You Know You Live in a Small(ish) Town When...

[Fading Fast]

The high versus middle versus low brow is interesting. I've noticed that many people are stunned when you can order (yet alone make) a cocktail today... but yet wine is still considered the drink of high class people. (Which, I will note, whiskey, wine, and beer will all make you a fool in the right amount... some it takes none at all.)

All this "class," "brow" stuff I half understand and half get lost in the swirl of details and minutia as, for examples, Lizzie's (I'm sure) spot on comments on were your dryer port exits your house. And I'm sure I get a lot wrong as I just don't care, don't have the energy to learn it. If I was installing a dryer port, I'd try to put it in a not overtly visible place as long as it didn't hurt its venting as, aesthetically, it would look better, IMHO, but my God, that's all the effort and thought I can put into it.

But I started typing to pick up on your spot on alcohol comments. I am not a heavy drinker at all, especially now as I've gotten older my capacity has shrunk and I hate feeling hung over (and don't want to beat up my liver), so two or three is my limit (two cocktails or three glasses of wine - woohoo!).

But I like, depending on how I feel or what I'm eating, wine, beer, straight alcohol or a mixed drink and I love sparkling wine (really love champagne, but my budget doesn't allow for that too often) and have seen dramatically different responses from friends and colleagues based on what I order when, the truth is, the next night, I might order something else. Even within each category, there's a snob-appeal hierarchy.

While I have a broad sense of alcohol's "social," "class" or "brow" hierarchy, like the dryer port, the minutia hurts my head and I don't care if someone judges me based on what I drink. I'm not saying I'm a "I don't give a damn what others think about me" person as I do care that, overall, people think I'm respectful, honest, practice reasonably good hygiene, etc., but if you are going to judge me because I drink beer not wine or sparkling wine not whiskey, then I have little interest in being your friend.

All that said, the biggest reaction I've gotten is to ordering sparkling wine (literally, for example, an $8 glass of sparkling when other wines on the menu are about the same, beer ranges from $5 - $10 and a cocktail is $10): It's like I've proclaimed I'm Thurston Howell the Third and no-one around me is worthy. It's happened repeatedly, as the flute it is served in and the bubbles are distinctive enough that, I think, regardless of price (see prior sentence), it is viewed as the most snobbish drink.

To wit, lyrics from Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman"

Well I ain't never
Been the barbie doll type
No I can't swig that sweet champagne
I'd rather drink beer all night
In a tavern or in a honky tonk...​

 

[LizzieMaine]

If that was the case, both high and low brows would drink tap, and there would be infinite divisions of brands among the mittelbrows.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Coffee-to-go-cups, probably the most classless item, underways. I guess, in the US, too?

 

[BlueTrain]

At the local grocery store where we buy not only beer, wine and Coca Cola, one can also buy bottled water imported from Fiji. I haven't bought any, haven't tasted any, so all I can say is, it must be really good water. One can also buy Perrier, available even in this country since before WWII in the same distinctive green bottle. I don't think Vichy water is available here, though. There is, however, some discussion among certain groups as to the value of drinking any water at all when other more appropriate beverages are so widely available. The claim has been advanced that whoever drinks water deserves whatever happens to them. But that startling assertions is tempered by the helpful suggestion that the addition of a small amount, no more than about four ounces per cup, of certain rare and special distilled product will render the water perfectly harmless and even impart a significant flavoring. Naturally, there are a few very conservative and especially traditional individuals who will advise never taking foolish chances and leave out the water altogether.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Coffee-to-go-cups, probably the most classless item, underways. I guess, in the US, too?

Well, you could say that a cup from a hipster-indie coffee place is upper middlebrow, a cup from Starbucks is lower middlebrow, and a cup from Dunkies is lowbrow. And true upper class people don't drink coffee anywhere but at the breakfast table.

