and make a troll post using a French recipe as a cultural touch point.

I'm 43. And honestly I think of Bouillabaisse as more of a west coast thing than a French thing.

I'm 45 from the west coast and have never had bouillabaisse. I was vaguely aware it was a soup.

People have different cultural touchstones, it doesn't make them "uncultured." Right now I work with a lot of people from NYC. I have had to learn about it, as I know very little. Growing up in the SF Bay Area I can promise you very few people there know or care about NYC and many have never been: no one thinks it's relevant. I'm sure we'd come across as uncultured to someone who does care.

Youre from San Francisco and have never had Bouillabaisse? I find that incredible. It's like being from New Orleans and never having had a Muffuletta