""Finding good help is so difficult these days." I nearly choked on my coffee the first time I heard this at a dinner party. The speaker was lamenting how their cleaner had rescheduled, throwing off their entire week. Meanwhile, most working class families I know clean their own homes after pulling double shifts, often with kids in tow. What really gets me is when they complain about these services in front of people who could never afford them."
"The disconnect hit me like a truck: Since moving to London and navigating these circles where everyone seemed to know each other from boarding school, I've witnessed countless moments where well-meaning upper middle class people say or do things that would make my hometown friends' jaws drop. Not out of malice, but from a complete blindness to how different their reality is."
Upper middle class people often complain about domestic help, nanny issues, or minor inconveniences that are unattainable luxuries for many working-class families. Many suggest costly fixes—hiring help or using ride services—without recognizing financial constraints. Wealth and lifestyle differences produce habitual blind spots where casual remarks about second homes, skiing, or “roughing it” expose normalized privilege. Working-class families frequently manage household chores after long shifts and cannot afford outsourced services. These everyday interactions create a jarring contrast between comfortable assumptions and the lived realities of those with limited means.
Read at Silicon Canals
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