My Answers from Charles Murray’s “Bubble” Quiz
So, that Charles Murray quiz was interesting, wasn’t it? I thought, as a kind of get-to-know-the-host exercise, that I would tell you all my answers and give you a little background. I encourage people who took the quiz to tell us more details as to how you arrived at your result. No need to go full Patterico and give every answer, unless you’re inclined to — but consider sharing the more interesting answers. Many of you have already, and I enjoyed it, which is what motivated me to do this.
1. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American neighborhood in which the majority of your 50 nearest neighbors did not have college degrees?
No. It’s a guess, but I consulted with my mom who gave me specifics about our immediate neighbors, and her intuition confirmed mine. This one didn’t, but that one did, and that one over there was a college professor, and so forth. It wasn’t a rich neighborhood, just a standard middle class neighborhood in Fort Worth.
2. Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not in a managerial position or a high-prestige profession (defined as attorney, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, scientist or college professor)?
My dad was a CPA. I considered it prestigious. But I guess not by Murray’s standards.
3. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community with a population under 50,000 that is not part of a metropolitan area and is not where you went to college?
Nope. Fort Worth has always been about half a million people, as far as I can remember. And Los Angeles? Get outta here.
4. Have you ever lived for at least a year in the United States at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line?
I answered “no” to this one, but I wasn’t sure. I checked with my mom. She said “yes” but we’re not sure we qualify under Murray’s standards. My dad had a heart attack while running his own CPA business, and was out of work for months. The bills piled up. My mom clipped coupons and drove us all over town to get deals on groceries and other necessities. We were a family of 6, and she estimates we were making $20,000 for that family in the worst year — but she’s not really sure. She said my sisters were getting free lunches at school, and that was poverty. But if you apply the inflation multipliers Murray says to apply, then I guess the answer is no. So I said no, and I’m not changing it.
5. Have you ever walked on a factory floor?
Yeah, because I think you’d consider the Mrs. Baird’s Bread plant in Fort Worth to be a factory, and we went on tours of it at least twice. Once for my birthday. It wasn’t connected with a job, obviously.
6. Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
Yup. Working at a Long John Silver’s for eight months, I was a busboy, cashier, and general janitor. My feet were killing me at the end of an eight-hour shift. It lasted more than a summer. But my whole body didn’t ache. Just my feet. Same applies to being a sacker at a grocery store.
7. Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
Yup. For sure. But I’m not one myself.
8. Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
This is a tough one. Most of my friends have widely varying political views, but most don’t hold them strongly. I gave myself credit for one here, but I wasn’t really quite sure how to answer.
9. Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
Nope. I don’t think I would find such people all that interesting. If that’s elitist, so be it.
10. During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
I don’t think so. That’s uncommon in Southern California.
11. Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia? (Click each one to show the correct rank.)
Nope. Didn’t have a clue. My dad was in the Naval reserves, for a long time, and reached the rank of Commander. He almost became a captain. But I don’t know any of the symbols.
12. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?
Nope. I know a defense attorney by that name, but I’m pretty sure that’s not who Murray means. *Googles* Oh, a NASCAR guy. Nope. Not a NASCAR fan. (I never purchased Avon products either, but I think that one is for the ladies.)
13. Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
Nope.
14. During the last year, have you ever purchased domestic mass-market beer to stock your own fridge?
I don’t think so. I’m not positive. I almost never drink beer, but occasionally get some when other people are coming over, When I do, it’s not domestic mass-market stuff.
15. During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
I don’t think so. We went fishing as a family when I was a kid. I liked it OK, but not that much. My son and I went on an Indian Guides trip which I believe was in the last five years, and one of the dads was fishing and offered to let Matthew fish, which he did and enjoyed. But I didn’t participate. I just watched. So, no.
16. How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains?
I am estimating here, but Mrs. P. and I meet for lunch on occasion, and one of the semi-regular places is Chili’s. I estimated 3 times in the past year. Could have been more. The kids like T.G.I Friday’s, so we’ve been there.
17. In high school, did you letter in anything?
I played soccer, but I was horrible and never made it out of J.V. And I don’t think they gave us a letter for golf. I have this weird memory of maybe having gotten a letter, but I could be imagining it. So I’m saying no.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or union local?
I mentioned this in my original post. My dad was a longtime Kiwanis member. He took me to several meetings throughout my childhood. He encouraged me to go on my own, and I did, once — but didn’t really care for it. Anyway, this was a yes. Hooray!
19. Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest or gay rights?
Watched parades as a kid. Always hated them. Never participated in one.
20. Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform?
Nope.
21. Have you ever done either of these for a trip of 50 miles or more?
Ridden on a long-distance bus (e.g., Greyhound, Trailways)
hitchhiked
No, but that’s kind of silly. As a kid, we never flew anywhere. We drove from Fort Worth, Texas to grandma’s house on Long Island — a three-day trip — in a car. All six of us. With bags and coolers taking up every inch of floor space and space between us, because we never stopped to eat, even at a fast-food place, because that would be too expensive. So we took our food with us and ate sandwiches and fruit from the cooler and grocery bags. You’re gonna tell me I’m elitist and out of touch because we did that rather than riding a bus? Come on.
22. Movies seen
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Mockingjay Part 2
The Martian
[UPDATE: Mrs. P tells me I have also seen these:
Inside Out
Cinderella]
23. TV shows watched
Modern Family
24. Have you ever watched an episode of any of these shows all the way through?
Nope. I don’t even know who Wendy Williams is.
25. What does the word “Branson” mean to you?
A big entertainment center in the Midwest. Who is Richard Branson? *Googles* Ah, the founder of Virgin Group. What is Virgin Group? *Googles* Yeah, that’s what I figured. No, I have never been to Branson. If I want to watch Yakov Smirnov, I’ll watch him on YouTube, and then shoot myself in the head. What a country!
But I watched him and loved him as a kid.
That gets me a total of 27 points. It’s one of the most bubbilicious scores among the readership here, and yet I don’t feel like a giant elitist.
I’d be very interested to see where your answers differ.
UPDATE: The extra two movies (Inside Out and Cinderella) bumped my score to 28 points. Mrs. P. took the quiz and got 32 points.
Ding. I hope this inspires some good discussion.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 8:29 pmIt’s funny: I think that many of us take a low score on a quiz like this as a badge of shame — even though I’m not sure it should be.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 8:43 pm1,2 — Yes
3,4 — No
5,6,7,8,9,10 — yes
11 — knew all the insignia but No on service
12,13,14,15 — No
16 — None
17,18 — No
19 — Yes, Greek Day parades, once as a big shot with a chain of office around my neck 😉
20 — No
21 — Yes, but the only one I could remember at the time was Patras to Athens in 2002. 😉 In Chicago, I used buses and els and although I was riding motorcycles from age 19, I didn’t own a car until I was 28
22,23,24 — Nope, zero, zilch, zip, nada on all that. Basically, I keep a TV because of the daughter
25 — Old guy who owns an airline and indulges in space travel and nude water-skiing and once dressed up in a stewardess’s uniform complete with skirt and heels on a bet
Score 34
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2016 @ 8:57 pmI scored 47. With some rare exceptions, we don’t go to movies because we refuse to give our money to Hollywood. I haven’t watched any of the television shows listed. We read a lot and watch TV mostly for news and sports. Haven’t gone to any of the restaurants listed. We prefer small, family-owned ones. Does Bud Ice qualify as a domestic mass-market beer? I always have that in my house, but I like to sample different craft beers. I laughed at the voluntarily hanging out with smokers question. I live in Utah. Enough said.
Zoltan (c8e27b) — 3/25/2016 @ 8:58 pmBeen subjected to Wendy Williams in the gym and in the barber shop.
At a loss how the quiz accounts for knowing both Bransons.
Factory floor-does touring a factory really count? What if it’s Ben&Jerry’s?
Bugg (3ae93d) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:00 pmZoltan: so how do you get all the way up to 47?
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:03 pm66 could have been higher but I was honest. One of my many faults. We seldom eat at the chain restaurants as various local diners have much better food at cheaper prices and I know what’s best at each one.
Catseye (74d1bf) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:04 pmSee, I’d like to know how someone gets to 66. What did you answer yes to?
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:06 pmI don’t make up the questions. I just answer ’em!
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:13 pmI was a part-time Marine for a short time. That impacted more than one question.
John Hitchcock (2cd7fb) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:13 pmI worked a piece-rate job for 8 years. If your whole body doesn’t ache after mandatory 5 10s and an 8, then you’re not working hard enough.
I rode Greyhound to multiple trucking companies, because it was necessary for attaining the jobs.
I’m voluntarily around me, a smoker (along with many other smokers) on a daily basis.