 

[LizzieMaine]

All that said, the biggest reaction I've gotten is to ordering sparkling wine (literally, for example, an $8 glass of sparkling when other wines on the menu are about the same, beer ranges from $5 - $10 and a cocktail is $10): It's like I've proclaimed I'm Thurston Howell the Third and no-one around me is worthy. It's happened repeatedly, as the flute it is served in and the bubbles are distinctive enough that, I think, regardless of price (see prior sentence), it is viewed as the most snobbish drink.

We sell, during concerts, a brand of sparkling wine that comes in an itty little can. It's $7.50 a shot, but it pops open at the top with an audible "pop" just like a can of beer. And it comes with a twee little pink extendable straw to complete the experience. Somehow this manages to be both upscale and ridiculous.

 

[BlueTrain]

I date myself (frequently) but any drinks that cost that much should be accompanied by dancing girls not overly dressed.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

As Americans with our democratic-egalitarian (ideally) values, we are uncomfortable with titles of authority so we borrow them from other languages. "Boss"is Dutch. If you're a great figure in business you're a "Tycoon," (Chinese) unless you're in the movie business, in which case you're a "Mogul" (Indian). If you head a government department you're a "Czar" (Russian) and so forth.

 

[Fading Fast]

We sell, during concerts, a brand of sparkling wine that comes in an itty little can. It's $7.50 a shot, but it pops open at the top with an audible "pop" just like a can of beer. And it comes with a twee little pink extendable straw to complete the experience. Somehow this manages to be both upscale and ridiculous.

Definitely not helped by the little pink extendable straw - Freud and all that the color pink can imply in one package.

I date myself (frequently) but any drinks that cost that much should be accompanied by dancing girls not overly dressed.

In NYC, in 2017 (as you imply), those are TGIF / basic pub prices - I kid you not. (The la-di-da places are more than double, once again - I kid you not.) Believe me, it pains me every time I see those prices and, even though he's been dead for over 25 years, every time I order a drink in a pub (pub not la-di-da place), I expect my dad to rise up from his grave and dope-slap me on the head.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

At the local grocery store where we buy not only beer, wine and Coca Cola, one can also buy bottled water imported from Fiji. I haven't bought any, haven't tasted any, so all I can say is, it must be really good water. One can also buy Perrier, available even in this country since before WWII in the same distinctive green bottle. I don't think Vichy water is available here, though. There is, however, some discussion among certain groups as to the value of drinking any water at all when other more appropriate beverages are so widely available. The claim has been advanced that whoever drinks water deserves whatever happens to them. But that startling assertions is tempered by the helpful suggestion that the addition of a small amount, no more than about four ounces per cup, of certain rare and special distilled product will render the water perfectly harmless and even impart a significant flavoring. Naturally, there are a few very conservative and especially traditional individuals who will advise never taking foolish chances and leave out the water altogether.

I recall reading a novel in which a European aesthete was highly amused at the American obsession with drinking foreign bottled waters. Every European connoisseur of spring waters knows that Saratoga Spring water, from NY, is one of the finest in the world.

 

[belfastboy]

All this "class," "brow" stuff I half understand and half get lost in the swirl of details and minutia as, for examples, Lizzie's (I'm sure) spot on comments on were your dryer port exits your house. And I'm sure I get a lot wrong as I just don't care, don't have the energy to learn it. If I was installing a dryer port, I'd try to put it in a not overtly visible place as long as it didn't hurt its venting as, aesthetically, it would look better, IMHO, but my God, that's all the effort and thought I can put into it.

But I started typing to pick up on your spot on alcohol comments. I am not a heavy drinker at all, especially now as I've gotten older my capacity has shrunk and I hate feeling hung over (and don't want to beat up my liver), so two or three is my limit (two cocktails or three glasses of wine - woohoo!).

But I like, depending on how I feel or what I'm eating, wine, beer, straight alcohol or a mixed drink and I love sparkling wine (really love champagne, but my budget doesn't allow for that too often) and have seen dramatically different responses from friends and colleagues based on what I order when, the truth is, the next night, I might order something else. Even within each category, there's a snob-appeal hierarchy.

