"Class" Sensitivity

Ever since Fogg’s recent passionate & compassionate, sensitive post I’ve been thinking about the effect of our unstable economy on the people of my world. Considering the incessant screaming from the headlines about the increasingly dismal state of the economy with words such as “worse since depression” being bandied about – one would think that most Americans would be economically quaking in their boots. Well – going by those I know – this is only partly true – which raises the prospect of some interesting social tensions in the future.

A few examples from my world.

I am an acquaintance of someone where I work who works in Human Resources. I ran into her the other day & she started complaining about all of the people coming into her office complaining about the economy. She said she wanted to put up a sign by her desk that said “no whining.” She then proceeded to fill me in on her Thanksgiving plans. She & her husband had decided to blow off the large annual family gathering hosted by her daughter & were instead going to NYC for the weekend. She then proceeded to tell me about all of the shows they were going to go see.

Mmmmm

For starters – she missed the irony of her complaining about complainers. Then – she seemed to miss the fact that issues pertaining to people’s finances were the concern of Human Resources offices (i.e. benefits, etc) so therefore people’s economic concerns were going to rise to the surface in her office. In other words – dealing with these people’s issues was at least part of her job. Thirdly – she was completely insensitive to her own good fortune in the face of others’ woes. The kicker about all of this is that this woman is really a very nice person. Cheerful & engaging. Kind even. I genuinely like her. But for heaven’s sake does she have a blind spot! I was taken aback by the whole conversation. Her obliviousness to the disconnect between her situation & that of others was incredible.

Then there is another coworker who daily regales me with tales about the remodeling of his home. He asked me recently what my plans were for xmas. I said I was staying put by myself, not traveling. He then suggested that I go to one of the local spas for a few days – he was dead serious. I evasively made some kidding remark about that not being my thing (which is true) – quickly changing the subject, not wanting to engage in a discussion of money. I’ve seen the ads for these spas – one would have to mortgage one’s soul to partake. This man happens to know exactly how much money I make – he hired me. He also knows how precarious my particular employment situation is in the current economic climate. Therefore -what a ridiculous suggestion. Now – he did not mean to be insensitive. And I took no offense – though it made me roll my eyes heavenward for days after. He’s a nice person. Really nice. Kind. I like him. But – like the HR woman – clueless.

Now – to be sure – there has always been a disconnect between the have’s & the have not’s in society. And insensitivity between the two is nothing new either. However – I wonder if the disconnect, the unintentional insensitivity is screaming louder these days? Egged on by misleading media analysis & political rhetoric. I wonder this because the headlines keep telling me that WE – in the collective sense as a society – are suffering. But WE are not. Only some of us WE. And some of us WE are suffering more than others. I do NOT include myself in this. I currently have a job with insurance. A place to live. A car. From the point of view of many this is huge - & it is. And from whose point of view am I fortunate? At least partly from the LOWER economic class point of view. You know – that class that NEVER EVER gets mentioned. The class completely dissed by political rhetoric during the election? All we’ve heard about in recent months is the woe of the MIDDLE class. The poor MIDDLE class. Defined by even Obama as being up to $250,000 per anum income. That’s just plain silly and encourages too many people to think of themselves as “suffering.”

I can not help but wonder if the insensitivity of these nice people I know is being nurtured by this inaccurate sense of SHARED suffering being spewed by the media & politicians. Not only are some members of the MIDDLE class acting insensitively to their fellow class members, but they are completely forgetting about the LOWER class in our midst. A class that we like to think doesn’t really exist in our fair country. We give to food banks but do we really stop to think about the lives of those who utilize food banks? If we do not start recognizing the LOWER class then how will we even be sensitive to our fellow middle-classers when they fall into it?

OK - thanks for listening to that rant!

And thanks, Fogg, for your sobering post of yesterday. It got me to thinking . . . And not to put my fellow Zoners & readers on a pedastal or anything, but I have been heartened by posts & comments of late to believe there is compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves. Such as Rocky's story about the local restaurant's Thanksgiving practice. Now - if only we can tune in the media & politicians to the scope of the under classes . . .