Is messiness a sign of low class?
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Anonymous
| In my experience, those with less money keep spotless homes/apartments, because they know they are being judged. The rest don't care, and some are neat and some are slobs. |
Anonymous
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Simplistic question.
MIL/FIL: way more money to be sure. Pale carpets, lead crystal. Visits with young child always a headache. FIL grew up the son of a federal judge, private school, privileged. My parents: much more casual. My dad (industrial electrician) tended to do stuff like rewind motors (the copper windings for electric motors) on the kitchen peninsula. He worked in a grimy environment. My mom always worked and both parents had rotating and/or otherwise non-9 to 5 schedules. She and my dad both grew up on farms (where, for example, you swept the kitchen 3x a day because dirt would inevitably make its way in via drafts and people in and out). My mom was aspirational but overloaded with responsibilities (yes, we kids did chores). Usually Saturday was housecleaning day but the place was messy in between Saturdays. Poorer people often live in housing where it is really HARD to get it or keep it clean. I was in public housing for awhile, every window frame grew black mold in the winter. Also lived in apts in old converted houses where there were always at minimum some areas that you could not get clean. A friend lived in a unit where kitchen drain was always leaking no matter how often she reported to maintenance. The kitchen cabinets also fell off the wall once (upper cabinets) because they had been screwed to drywall instead of studs. It was a split entry with the first floor at garden level. The sump pump failed causing the unit to flood, and it was up to her to get out the wet and the mildew. Organizational traits a factor. My DH, despite growing up in this enviably immaculate and elegant home, was the person who draped his socks on living room furniture to air out and hated me organizing stuff and putting it away--he relied on visual memory so expected to find whatever in the random pile of stuff on top the stereo. |
Anonymous
I don’t make a lot of money and my house is spotless. Not because I give a single sh*t if anyone is judging me (I’m proud of the work I do and I have a great pension plan, and i have no student loan debt at age 39), but because I can’t always afford to replace pricey things if they break or become shoddy. I try to get long lives out of my possessions. |
Anonymous
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I’m busy, therefore, I’m messy.
When the boys grow up, it will be much easier. Dog, 13 and 11-year old boys tracking dirt, etc. Backyard is a mess from over-use in the grass,etc. Husband and I work full-time and most nights and weekends are racing around to practices and games. The house is clean for a few hours each week right after the cleaning lady leaves. Basic home upkeep inside and outside has taken a back seat until we are empty nesters. No f@cks to give. People still love coming over and I’m not sweating it. |
Anonymous
| I grew up UMC and never learned how to clean. I don’t like cleaning, I don’t have much time and so I don’t really do it. I’ve had cleaners off and on in the past. Once our budget can manage it I will get a cleaner. I clean before people come over but it stresses me out. Unfortunately I also hate living in a messy house. DH is a pack rat which makes it worse. |
Anonymous
No. I grew up dirt poor, yet my mother kept a tidy house and I learned by example. In college my up roommate couldn’t hang her wet towel up. This is not a class issue, it’s a matter of being considerate to those you share a space with, a lesson I learned very early in life. |
Anonymous
| I grew up in a home where the carpets were vacuumed every day, dishes done 3 Times a day, beds made every day...kitchen floor mopped every Sunday night... etc we were poor. Now UMC my kitchen is clean and bathrooms too... the rest uh who has time to care. When I have time I tidy up. I rarely vacuum, rarely dust never make beds, unless changing sheets. |
Anonymous
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I think HGTV made a difference in most people's lives even if they never watched it, OP. Specifically, if you are able to think about what people were like (how they lived) before Martha Stewart and her "good thing" - you might recall that people were rather ignorant about presentations of living situations/circumstances. Now, people (in general) are more cognizant of their home looking a certain way. Yes, even the lower class people who grew up with nothing (maybe especially so).
Of course, there is also (on the other end of the spectrum) hoarder shows - which identify what happens when mental illness comes into the picture. Most of us live in the middle somewhere, hopefully not too extreme. But, I think that a set of expectations is there, that was not before the HGTV era. |
Anonymous
I'm pretty sure something went terribly wrong in this pp's upbringing... |
Anonymous
On a related note, I spend a lot of time picking up after my child. She was born messy but not low class. Somehow, this one child can take over entire rooms with her mess. It's tiring to keep after it. Why don't I force her to do something about it? She's scattered--maybe ADHD--and that doesn't work. |
Anonymous
We are the same person. |
Anonymous
| Messiness is sign of mental or physical illness, it has nothing to do with ones level of income. |
Anonymous
Hmmm, I just read that messiness, staying up late and swearing are signs of higher IQs. |
Anonymous
I get this thinking. I don't think that millionaires are inherently slobs, but if you can pay to have someone do everything why wouldn't you? |
Anonymous
| Upper class life is a mess. |