I remember back in 10th grade, one of the teachers asked what class each of us thought we were in. Now this was the only public highschool in town, and the only private schools were religious ones, so unless you were shipping your kids off to prep school, they went through this high school. Everyone said middle class. The kids who were expecting to get new cars when they got their drivers' licenses, the ones who were living with grandparents because their folks hadn't had a job in years (~30% unemployment in that town at the time, so that wasn't terribly uncommon), all of us.

I eventually started using "I'm job-free at the moment" and then explaining that I was looking for work in X or whatever it was at the time.

I think i could do this now, but at the time I had just figured out that the career I'd been preparing myself for for 4 years was not for me, and I didn't know what I was going to do next. Big old black pit of despair to start, with standard small talk shovelling coals on my head.

It built character, I'm sure.

Chintz vs. Shag said I was ecclectic and made it nervous and would I please take the test again.

Oh, now I have to take it again and see if I can get this answer.

Well this is part of the problem in America - without clearly defined classes people don't know where they fit. For loads of people the assumption is that they should be living at a standard higher than they are based on their idea of what class they are. Therefore unsatisfied and disgruntled populace. resentment and a culture of victims gets developed. the lines between wealth, lineage, talent, fame, notiriaty are all blurred and a generation or more of people are stubbling around feeling lost and uncomfortable in their own lives.

I had almost no class consciousness growing up. I remember being impressed because our family doctor had a Cadillac - he was the only person I knew that I considered "rich."

Also, some farmers could be quite wealthy and others could be on the verge of bankruptcy and there was usually no way of telling (except my dad was on the loan committe of our locally-owned bank, so he knew) - because almost all of a rich farmer's net worth would be tied up in land, livestock, buildings and equipment. I knew a family who owned five farms with a net worth of over a million dollars - they dressed like all the other farmers and drove beat-up cars until they fell apart.

Chintz vs. Shag said I could probably get ringside seats to the WWF. I don't know if that makes me high-class or not.

Chintz vs. Shag said I was somewhere between middle-middle and old rich.

Which probably means I'm lower-middle but read a lot of Sayers novels.

Chintz vs. Shag said I could probably get ringside seats to the WWF. I don't know if that makes me high-class or not.

No, Jess, it just knows you know me.

[I was just heavily tempted to use a winky emoticon, but I refrained. I hope you're all proud of me.]

No, Jess, it just knows you know me.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, of course. Which means I must be very high class, what with you being from Connecticut and all.

I have a mix of Nouveau Riche and "downmarket" tastes, according to Chintz vs Shag.

My problem with Chintz vs. Shag was that the only option for books was "bestsellers". I do NOT want to line my shelves with bestsellers, KTHXBYE. So I picked something else.

Of course, in taking that quiz, I was also thinking about my own life and budget and reality, in which I might like to have an original painting on my wall, but the only reason I do is that the painter used to be our neighbor (and is professionally a French teacher). And, like, a huge-o projection television? In my tiny apartment? Ha! I need 5 tiny TVs, not one big one.