Washington Area Class System

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was married when I was 24 and had a baby at 27. I am pretty sure many people on this board would consider me low-class for those reasons alone. When I was pregnant women in NW looked at me like I was a zoo animal. I may as well have been wearing cutoffs and a belly shirt when I was 8-months along just to enhance their experience.

I laughed picturing this. I once went to a street festival where someone in the crowd was something like 8 months pregnant with some sort of cutoff top and mesh sort of overshirt with short shorts. I mean it was Miami so actually I was the odd person because I wasn't wearing cutoffs.

Anyway, my mom looks young for her age and she dropped out of college to have me. You can imagine the looks I get when I introduce her as my mom.

[Anonymous]

12:58 - PG County is notorious for gangs. Please don't tell me that Mo Co has the same gang problem. PG County is simply a lower class county than Montgomery. Worse schools, more crime ridden, lower HHI.

[Anonymous]

To 19:28 - all those professionals send their kids to public schools, and not parochial or private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: or a scented candle for her bedroom.

Wouldn't that be an insult to the air quality in her bedroom?

Classy people emit no odor. Of course classy people also hate scented candles. Only 10 inch ivory tapers are appropriate and only in silver candlesticks. The exception is citronella candles, which may be used outside at the summer home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:58 - PG County is notorious for gangs. Please don't tell me that Mo Co has the same gang problem. PG County is simply a lower class county than Montgomery. Worse schools, more crime ridden, lower HHI.

You are clearly uninformed, persuaded more by stereotypes and assumptions than facts. But hey, it's attitudes like yours that make be happy to live in my lovely little corner of PG County rather than some tony neighborhood in MoCo. (And yes, I am a professional with three advanced degrees.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 10:15 - my mother was 27 when I was born (I'm the oldest child). I was 34 when I had my first child.

To me, the reason for this general age shift is obvious and is indirectly related to class. How many women of any class in the '50s and '60s had the opportunity to go to grad school or even leave the place they were born? People are more geographically mobile and much better educated today.

My mom was considered a rebel for not marrying until she was 24! I didn't even meet my DH until I was 27. Had absolutely no interest in marriage or a long term relationship until I was done with grad school and had some work years under my belt. Totally different generational construct.

Funny. This post has made me consider how I define class. Reading this particular post (above) I realized I largely equate "class" with education, more than any other single aspect, and this is probably why: my grandmother's father insisted that she graduate from college and work for a year (albeit while living at home) before she was allowed to marry my grandfather. ....My mother and father were unfailingly polite to people in "service-oriented" jobs but I didnt really realize it until I went out with someone who was not. Its funny the unwritten/unsaid things that impress upon us ideas of class as children.

Okay, I get it, you're equating it to education. Well, my daughter has 4 great-aunts and uncles with PhDs, mostly from Ivy League institutions. All 4 of her Great-Grandparents on his side went to College also. My Grandparents didn't. They were busy running from the Nazis. I went to a State school for a technical degree in computers. I am now in Graduate School while I work part-time (not sure I'll get a Masters, but I'm taking classes now), where I make nearly as much in 3 days as people I know with PhDs in other fields. My Undergraduate education was difficult. I worked hard for it and I am proud of what I've accomplished. Educated depends on a lot of things. A person may have never gone to College and still be very educated. If your entire world revolves around which Ivy League institution people go to then the pool of people you associate with must be pretty shallow. If you don't believe that a person can become educated through means other than College, you simply haven't expanded your horizons to meet enough different types of people.

Maybe you didn't meet your husband until 27 or 34 or 42 or 58. I met mine at 22. I wasn't looking to get married either, but I met someone who changed that for me. You can't just put your life experiences on others and assume that they would have made the same decisions as you would have, or that you may have not made different ones had your life taken you in a different direction. Equating class with money, education or age at which you lived your life is narrow-minded. I believe that intelligent people are capable of seeing things from different perspectives. If you can't do that, it doesn't matter where you went to school or for how long. I compeletely agree with posters on this board who have mentioned that class depends on attitude and the way you treat other people and present yourself. You can nitpick if you want to, but I personally consider being an elitist to be low-class.