While I have a broad sense of alcohol's "social," "class" or "brow" hierarchy, like the dryer port, the minutia hurts my head and I don't care if someone judges me based on what I drink. I'm not saying I'm a "I don't give a damn what others think about me" person as I do care that, overall, people think I'm respectful, honest, practice reasonably good hygiene, etc., but if you are going to judge me because I drink beer not wine or sparkling wine not whiskey, then I have little interest in being your friend.

All that said, the biggest reaction I've gotten is to ordering sparkling wine (literally, for example, an $8 glass of sparkling when other wines on the menu are about the same, beer ranges from $5 - $10 and a cocktail is $10): It's like I've proclaimed I'm Thurston Howell the Third and no-one around me is worthy. It's happened repeatedly, as the flute it is served in and the bubbles are distinctive enough that, I think, regardless of price (see prior sentence), it is viewed as the most snobbish drink.

To wit, lyrics from Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman"

Well I ain't never
Been the barbie doll type
No I can't swig that sweet champagne
I'd rather drink beer all night
In a tavern or in a honky tonk...​

Three years ago my New Years's Resolution was to drink more Champagne as every day provides some reason to celebrate and at my age just having the day is reason enough. It remains the only resolution that I have ever managed to keep. In our travels we now specialize in finding the drinkable cheap stuff and have extended the resolution to cover all types of bubbly. One of our favourites is from New Mexico of all places...."Gruet" I think is the name and correct spelling. Who knew they made champagne in NM!!!

 

[vitanola]

All this "class," "brow" stuff I half understand and half get lost in the swirl of details and minutia as, for examples, Lizzie's (I'm sure) spot on comments on were your dryer port exits your house. And I'm sure I get a lot wrong as I just don't care, don't have the energy to learn it. If I was installing a dryer port, I'd try to put it in a not overtly visible place as long as it didn't hurt its venting as, aesthetically, it would look better, IMHO, but my God, that's all the effort and thought I can put into it.

But I started typing to pick up on your spot on alcohol comments. I am not a heavy drinker at all, especially now as I've gotten older my capacity has shrunk and I hate feeling hung over (and don't want to beat up my liver), so two or three is my limit (two cocktails or three glasses of wine - woohoo!).

But I like, depending on how I feel or what I'm eating, wine, beer, straight alcohol or a mixed drink and I love sparkling wine (really love champagne, but my budget doesn't allow for that too often) and have seen dramatically different responses from friends and colleagues based on what I order when, the truth is, the next night, I might order something else. Even within each category, there's a snob-appeal hierarchy.

While I have a broad sense of alcohol's "social," "class" or "brow" hierarchy, like the dryer port, the minutia hurts my head and I don't care if someone judges me based on what I drink. I'm not saying I'm a "I don't give a damn what others think about me" person as I do care that, overall, people think I'm respectful, honest, practice reasonably good hygiene, etc., but if you are going to judge me because I drink beer not wine or sparkling wine not whiskey, then I have little interest in being your friend.

All that said, the biggest reaction I've gotten is to ordering sparkling wine (literally, for example, an $8 glass of sparkling when other wines on the menu are about the same, beer ranges from $5 - $10 and a cocktail is $10): It's like I've proclaimed I'm Thurston Howell the Third and no-one around me is worthy. It's happened repeatedly, as the flute it is served in and the bubbles are distinctive enough that, I think, regardless of price (see prior sentence), it is viewed as the most snobbish drink.

To wit, lyrics from Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman"

Well I ain't never
Been the barbie doll type
No I can't swig that sweet champagne
I'd rather drink beer all night
In a tavern or in a honky tonk...​

Well, I certainly can understand why she would not care to "swig that sweet Champagne all night". I can't abide Demi Sec myself.