50 years living in an area that is predominantly non-college-educated.
This is more like a marketing survey than anything else.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:15 pmOh, when I have time off in the US, Keith Stone is a friend of mine. But when I take time off in the Philippines, Red Horse beats San Mig (both domestic beers in phils).
John Hitchcock (2cd7fb) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:15 pmTwo updates:
[UPDATE: Mrs. P tells me I have also seen these:
Inside Out
Cinderella]
and:
UPDATE: The extra two movies (Inside Out and Cinderella) bumped my score to 28 points. Mrs. P. took the quiz and got 32 points.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:17 pmI’ve seen several different Cinderella movies. I have a 3-pack of them. Selena Gomez, Hillary Duff, and Haley something I think? But none of them were called Cinderella. They had more to the title than that. I’ve also seen “Somebody Help Me”, by Cinderella, but I don’t think that counts.
I wanted to see the new Star Wars movie but I can’t find it at the truck stops yet. The new Hunger Games movie just recently made it to the truck stops, and I’ve seen it twice this week.
John Hitchcock (2cd7fb) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:21 pmLoved your answers, Patterico. Here are mine:
1. Yes. For almost 3 years in the 1980s, I lived in a pretty marginal neighborhood in Lawndale, California. Not many of my neighbors spoke English, and few of them would have had degrees.
2. I put No for this. My father was an aerospace engineer, but my parents divorced when I was 11. My mother did secretary/clerical work to make ends meet, but my dad never missed an alimony or child support payment
3. No. I grew up in the Los Angeles area, and the smallest metropolitan area I’ve lived in is Reno
4. No. After my parents split up, we didn’t have any extra money, but we always had a roof over our heads and food to eat. As an adult, I’ve always been able to find work, even after my business failed and we lost everything.
5. Yes, several times it has been part of my job. I didn’t work on the floor, but I worked in fab & assembly areas
6. Oh, yes. I worked as a gardner one summer in college. Made every muscle in my body ache.
7. Yes, but I am not one myself
8. Yes, my two closest friends are very liberal, almost polar opposites from me.
9. Yes.
10. Yes. A couple of people I hung out with while living in Las Vegas were smokers.
11. I recognized at least two of the insignias, and possibly as many as four, but i didn’t know all of them. And I was never in the service.
12. Yeah, I know who Jimmie Johnson is. No, I never purchased Avon products (although my wife may have; I never paid attention to her make up).
13. No
14. No, I haven’t drunk beer in over 20 years. I drink scotch and a few mixed drinks, but I don’t like the taste of beer
15. No, I haven’t gone fishing in many years. Mostly because I’m terrible at it; I can’t recall ever catching a fish in my life. I used to hunt, though, and would like to go elk hunting some year soon.
16. I have eaten at Applebees, Chilis, TGIFriday, Denny’s, and IHOP. A few times for each of them.
17. No. I ran on the JV cross-country team for one year, but that was it.
18. No
19. Yes. When I was a Boy Scout, my troop marched in a 4th of July parade
20. No
21. Yes to the bus ride, no to hitchhiking
22. I saw Star Wars, The Martian, Inside Out, Jurassic World, and The Avengers.
23. The Big Bang Theory. But the writers are just mailing it in this season, it’s become almost unwatchable
24. No
25. I’d heard of both Branson, MO, and Richard Branson. He was the first thing that came to mind, so I put him down.
Chuck Bartowski (211c17) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:31 pm1, 2, 3 — Growing up on a farm earned me “yes” answers to each of these.
10 — My “yes” here was kind of fluky. 11 months out of 12, my answer to this would be “No.” But it happens that this month I was visiting my mom in Florida. When I visit my mom, I see my aunts as well. They both smoke. (Mom quit for good about 35 years ago.)
18 — The specific question about these particular organizations is a “No” for me. But I have attended many Lions Club meetings, because my wife is a longtime member. And in high school, I attended two American Legion meetings — on both occasions, they were giving me an award for high score on the annual “Americanism” test (which tested knowledge of American history and government). I don’t know why those wouldn’t count, but I answered “No.”
19 — My brother used to organize a parade for a local Labor Day festival. For three years running, he dragooned me into judging floats. I figured this counted, so I gave myself participation points and answered “yes.”
