What class am I ?

Does it matter?

There have been comments on this blog as to what behaviour is middle and what is working class and presumably what is lower and upper class.

Why do people think in this way?

My grandmother on one side was a char, my mother started as a shop assistant having matriculated at 14 and left education in order to support her mother who was on her own, her father having died when she was 7.

My father was a foreman in the spray painting department. I know nothing about his parents.

His sister worked behind the counter in the post office.

So what do you conclude?

The significant thing perhaps was their attitude to the world in general. My French mother, at 18, chose to learn a foreign language extremely well. To do this and 'see the world' she took employment with Army officers serving in India as a nanny to their children.

She found she was required to work in the home and saw nothing of India other than a few Indian servants.

She found the cash to get herself back to France before her contract finished because the job was not as it had been made out to be.

I was brought up with very little money in the home, my mother taught French at evening classes.

In order to get reasonable accommodation, my parents rented a three floor house and sublet the middle floor.

I worked hard at my state primary school and managed to get into Grammar School and then on to university.

The jobs I have done have been 'professional' and then I worked manually for myself converting barns into self-catering accommodation.

I've run a market stall here in Ulverston selling 'health foods'. I then trained as a teacher and taught in London.

I quite happily turn my hand to any job that comes up and believe I could earn a living at anytime that this was needed. I'd start by cleaning windows, painting and decorating and cleaning out gutters and drains or go back to selling using a market stall. There's a need for a lunchtime cafe for the youngsters in the town - I could take that on!

I resent having any label attached and see myself as classless. I value straight talking which often makes me avoid what some label as the middle classes.

One thing I've always done and that is to learn new skills. I'd rather have a skill than cash. Whenever I have some spare time it is used to improve a skill. At present I'm extending my piano playing skills. Then last year I swam ten lengths of crawl for the first time - previously it had been four. And of course I'm learning how local government functions. In the last few weeks I've learnt that society is not led by reason but by a 'group dynamic' which is heavily manipulated by the few. Which is why politicians can effect vast swings in the way people vote by manipulating the public even to the extent that some are persuaded that it's a waste of time to vote. What nonesense! We just have to sort out which candidate is the best; not to find the perfect candidate. (The democrats are my choice though locally they're a disreputable lot however they've got more good politicians at the top than any other party. Tim Farron is a shining example)


My real friends come from a wide range of occupations. The main thing they have in common is that they work hard in the day time and use their spare time in a 'useful ' way. They tell you straight what they thinkand are not in the habit of swearing except to vent intense feelings.

So do I need a label or is this more your problem?