 

[BlueTrain]

While I said that people want to be like other people as well as wanting other people to be like them, there still remains the competitive nature inherent in most people. But you only compete within your class, in a manner of speaking. The expression is keeping up with the Jones. But the Jones are the folks who live next door, not the Jones who live on the other side of town.

This also shows up in other ways, too. Some folks like showy cars and if not fancy, then at least powerful and fast and sometimes, noisy. And everyone knows that the driver is superior to the person on foot. Still, it's difficult to accurately judge someone by only what you see, for there is much that you don't see. And again, don't confuse income with wealth. Overall, however, I'd say most of us would rather be upper income rather than upper class any day.

 

[EngProf]

The most abrupt change in class standing based on dress I ever experienced was one summer when I was an engineering intern at a Research and Development Division of a medium-sized manufacturing company.
As an engineering student I could do almost whatever interested me of the various technical activities, so I spent the mornings in the "front-office" doing engineering work in a white shirt and tie.
In the afternoons I would change into white T-shirt and blue jeans and work in the fabrication part of the facility with the machinists, welders, and technicians. (the older guys wore blue or gray work shirts.)
As the R&D group, which was top-secret, we were in a separate barbed-wire-fenced area away from the main plant. As the youngest guy I would often get sent over to the main plant on various errands. I was (at first) surprised that if I went in the morning in white-shirt-and-tie I would be pleasantly greeted by engineers, managers, and secretarial staff. However, the "factory-workers" would pretend that they didn't see me.
As you are probably already thinking, if I went over in the afternoon, in T-shirt and jeans (both usually greasy), the upper-level staff would pretend that they didn't see me, and the factory-workers would smile and wave.
I finally got used to that, but it was disconcerting for a young kid at first. Same person, same day, two different treatments based on clothes alone...

A close second was my experience in an auto parts store during a previous summer:
We had a policy that if someone came to buy parts and was wearing a greasy set of clothes, they automatically were charged the wholesale (reduced) price. However, if you came in to buy parts wearing a suit you got charged full list price.
As far as I know they was no official guidance on this - we just did it because it was the thing to do.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I make a point of going to NAPA in greasy overalls. It's pretty much the only way I can get them to take me seriously. And I make sure my hands are dirty too.

 

[EngProf]

I make a point of going to NAPA in greasy overalls. It's pretty much the only way I can get them to take me seriously. And I make sure my hands are dirty too.

I still do that also, just for tradition's sake, but the modern computer-kids at the auto parts store probably can't make the decision to have two price structures.
They can barely find the parts you need if you have an old car (and they sometimes can't).

 

[BlueTrain]

One of my relatives claimed it was easier to get parts for an older vehicle, a pickup truck in his case, than a more recent model, which I imagine shouldn't be that surprising. On another forum, one contributor who was retired mentioned that once he went to the bank or some such place in his everyday clothes (which we used to call "old clothes") and was mistaken for the man who sold fish or something. He said that after that, he made a point of getting dressed up when he went to town. He didn't want to be mistaken for anyone.

The part about being treated differently based on one's appearance (more than just your clothes) is completely understandable. It's very hard to overcome that sort of behavior, both in yourself as well as others, to be honest.

One hates to admit that you assign all manner of characteristics to other people based on just a few outward signs, like the way they dress, the car they drive and maybe even the way they walk and the way they wear their hair. It's entirely unfair and somewhat prejudicial but your experiences over the years with a wide variety of people tells you that your first impression won't be far off the mark.

But people can still be full of surprises (as well as other things).

 

[Trenchfriend]

I hate, that the cheap-fashion chainstores uniform the people, which are not that strong-minded to buy individual. Massmarket gets them always and always.

 

[BlueTrain]

One of the nice things about small towns, most of them, anyway, is that you can wear whatever you want and nobody cares. The people there saw you grow up and they know you. So whatever you wear won't make any difference to them. That is a kind of freedom.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Good thing about the smalltown ist the density of only 135 people per km², here. The whole county got density 99 people per km². You don't need to deal with other people, if you don't like.