[Anonymous]

Examples:

Slamming the door in someone's face (if they are right behind you) - instead of holding the door - is no manners/no class.

Being inconsiderate (loud, invading others space) in a public place is no manners/no class.

Thinking your screaming kid is so cute for interrupting everyone else's dinner in a nice restaurant is inconsiderate/no class.

Let's not forget the other thread - criticizing others children is no manners/no class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what are you supposed to bring to a dinner party instead of wine?

Clearly I should be reading this board more, this is fantastic stuff!

Its actually better to write a note afterward and send flowers (afterward). I you must bring something it should not be related to the evening - something special the hostess might enjoy later like a box of special cookies or a scented candle for her bedroom.

A bottle of wine isn't related to the evening. It's a gift to the hostess to enjoy later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:58 - PG County is notorious for gangs. Please don't tell me that Mo Co has the same gang problem. PG County is simply a lower class county than Montgomery. Worse schools, more crime ridden, lower HHI.

Montgomery County has a HUGE gang problem. Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Gaithersburg, and Germantown.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Gang-attacks-lead-rise-in-Montgomery-robberies-96612419.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 - PG County is notorious for gangs. Please don't tell me that Mo Co has the same gang problem. PG County is simply a lower class county than Montgomery. Worse schools, more crime ridden, lower HHI.

Montgomery County has a HUGE gang problem. Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Gaithersburg, and Germantown.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Gang-attacks-lead-rise-in-Montgomery-robberies-96612419.html

Anecdotally, my neighborhood in Bowie is idyllic compared to the neighborhood I left in MoCo...thumping bass at all hours...My neighbor's drunk ex trying to bang down the door with a sledgehammer when she wouldn't let him in (Clearly they are from a higher social class). Rude neighbors, lots of creepy crimes. An uneasiness about the place. And I could go on.

Also, I never argued that PG is all great or anywhere close, for that matter. But I take issue with determining someone's social class by where they live and that was how the PP answered the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice to have you "Get a Life Poster". Perhaps if your life was so great and interesting you would not be reading DCUM.

I posed the question because in the last week I have learned that:
not painting your toe nails BUT painting your fingernails is low class
showing your bra strap is low class
allowing my daughter to wear a bikini is low class
scraggly unkempt hair on a toddler is low class
attorneys with wet hair is low class
bringing wine to a dinner party is low class

I could go on and on....

I agree that allowing your daughter to wear a bikini is low class and attracts undesired attention. I don't know why people do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 - PG County is notorious for gangs. Please don't tell me that Mo Co has the same gang problem. PG County is simply a lower class county than Montgomery. Worse schools, more crime ridden, lower HHI.

Montgomery County has a HUGE gang problem. Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Gaithersburg, and Germantown.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Gang-attacks-lead-rise-in-Montgomery-robberies-96612419.html

Anecdotally, my neighborhood in Bowie is idyllic compared to the neighborhood I left in MoCo...thumping bass at all hours...My neighbor's drunk ex trying to bang down the door with a sledgehammer when she wouldn't let him in (Clearly they are from a higher social class). Rude neighbors, lots of creepy crimes. An uneasiness about the place. And I could go on.

Also, I never argued that PG is all great or anywhere close, for that matter. But I take issue with determining someone's social class by where they live and that was how the PP answered the question.

True. It's just that I work with gang issues in Montgomery County and I don't want anyone to be under the illusion that it doesn't have problems. It's bad. It's the biggest crime problem the County faces.

[Anonymous]

OK, wait -- a PRIUS is low class? I thought it was just crunchy ....

[Anonymous]

Commenting (gossiping) on others' appearance is low class, as it denotes you have nothing better to do (but try to deny doing it). Ew.

[Anonymous]

I find the obsession with "class" around here childish and petty.