Is messiness a sign of low class?

[Anonymous]

I’m a nanny and can say definitively that messiness is a sign of personality and not class. I’ve worked for some rich slobs who expect others to clean up after them. I’ve worked for middle class neatniks. Personally,I fall somewhere in the middle. I have a high tolerance for schmutz on the floor or dishes in the sink at home, but not at work. I spend so much time cleaning up after others that I’m not particularly inclined to spend my non working hours doing it. I wish I were a neatnik at home, but I’m more right brained and need things out where I can see them. If something gets put in a drawer or closet, it’s there to stay until I get tired of that drawer or closet being full and dump everything in a bag and haul it to goodwill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The desire to hoard stuff comes from the fear of losing it and not being able to replace it.

Hoarding and messiness are two different things.

[Anonymous]

UMC people in general can be more uptight, thus they either outsource cleaning it or do it themselves and then stress about it.
I have my kids cleanup their mess to the best of their ability. I keep my mess somewhat contained in "islands".
Works for us, do not like cleaners invading my personal life and adding another stressor in my life.
Energy conservation is the fundamental law of nature after all.

[Anonymous]

My housekeeper complains about a wealthy family that she cleans for three days a week since the whole family of six are utter slobs. She is picking up after them constantly and they are always misplacing items and blaming her. Their dogs poop and pee all over the house. Everyone eats all over rhe house so there is always dirty dishes and old food to clean up. It’s shocking because they wear expensive clothing and the parents are on the board of a prestigious synagogue. You never know what goes in people’s homes.

[Anonymous]

Haha, no.

I recently visited the home of a (very wealthy) author friend: You've heard of her Her house is a disaster, with papers and books everywhere: on furniture, slithering off tables, in stacks on the floors. There is pet fur everywhere, on everything. Mugs and dishes in her cabinets are grubby and gross.

You would never imagine from her polished pics that she lives like this. She is very private and hates having people in her home, so refuses to have cleaners.

[Anonymous]

K-12 research has shown kids with neat desks/bookbags/lockers are generally the smartest most-successful students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do lower SES people live in slovenly conditions?

Is tidiness a sign of upper class?

Yep, see: trailer parks. I assume lack of pride, low culture, and hopelessness/depression?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do lower SES people live in slovenly conditions?

Is tidiness a sign of upper class?

Yep, see: trailer parks. I assume lack of pride, low culture, and hopelessness/depression?

Um, you know that it's possible to keep a trailer home neat and clean, right? My grandmother lived in one, and that thing was as neat as a pin. Poor =/= slovenly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The desire to hoard stuff comes from the fear of losing it and not being able to replace it.

Hoarding and messiness are two different things.

+1
I know one well-off hoarder, who comes from an affluent background. Hoarding is a totally separate issue from being messy.

[Anonymous]

The neatest person I know is poor.

[Anonymous]

Neatness, cleanliness and order are the obsessions of a subset of middle-class people who are frightened of losing their particular class status. Lower-class and upper-class people don’t care.

[Anonymous]

As a slob myself... I never understood the articles that defended “creative chaos”

People who are more organized than I am are better able to organize their thoughts as well- it’s definitely a sign of something. Sometimes I don’t even notice I am doing it and then I realize how messy the house has gotten vs. when I’m not around.

And it’s sloppy across the board, my handwriting, the way I fold clothes, everything. Unless I really take a lot of extra time and care with something (abnormally long), someone else probably does it better. It’s so frustrating!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neatness, cleanliness and order are the obsessions of a subset of middle-class people who are frightened of losing their particular class status. Lower-class and upper-class people don’t care.

+1 There might be something to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do lower SES people live in slovenly conditions?

Is tidiness a sign of upper class?

I am not going to lie - when I see someone who doesn't know how to keep a house clean and somewhat neat, I think something went wrong in their upbringing. You don't have to have a lot of money to dust and vacuum your place, and take some pride in what you have. Your house does not need to be matchy matchy or trendy (in fact, I personally prefer a house that has original tastes within - not the cookie cutter, much overdone "Pottery Barn" look). But yeah, clean says you GAF in life and are likely not depressed.

That’s funny because that’s the way I feel when I see the number of people on DCUM who are very concerned with parsing exactly what should be considered low class/tacky.

You are assuming DCUM land is "high class"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do lower SES people live in slovenly conditions?

Is tidiness a sign of upper class?

Yep, see: trailer parks. I assume lack of pride, low culture, and hopelessness/depression?

It can be. See also: Broken Windows Theory.