11 — Back in the early ’70s, when I was 10, most boys my age had an interest in the military, at least to the extent of playing soldiers at recess (probably forbidden now) or liking to read about World War II. And the encyclopedia at school had a full-color illustrated table of military ranks and their accompanying insignia. Snapshot of a vanished world, I guess.
My score was 39, which appears to be close to average for those who took this quiz. But anyone who takes a quiz on a PBS website is probably going to score lower than the average American in the general population.
gwjd (b24407) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:32 pmI worked private security for one of the big three so yes I wore a uniform and walked on a factory floor till my feet hurt. But Jimmie Johnson was my friend in grade school and that’s who I think of first and he doesn’t drive race cars which is what the question was about. I rode Greyhound buses to college and took trains too, whichever was the better deal. Pickups are gas eating monsters but I could always get someone who has one to help me out. The kicker is my mom’s Father Made his living with a gun, he was a professional hunter for a logging company. My father was truck driver, and as I said I worked private security (CorpSec) even though I have a degree or because of it. I have fought off wild dogs with my hands and faced off a Lynx with nothing but a wooden baton and I’m still walking around. I don’t have any bubble.
Catseye (74d1bf) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:44 pmGot a 47. My daddy was a preacher man, which made us semi-poor (especially with 5 kids) but which I counted as a “prestigious occupation”. But we were never welfare/foodstamp poor. Then he went back on active duty as a chaplain during the Vietnam War, and I was career military myself, so that added lots of points (including being in lots of parades–every local town wants a military contingent for Memorial Day and Veterans Day). After a divorce, child support requirements caused me to move into a low-income apartment for several years, so I got credit for lower-educated neighbors. And I was a smoker myself for many many years. I’m kinda elitish, but I don’t reckon I live in a bubble–I’ve been exposed to “the other side,” unlike Murray’s elite which is separating from normal society.
TennLion (d61a9a) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:45 pm74. I’ll have to go back and look at questions. Growing up in rural Midwest helped. Military helped. Having young kids helped with movies, and chain restaurants. Hitchhiking to Telluride helps.
JD (fe890c) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:51 pmFrankly, I found the whole thing kinda insulting, like growing up in a blue collar rural area makes you a valuable novelty.
JD (fe890c) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:52 pmHe might only be interested in the answers to one or two questions and the rest, including the purported purpose and score, are window dressing. Do you remember when Patterico asked us about the color of the Yield sign and our ages? Like that. Yes, I have a suspicious mind. Also, I used to draft similar surveys as college assignments for Psychology and Sociology and have people take them just to measure their relevance and validity i.e. how many people got the questions “right” or “wrong” versus random distribution of answers.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2016 @ 9:58 pm1. Yeah, until I was about 12, and then we moved to a white-collar neighborhood.
2. Yeah, my dad was a businessman, but I don’t believe he ever managed anyone.
3. No. My hometown was 100,000.
4. No, I’m pretty sure not.
5. Yeah, field trips all throughout my school years.
6. Yeah, I worked outdoors a lot my teenage years.
7. Absolutely.
8. Yeah, a bunch of my friends are Democrats and one guy is a Sanders freak.
9. Yep. I’m sure in retrospect he had a learning disorder, though they weren’t as easily diagnosed in those days.
10. Not the last month. I did back in December when I was visiting my hometown.
11. I knew them all.
12. Yeah, I don’t follow NASCAR closely but I knew it was him. The football coach spells his first name “Jimmy.”
13. No
14. Yep, there’s usually some Coors in my fridge. I usually drink the fancy stuff, but the Coors is good to use in cooking too.
15. No, but at some point in my life I would like to take up fishing. I’ll bet it’s really peaceful and relaxing.
16. I eat breakfast at Denny’s and IHOP a few times per year each. I might go to a Chilis or TGI Friday if I am on the road.
17. I was a high school and college letterman.
18. My dad was in Rotary, and it was a tradition for the members to bring their college-aged kids when they were home for the holidays.
19. I was in band in middle school and we marched in the Armed Forces parade.
20. No.
21. I like to ride Greyhound. It’s an interesting way of seeing America. When I lived in Boston I couldn’t afford Amtrak to NYC so I would usually ride the Hound or the Peter Pan bus line.
22.Oonly Star Wars.
23. None.
24. Nope.
25. I knew Branson, MO. Would like to go one day.
That was good for my 43.
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:07 pmI expect that is the case nk.
It’s likely the only issues that count are the ones about poverty, political differences and manual labor.
