Well, as much as one can at a catered event when the speaker is nicely dressed and using multiple expensive technologies to express her wisdom. I know there are a lot of assumptions we all make (yes, you and I, too!) about poverty and about those living in it. But in talking about avoiding stereotypes and generalizations about class, we keep reminding ourselves that these generalizations are false. But then we use them and act like they are hard-and-fast. This happened repeatedly. And some of them really strike me as not only unreliable but also false.
For instance, in talking about humor, we were told that members of lower economic classes use it to defuse negative situations but that anyone in the middle class doing it might be seen as disrespectful. Pile this on top of the statement that “business” procedures and customs are based on middle class ways of thinking and doing, which we were also told. Unless I’m more of a dreamer than I thought, I can swear I have seldom seen middle class people show signs of feeling disrespected by people using humor to lighten the mood. And when I have, it seemed more of a personal issue than a class issue. Maybe humor is universal? Or, at least, class-less?
I don’t know where I’m going with this. It just makes me sad and makes me think about what I spend money on.
And thankful for my full belly tonight.
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