Ive noticed recently that my generation has… no concept of what the various economic classes actually are anymore. I talk to my friends and they genuinely say things like “at least i can afford a middle class lifestyle with this job because i dont need a roommate for my one bedroom apartment” and its like… oughh
You guys, middle class doesnt mean “a stable enough rented roof over your head,” it means “a house you bought, a nice car or two, the ability to support a family, and take days off and vacations every year with income to spare for retirement savings and rainy days.” If all you have is a rented apartment without a roommate and a used car, you’re lower class. That’s lower class.
And i cant help but wonder if this is why you get kids on tumblr lumping in doctors and actors into their “eat the rich” rhetoric: economic amnesia has blinded you to what the class divides actually are. The real middle class lifestyle has become so unattainable within a system that relies upon its existence that theyve convinced you that those who can still reach it are the elites while your extreme couponing to afford your groceries is the new normal.
Middle class is being able to live 3 months comfortably without a paying job.
Even the above definition is a very American conception of middle-class. Here in the UK middle-class means “a house you bought with a guest bedroom or two, a nice car or two in a garage, the ability to shop at the premium supermarkets and send your kids to a private school plus all the extracurriculars on offer, and take a couple of holidays per year (ski holiday abroad in the winter, coast holiday in the summer) with plenty of income to spare” - anything less is working-class, even if you’re comfortable.
If tumblr was an rpg some of the stats would be like; weirdness (WRD), creativity (ART), jest (JST), ennui (WOE), lust (LST), neurodivergence (NDV), and furriness (FUR).
Hey, Tumblr. You like non-stereotypical depictions of autism? What about ✨ neurodivergent protagonists ✨ ? Yes? What about asexual neurodivergent protagonists that go on chapters-long rants about their special interests? You want gay characters that are important to the plot too? Then I’ve got the book for you! The author is gay!!! American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis, is
I don’t know that the canonical Bertie Wooster could be called “progressive” (or “politically engaged” or “aware of anything that’s going on outside of his immediate sphere of acquaintances with funny nicknames”) but you can’t argue he wouldn’t support gay marriage. Bertie Wooster neither likes nor understands straight marriage, but he fights for his friends who inexplicably want to do that.
And if you change your pronouns, Bertie Wooster will never fuck them up because he barely has room in his brain for one set of them per person. As soon as you tell him, the old ones just evaporate. He might ask Jeeves about it later, but it’d be to the tune of “I say, Jeeves, why didn’t you tell me that Bingo was a woman this whole time? I’ve been calling her a bloke for years; she must think I’m a perfect ass.”
To be clear, he doesn’t understand that she transitioned. He thinks that she’s always been a lady. He’d try to explain it to someone and accidentally be the most supportive ally.
an aunt, probably: What’s all this nonsense about young Bingo, then? I hear he’s gotten it into his head that he’s a woman. Going about in dresses and such.
Bertie: Oh, I was confused as well, but it turned out to be rather a large misunderstanding. Bingo is a woman, always has been.
Aunt: That can’t be right, Bertie; he was at Eton with you, you absolute chump.
Bertie: Well, yes. Some sort of scholarship program, perhaps? I’m fuzzy on the details. But she’s very definitely a woman. She told me so herself, and I daresay she would know. Bit embarrassing for all of us, really; we mistook her for a bloke for years, the poor girl. She must have been too polite to say anything about it.
Aunt: But he’s gone his whole life up until last week looking like a man! If he were a woman, why would he not present himself as such?
Bertie: There was a dress code. I don’t know how many times I was told off for a scruffy tie.
Aunt: I don’t mean at school, you dunce. Even if - and it’s still nonsense, mind you - even if I were to accept that Eton somehow permitted this ridiculous state of affairs, what about afterwards?
Bertie: Oh, I haven’t the foggiest. I’ve long since given up on explaining the fairer sex, as well you know.
Aunt: Bertram, he was christened ‘Richard’.
Bertie: Yes, bit of an odd choice on her parents’ part. I mean, you don’t see many girls named Richard, what? I say, do you suppose that’s why she goes by 'Bingo’? If I were a lady saddled with Bingo’s Christian name, I should likely choose something else too.
Aunt: Have you spoken to Jeeves about all this?
Bertie: Naturally.
Aunt: And? What is his evaluation?
Bertie: He says that when a young lady asserts that she is, in fact, a lady, one ought to take her word for it.
Bertie: Very sensible, I thought. One can always trust Jeeves in these matters.
While GM'ing, make sure you use the exact cadence and delivery of a person who is working the Disney jungle cruise ride for their 5th consecutive year.
For real immersion, buy a headset and the worst PA system you can find!
girl who wont shut up about how she “loves a man in uniform” but as she keeps talking it becomes clear she’s talking about butches in customer service jobs