All the rest is window dressing.
NJRob (a07d2e) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:10 pmFrankly, I found the whole thing kinda insulting, like growing up in a blue collar rural area makes you a valuable novelty.
Don’t think of it as being a “novelty”; the whole point is whether or not you stay in some insulated social group. Murray is definitely assuming that the people who are taking his test are college-educated and probably live in some urban or suburban white collar neighborhood. Actually, there are people in the blue collar neighborhoods who I would argue live in a bubble because they have never really ventured outside of their own domain.
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:10 pmRight, JVW. I’m not sure a high score should be considered a good or bad thing.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:13 pmSee, I’d like to know how someone gets to 66. What did you answer yes to?
I think you get extra points for the number of years you live in a neighborhood with fewer than 50% college grads, as well as the number of times you report eating at the chain restaurants listed. There’s probably some sliding scale or maximum value, otherwise a 60-year-old who had lived in a blue collar neighborhood would automatically start off with 60 points.
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:18 pmI got a 68 on the quiz (and it would likely be a bit higher if I were not blind and still occasionally watch TV or go to movies), but I notice that it really is only asking about one kind of bubble.
Admittedly the subtitle and text makes that fairly clear but I have lived in extremely rural areas (as in a couple miles from my nearest neighbor and 12 miles outside a town of 350) where the folks were just as clueless about city life as the city dwellers were about those in the country. Watching TV does not give any sense of just how dependent cities (even small cities)are on regular services, for example.
I do think there is a fair amount of danger in bubbles of all kinds, the quiz just doesn’t measure how much of a bubble people actually do live in.
Soronel Haetir (86a46e) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:18 pmI scored a 13. Not that surprising when I have to reach all the way back to my great-grandparents to find some working-class ancestors.
1. Yes. Early in our marriage my wife and I lived in the SF Bay Area. I was working a foot-in-the-door job while she was forging a new career path (for very little money), we both were paying off student loans, and due to the ridiculous cost-of-living we ended up renting for a couple of years in a mostly working-class Hispanic neighborhood. I didn’t go around surveying the neighbors on their levels of education, but considering that most of the front yards had goats in them I’m going to give myself a point here.
2. No. My dad had an MBA and worked in international business while my mom was an attorney.
3. No. Outside of going to college in upstate New York, I’ve lived in Tokyo (where I was born), Phoenix, NYC, the suburbs outside NYC, San Diego, SF, and Austin.
4. No.
5. Yes for walked on a factory floor. My dad worked for a couple of years overseeing a plant manufacturing subway cars and he showed me around it a couple of times. And when visiting my great-grandmother in Winston-Salem I went on a tour of a cigarette factory.
6. No. The most physical job I’ve ever had was working in a dishroom during college. It was tiring, and I left there feeling greasy and wet, but it wouldn’t be fair to say I “hurt” at the end of the day. Plus it was only for 5-hour shifts a few times a week, so hardly back-breaking work.
7. Yes to having a friend, though as far as I know there’s only one. And he smokes, drinks, swears like there’s no tomorrow, and listens to heavy metal, so I’m not sure how representative he is.
8. No, but probably more because I don’t like to get into political arguments. I’m fairly moderate and like to listen to viewpoints from all over the spectrum.
9. No. Maybe in elementary school, since I just played with the kids in my neighborhood, but by high school all my friends were college-bound.
10. No. I’ve never smoked. 10-15 years ago I used to hang out with some co-workers who smoked, but not anymore.
11. No, and my dad would be embarrassed by my answer.
12. No to both. I thought of Jimmy Johnson the NFL coach, but knew his name was spelled differently.
13. No, and I’m not that interested in trucks, cars, or other vehicles, which should probably cost me some additional points as well.
14. No. I don’t drink anymore, but even when I did I wasn’t buying beer for the house.
15. No, though I went fishing a ton as a kid.
16. Zero times. It’s not about the quality of those restaurants – I just don’t go for traditional American food when I eat out.
17. Yes, in track.
18. No. I think when I was in Boy Scouts we met once in a Kiwanis Club hall, but that was it.
19. No. I watched a lot of Veterans Day parades with my dad when I was a kid, and when I lived in San Diego the Gay Pride parade went right by our apartment every year, but I’ve never walked in a parade.
