While I don't consider my parents blue-collar, my schools, my friends, etc growing up certainly were as well as most family members. My dad and my stepdad were both the high-achievers that went on to be very successful in the white collar world, but the rest of their families remained the same. So my parents were the straddlers.
Going to Smith was quite a shock to the system, that really changed my perspective on where I stood in the world. For a while, I was a little reactionary about this - instead of trying to fit into their world, I tried to be even more "earthy" so to speak. But then I was dating these guys who really _were_ from blue-collar families, all the way. And they saw a huge difference between me and them - sometimes I even felt like they resented me. So I never knew where I fit in. I never liked to pretend to be something I'm not, so I didn't try to pretend I was wealthy, but I probably went too far in trying to be "streetwise" instead. I didn't have _that_ kind of background either, really.
Some of the reviews talk about alienating yourselves from your families. I have to say that I feel very distant from some family members - I have to talk in a different way for them to understand me, and it's hard for me to understand their motivations and goals, and vice versa. I never really felt like I had a family that I fit into, except for my mom (who is also voluntarily cut off from her family). But most of all, I felt alienated from most people in Nashua - and I think if I had grown up in a different town, or if I had been sent to private school like the rest of the people in my neighborhood, I would have had a different experience. But I value having gone to public school, because I'm way more in touch with reality than people who were shielded from it. And my mom thought it was important that I was exposed to all different levels of society. For my own kids, I don't know what to do. I don't want them to grow up to be snobs, but I don't want them to be teased because they don't fit in.
Let us know how the book is. I might end up reading it too.
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timeasmymeasure
blue-collar book
Date: 2003-12-19 01:09 pm (UTC)Going to Smith was quite a shock to the system, that really changed my perspective on where I stood in the world. For a while, I was a little reactionary about this - instead of trying to fit into their world, I tried to be even more "earthy" so to speak. But then I was dating these guys who really _were_ from blue-collar families, all the way. And they saw a huge difference between me and them - sometimes I even felt like they resented me. So I never knew where I fit in. I never liked to pretend to be something I'm not, so I didn't try to pretend I was wealthy, but I probably went too far in trying to be "streetwise" instead. I didn't have _that_ kind of background either, really.
Some of the reviews talk about alienating yourselves from your families. I have to say that I feel very distant from some family members - I have to talk in a different way for them to understand me, and it's hard for me to understand their motivations and goals, and vice versa. I never really felt like I had a family that I fit into, except for my mom (who is also voluntarily cut off from her family). But most of all, I felt alienated from most people in Nashua - and I think if I had grown up in a different town, or if I had been sent to private school like the rest of the people in my neighborhood, I would have had a different experience. But I value having gone to public school, because I'm way more in touch with reality than people who were shielded from it. And my mom thought it was important that I was exposed to all different levels of society. For my own kids, I don't know what to do. I don't want them to grow up to be snobs, but I don't want them to be teased because they don't fit in.
Let us know how the book is. I might end up reading it too.