I went to the car repair shop today to get my brakes done.
While I was sitting on the designated waiting area waiting for my vehicle to be finished, CNN was on the television and they were talking about the hostage in Iraq (Jill Carroll). There were two guys behind the counter, one was the store manager (probably in his 50s), and one was a younger mechanic (probably about 30). The mechanic was a disgusting looking individual. Work shirt half unbuttoned, unlit cigarette hanging from his bottom lip, in need of a shave.
Well anyways, he was watching TV (CNN) about the hostage and said to the store manager (who was dressed up much better, much cleaner looking guy) that she (Carroll the Hostage) was probably "doing favors" for the terrorists (the people who kidnapped her), he then laughed slightly and said it "wouldn't be so bad to be a terrorist." The store manager just sort of brushed it off, but obviously did not care he said it.
This sort of comment or line of thinking is disgusting and perverse and this is not the first time I have heard something like this from the mouth of a blue collar person.
I'd also like to note that in my diverse experiences with many different types of people, I've never heard such a thing from a upper middle class or white collar person, although I'm not saying it doesn't happen.
I'd like to think that I am wrong about blue collar people, that the majority of them indeed do have morals and standards, but my many juvenile experiences such as this are hard to forget. Maybe I'm right, or maybe I've just had bad luck with working class people. But considering the I've seen the same sort of behavior over and over again as long as I can remember, and with more people than I can count, it is hard to believe I am wrong.
Far be it from me to paint an entire group of people the same color, as there are many people in the lower classes that are of high moral standard, but I find it impossible to respect the majority of the lower classes of people when I consistently experience things like this with the same sort of people, and this further enforces my belief that poverty is the product of behavior like this, not visa versa, and that the end problem is the person, not the economic situation.
For this reason, I do not believe elitism is bad if it's based on honest observation and real life experiences.
Nice guy. NOT! You're being an A-hole.
AnandTech Moderator
While I was sitting on the designated waiting area waiting for my vehicle to be finished, CNN was on the television and they were talking about the hostage in Iraq (Jill Carroll). There were two guys behind the counter, one was the store manager (probably in his 50s), and one was a younger mechanic (probably about 30). The mechanic was a disgusting looking individual. Work shirt half unbuttoned, unlit cigarette hanging from his bottom lip, in need of a shave.
Well anyways, he was watching TV (CNN) about the hostage and said to the store manager (who was dressed up much better, much cleaner looking guy) that she (Carroll the Hostage) was probably "doing favors" for the terrorists (the people who kidnapped her), he then laughed slightly and said it "wouldn't be so bad to be a terrorist." The store manager just sort of brushed it off, but obviously did not care he said it.
This sort of comment or line of thinking is disgusting and perverse and this is not the first time I have heard something like this from the mouth of a blue collar person.
I'd also like to note that in my diverse experiences with many different types of people, I've never heard such a thing from a upper middle class or white collar person, although I'm not saying it doesn't happen.
I'd like to think that I am wrong about blue collar people, that the majority of them indeed do have morals and standards, but my many juvenile experiences such as this are hard to forget. Maybe I'm right, or maybe I've just had bad luck with working class people. But considering the I've seen the same sort of behavior over and over again as long as I can remember, and with more people than I can count, it is hard to believe I am wrong.
Far be it from me to paint an entire group of people the same color, as there are many people in the lower classes that are of high moral standard, but I find it impossible to respect the majority of the lower classes of people when I consistently experience things like this with the same sort of people, and this further enforces my belief that poverty is the product of behavior like this, not visa versa, and that the end problem is the person, not the economic situation.
For this reason, I do not believe elitism is bad if it's based on honest observation and real life experiences.
Nice guy. NOT! You're being an A-hole.
AnandTech Moderator
