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Entry: Of Snobs and Slobs Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/of_snobs_and_slobs#1277 Post contents: To Donald, the first commentor, I think I may know how the dustman feels, or at least how he might feel if he were an American. In the summer, when I was twelve, my mother would sometimes take me along when she did housecleaning. We often cleaned the cottages of the wealthy, and although they were usually away on vacation, we once met the owner of a fantastic cottages that was nicer than my family's house. I shall probably never forget her. Ms. Korth was an aristocrat of some kind, or so my mother told me. My mother warned me to be on my best behavior and not to think it odd that we would lunch in the kitchen while Ms. Korth lunched in the dining room. At first, I felt slightly offended by the lady of the house, but it soon became clear to me that her aloofness was actually a form of courtesy. By avoiding chumminess, she steered our conversation towards subjects that were actually interesting. To this day, I don't know whether or not she percieved my mother and I as equals or not, and I could not care less. We were her equals, and her rules of etiquette, though foriegn to us, made things much less uncomfortable than they otherwise would have been. To this day, I am, by birth and income, a member of the lower middle class. Since the age of twelve, I have always felt more comfortable around 'old money' than around members of either the upper middle class or the nouveau riche. Sent at: 2008 07 04