Anonymous wrote:What people do, and not necessarily the money they make.

Upper middle class = people who seek actualization from their careers, want jobs that represent them as people and give them a purpose in life. This includes professors, doctors, scientists, lawyers, people working at nonprofits etc. They often, probably a majority, have graduate degrees.

The working class and most of the middle class just want to maximize the earnings/work formula.

Nurses I'd say are borderline working class/middle class. They almost always come from working class backgrounds and never come upper middle class ones. Their degrees are strictly vocational. It's work that's seen as unglamorous that you do strictly for the money. And you can make a high five figure salary - that's good in flyover country and nurses here tend to live in the no-nonsense, far-flung suburban/exurban neighborhoods with pretty cheap housing. They're more likely to marry cops, EMTs or firefighters than they are to marry doctors.

Teachers are a slightly higher class I'd say, pretty much middle-middle class. It doesn't attract the top college graduates, because they want upper middle class professions. Their degrees are vocational. They're unionized (elite liberals are pro-union but union jobs are beneath them). They're way too many of them for it to be an elite. The work is being proletarianized and micromanaged (university professors would never except this), at least outside certain "cache" school districts and freethinking private schools. However there are a few upper middle class do-gooders who go into teaching, usually at certain "cache" schools. And these teachers tend to go to have graduated from elite universities with a less vocational focus.

I know several teachers who graduated from Ivy league schools or top SLACs with majors other than education.

Anonymous wrote:You mean the nurses you know went to Ivy League schools and live in trendy neighborhoods?

Wow so it's either Ivy League with a doctor husband or borderline working/middle class huh? Well of the 6 nurses I know, 4 live in the DC area, 2 in the South. Two were pre-med in college, 2 are NPs, another 2 work in specialties (anesthesiology and genetic diseases). All but 1 make well over 6 figures. And they actually like their work - the science as well as working with patients - they aren't doing it "strictly for the money" One is married to a blue collar professional, the rest white collar. One big factor for all of them to choose nursing was because they knew they wanted to have families one day and wanted a decent work life balance. Good for them for thinking ahead at such a young age! I'm sure there is still a wide spectrum in salary and work, but I don't consider an RN as strictly a vocational job these days.

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps it's a generational thing, but this doesn't describe the nurses I know at all.

Compared to the degree collecting yuppies that dominate this area, I find their willingness to get to work refreshing. But yeah, they're not intellectuals or artistes or anything like that.

Anonymous wrote:Teeth. Speech. Sports they play or watch.

I don't care that much about someone's shoes because that doesn't always indicate status esp if it's something like sneakers. Can't judge much by what someone drives because around here it's more than likely that the really wealthy have more than 1 car and usually it's a high end SUV paired with a go-to work car like a Camry or Accord. Nothing wrong w those 2 types, but just saying that judging by car isn't always accurate.

I think clothes is a hit or miss. Some people esp guys just don't know how to shop beyond essentials.

This. We have a good bit of wealth but put around in a little Fiat daily commuter. Our Maserati is garaged for fun weekend motoring. That's right we're not so filthy rich we don't work.

You mean the nurses you know went to Ivy League schools and live in trendy neighborhoods?

Anonymous wrote:

Nurses I'd say are borderline working class/middle class. They almost always come from working class backgrounds and never come upper middle class ones. Their degrees are strictly vocational. It's work that's seen as unglamorous that you do strictly for the money. And you can make a high five figure salary - that's good in flyover country and nurses here tend to live in the no-nonsense, far-flung suburban/exurban neighborhoods with pretty cheap housing. They're more likely to marry cops, EMTs or firefighters than they are to marry doctors.
.

Perhaps it's a generational thing, but this doesn't describe the nurses I know at all.

What people do, and not necessarily the money they make.

Upper middle class = people who seek actualization from their careers, want jobs that represent them as people and give them a purpose in life. This includes professors, doctors, scientists, lawyers, people working at nonprofits etc. They often, probably a majority, have graduate degrees.

The working class and most of the middle class just want to maximize the earnings/work formula.

Nurses I'd say are borderline working class/middle class. They almost always come from working class backgrounds and never come upper middle class ones. Their degrees are strictly vocational. It's work that's seen as unglamorous that you do strictly for the money. And you can make a high five figure salary - that's good in flyover country and nurses here tend to live in the no-nonsense, far-flung suburban/exurban neighborhoods with pretty cheap housing. They're more likely to marry cops, EMTs or firefighters than they are to marry doctors.

