Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So your question is, how much of a snob are they?
How enlightened are they? I don't know how to quantify this for myself, probably not very.
How educated? I have an associate's degree.
How worldly? I have never left North America, so practically not at all.
Are they familiar with quasi exotic things? Again, how to quantify this?

I thought bouillabaisse was a meat dish - I think I was confusing it with beef bourguignon? I've never had either. I grew up eating simple foods. Like, my mom poured a jar of spaghetti sauce in Minute rice and told us it was spanish rice.

But, I don't think there's anything wrong with being unenlightened, minimally educated, unworldly and unfamiliar with exotic things. I think the important thing is to be open to learning. I read a lot, ask a lot of questions, try at least half the things I'm offered (food-wise), and that's fine.

I never saw an artichoke until I was 22. My dad told us people who liked guacamole were 'showing off'

Anonymous wrote:So your question is, how much of a snob are they?
How enlightened are they? I don't know how to quantify this for myself, probably not very.
How educated? I have an associate's degree.
How worldly? I have never left North America, so practically not at all.
Are they familiar with quasi exotic things? Again, how to quantify this?

I thought bouillabaisse was a meat dish - I think I was confusing it with beef bourguignon? I've never had either. I grew up eating simple foods. Like, my mom poured a jar of spaghetti sauce in Minute rice and told us it was spanish rice.

But, I don't think there's anything wrong with being unenlightened, minimally educated, unworldly and unfamiliar with exotic things. I think the important thing is to be open to learning. I read a lot, ask a lot of questions, try at least half the things I'm offered (food-wise), and that's fine.

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.

Bouillabaisse? Sounds like terrorist soup to me

You wear a baklava when you are terrorizing.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

Nor is Scotland England? I specified that they are English. I don't want to be much more specific than that because everyone hates on the northerners anyways. Oops I let the cat out of the bag.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

Weird take. I’m from Bay Area too, and never heard it was a thing. It’s not like I weekend at French Laundry.

San Francisco calls it Cioppino, but it is the same thing.

Ate bouillabaisse my whole life, but never heard of cioppino until today!

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.

Bouillabaisse? Sounds like terrorist soup to me

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.

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

Anonymous wrote:I'm really glad I don't work with OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in land management so I'm surrounded by people who are educated and cultured in ways that are both similar and different from me. Lots of people who have traveled a lot of the US, done lots of fieldwork, worked with different cultures. Some have PhDs and are worldly in a more "traditional" way. Others are former military and have a totally different knowledge base and cultural background that I think it's valuable in its own right. Not everyone knows what bouillabaise is but they know plenty of stuff I'm not familiar with either.

How do I get into that industry?

Be willing to take a huge pay cut to work for your state, local, or federal government! There's also consulting but it's a different mix of folks and different daily work.