A NANNY FOR A COLLEGE FRESHMAN.

I'm sorry, I couldn't get past that part.

Dude. I know. And then there's the part where she says it's a full-time job, but the person really only reliably gets one day off a month.

I'm not sure if "middle class" is a useful term.

Yes, I was pondering it in my own blog and I realized I don't know what the hell middle class actually is, let alone middle class values.

Therefore my pondering mostly focused on money rather than class.

And is the cousin greeted with open arms by Lord Such-and-such's family if she wants to marry him?

She's Labour. Of course not. Not to mention black. But it it common for old American money to marry kids whose parents were dirt poor?

But it it common for old American money to marry kids whose parents were dirt poor?

Common, no. But if your daughter is marrying an investment banker who grew up poor but makes bank and has the right manners it probably isn't that much of an issue with anyone but Bunny McDougal.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say the British have more of a rigid class system in place than the US. For example, one has actual inheritable titles and one does not.

They are 14 (son), 12 (daughter), and 9 (daughter). They are extremely particular and each have their own set of demands and little "isms" about them, but, I assure you they are entertaining, charming, and delightful most of the time.

AUGH. *smite*

well, they seem will to pay for it. But why are cats and dog 'the family'.We have a cat,he is important ,but we are a family of two, not three

I think that's due to the "American's don't HAVE social class" notion -- we almost all want to consider ourselves middle class.

Exactly. Though the "academic" class mentioned upthread would be a more useful sub-category of the too-broad middle class.

More useful to whom?

It sounds like the system works as intended for the people she wrote it for.

Yeah, I mean it's a crazy job posting but they are offering up to 75k +OT with full health benefits, so if you can deal with the crazy, then it's at least well compensated. I know some personal assistants in LA that get paid much less and deal with a lot more BS.

Re: Hummers (and also class): China's Cars, Accelerating A Global Demand for Fuel

SONGJIANG, China -- Nodding his head to the disco music blaring out of his car's nine speakers, Zhang Linsen swings the shiny, black Hummer H2 out of his company's gates and on to the spacious four-lane road.

...

"In China, size matters," says Zhang, the 44-year-old founder of a media and graphic design company. "People want to have a car that shows off their status in society. No one wants to buy small."

Zhang grasps the wheels of his Hummer, called "hanma" or "fierce horse" in Chinese, and hits the accelerator.

Car ownership in China is exploding, and it's not only cars but also sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and other gas-guzzling rides. Elsewhere in the world, the popularity of these vehicles has tumbled as the cost of oil has soared. But in China, the number of SUVs sold rose 43 percent in May compared with the previous year, and full-size sedans were up 15 percent. Indeed, China's demand for gas is much of the reason for the dramatic run-up in global oil prices.

...

But starting in 2000, China began to aggressively promote consumption to balance its export-driven, white-hot economy. Zeng Peiyan, who was then director of the national planning committee, created a list of things average citizens should be encouraged to buy. At the top of that list was cars.

Beijing has simplified procedures for buying cars, cut sales taxes and improved the availability of bank loans. It encouraged local governments to build more parking areas. It banned bicycles on some larger streets. And it laid thousands of miles of gleaming, multi-lane superhighways around the country.

In the meantime, gas has been kept artificially cheap. Even after subsidies were partly lifted last month, a gallon of gas in China costs only $3.40, well below market prices.