Teachers are a slightly higher class I'd say, pretty much middle-middle class. It doesn't attract the top college graduates, because they want upper middle class professions. Their degrees are vocational. They're unionized (elite liberals are pro-union but union jobs are beneath them). They're way too many of them for it to be an elite. The work is being proletarianized and micromanaged (university professors would never except this), at least outside certain "cache" school districts and freethinking private schools. However there are a few upper middle class do-gooders who go into teaching, usually at certain "cache" schools. And these teachers tend to go to have graduated from elite universities with a less vocational focus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very broad brush here, but weight. Middle class tend to generally look average weight to me, working class tends toward significant overweight, upper class tends toward significant underweight (I don't know how they do it but it's often an obsession).

Oh sweetie. I'm a rich fat person.

Could it be you are a male? I would agree with ppp that the women at least are mostly underweight.

If you meet a young "hipster" type in NYC who calls themselves a "freelance" anything it's almost always codeword for upper middle class parents, not steadily employed and not making a lot of money.

If someone calls themselves a "lumber broker" you know they didn't go to Harvard.

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Anonymous wrote:This thread is funny. What is the deal with teeth? DH and I both have yellow teeth (mine way more than his), not because of smoking or drinking coffee/tea (we do none of these/never did) but because we were born with yellow teeth. We have super healthy teeth (haven't had dental work in over 25 years). Both of us had braces though, so we have nice, but very yellow teeth (and we are not going to start bleaching). We also wear pretty cheap shoes, usually from TJ Maxx, Ross, or a similar place. Both of us have 3 pairs of shoes each. I buy most of my clothes at TJ Maxx. Our household income puts us in the top 1%, and we bought a 1 million dollar house at age 31 (first time home buyers with all our own money--no parent contributions), but I'm sure one look at our yellow teeth and cheapo shoes and no one would think that. We choose to spend our money on other things than teeth bleaching and shoes.

This isn't high ses. A one million dollar home isn't unusual for this area. Look around at listings.

At 31, with no parent help, that's significant, and you look out of touch to suggest it isn't.

I must be out of touch then. For a 25 year old I would be rather impressed but not for a married 30+. My husband and I are in the same boat and I wouldn't consider us high SES.

If you bought a million dollar home at 31 with no help, then yes, that's special, and yes, you're out of touch if you think it's not. Seriously.

She also said their household income is in the top 1%.

Most vocational degrees are very prolish (i.e. a criminal justice degree)

Liberal arts degrees are very upper middle class

Middle class and up have books in their home, proles don't

Proles collect stuff like limited edition plates

Middle-middle class think graduating from college is an accomplishment, upper middle class care about prestigious colleges

Bowling is very prolish

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This thread is funny. What is the deal with teeth? DH and I both have yellow teeth (mine way more than his), not because of smoking or drinking coffee/tea (we do none of these/never did) but because we were born with yellow teeth. We have super healthy teeth (haven't had dental work in over 25 years). Both of us had braces though, so we have nice, but very yellow teeth (and we are not going to start bleaching). We also wear pretty cheap shoes, usually from TJ Maxx, Ross, or a similar place. Both of us have 3 pairs of shoes each. I buy most of my clothes at TJ Maxx. Our household income puts us in the top 1%, and we bought a 1 million dollar house at age 31 (first time home buyers with all our own money--no parent contributions), but I'm sure one look at our yellow teeth and cheapo shoes and no one would think that. We choose to spend our money on other things than teeth bleaching and shoes.

This isn't high ses. A one million dollar home isn't unusual for this area. Look around at listings.

At 31, with no parent help, that's significant, and you look out of touch to suggest it isn't.

I must be out of touch then. For a 25 year old I would be rather impressed but not for a married 30+. My husband and I are in the same boat and I wouldn't consider us high SES.

Yup, you're out of touch.

self made 39 year old with $1M house? Okay not so rare.

self made 31 year old with $1M house? Yup, pretty rare.

A self made 25 year old with a $250K house is also impressive.

Anonymous wrote:Very broad brush here, but weight. Middle class tend to generally look average weight to me, working class tends toward significant overweight, upper class tends toward significant underweight (I don't know how they do it but it's often an obsession).

Oh sweetie. I'm a rich fat person.