3 ms·
Bowling is kind of viewed as a lower-middle class sport, and the economy has wiped the lower-middle class out. I thought the complaint was that the center has
by CWuestefeld 13y ago
Bowling is kind of viewed as a lower-middle class sport, and the economy has wiped the lower-middle class out.
I thought the complaint was that the center has been pushed a bit downwards, which would suggest to me that the lower-middle is at least as robust as ever.
My completely unfounded guess for the reason is due to fashion. It used to be OK to acknowledge one's working-man lifestyle (coincidence that the article cites bowling's heyday at the same time America was enjoying "Urban Cowboy" and "Smokey and the Bandit"?), but we're all supposed to pretend to have more sophistication today.
- derefr 13y agoI think you and the parent are saying the same thing. The lower-middle class no longer "exists"... because it now thinks of itself as upper-middle class. It's still there for anyone else to see, of course, but whether it embraces its own status determines a lot about its purchasing habits.
- bsder 13y ago> I thought the complaint was that the center has been pushed a bit downwards, which would suggest to me that the lower-middle is at least as robust as ever. I don't find this true, in my experience. The "smear" that used to characterize the people I knew is gone. There are a bunch of white collar "professionals". There are a bunch of low wage "service" people. However, the vast chunk of blue collar factory workers, machinists, welders, steelworkers, miners, etc. seems to just be gone.