20. No, not that I can remember.
21. Yes. After college I didn’t have much money and needed to get from Minneapolis back home to New York, so I took a Greyhound bus. And then two weeks later I abandoned my mother (as she tells it) to take another Greyhound all the way across the country in order to live with my girlfriend (now my wife) in San Diego.
22. The Force Awakens and Inside Out. I don’t watch many movies outside of things we go to with our kids.
23. None of these. I don’t watch a lot of TV.
24. No, none of these shows.
25. I didn’t get this, though afterwards when I thought about it I remembered my cousin and her husband, who live in Arkansas, talking about going to Branson sometimes.
Nels (09f033) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:51 pm1. Definitely
2. My Dad was white collar all the way (sales and media), but did not meet Murray’s definition. Pat – I think a CPA does meet and perhaps you might consider reducing your total by a point or two?
3. No. Never below 100K, or so.
4. Yes. Long periods of unemployment.
5. Yes. Worked as a quality control engineer in the financial industry.
6. No. I started out as a dishwasher for restaurants, but typically was tired, but not hurt, after a shift.
7. Absolutely. I am a Roman Catholic – not evangelical as Murray defines it, though.
8. I have in my life, but no more. Not worth it.
9. Yes. A guy from high school. Hated “bookwork” and was not given that type of brain. He’s pretty savvy and as great and loyal a guy as I have known.
10. Nope. I would in social situations, but haven’t been in that position for quite some time.
11. I knew all but one for sure, but the USAFA stripes are tough. I guessed correctly on that one. I did not claim all 5 on the answer, though.
12. Pork-Faced Satan?! (ND fans know what I am sayin’) That would be a yes.
13. Nope.
14. I never buy alcohol for home use. No. I am not an alcoholic. Somehow, I missed that gene.
15. I used to fish when I was a boy. Too much work and the tackle is a pain to deal with.
16. No. But, I do go to Logan’s Roadhouse quite a bit. I used to be a regular at a Denny’s in the SFV.
17. Band. I was a damn good Baritone Horn player!
18. Never. I’ve done some very limited public speaking, but never at that level.
19. Yes. Proudly. Won a prize for my outfit at a 4th of July parade, too. 🙂 High School band marched in Chicago St. Pat’s Day parade, and then raced home to welcome President Ford to our town (South Bend) in the same day! Man. Air Force One was/is one beautiful machine.
20. No.
21. Nothing like that. Long drives in my car, yes.
22. Star Wars only.
23. None of these. I HIGHLY recommend Better Call Saul to any in the legal profession (anyone, really) though.
24. Yes to Dr. Phil and Ellen.
25. My first reaction was to a loooong ago TV show abuot a guy on a bike. But, his name was Bronson, not Branson. Then, I pretty much simultaneously came up with Branson, MO, and Richard. I went with MO.
So. 45 total. I should be somewhat lower. This “test” is a miss for me. I enjoyed it, and reading this thread, though.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 3/25/2016 @ 10:56 pmHey Ed, I played the baritone too! Great horn. Did you start out on trumpet?
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/25/2016 @ 11:17 pmQuestion 8 is a no because they’ve all unfriended me on facebook. Liberals cannot be friends with people who disagree with them.
gospace (6d776e) — 3/25/2016 @ 11:19 pmJVW – You know it! I was aight as a trumpeter. For whatever reason, I really took to the bigger horn.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 3/25/2016 @ 11:22 pmMe too. It’s the difference between the size 6C and the 12C mouthpieces. I had way more range on the baritone, and probably a better sound too.
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/25/2016 @ 11:36 pmI took second place riding my bike, which was festooned with orange an black crepe paper, in the Neewollah parade when I was 7.
Key Club (junior Kiwanas) and two-years varsity in high school.
I dropped out of college and slummed for a few years, working as a driver for United Van Lines – talk about sore all over and I wore a uniform. There was some poverty and hitchhiking mixed in.
I worked one season operating the peach pitting line in a fruit cannery.
After that, I went back to college and the bubble, though, by then, I didn’t fit either very well.
I was thrilled when craft beer came on the market, but went back to Coors.
I eat at a lot of chain restaurants, but they are all local chains (anyone been to Emil Villa’s?).
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area nobody smokes or is in the least bit religious. There are, however, plenty of friends with sharply contrasting political views to argue with.
I’m not great at spelling, so I struggled to remember which Johnson spelled it with an “ie.” I guessed right.
In the 40+ years since I got my first drivers license (and truck), I went without a pickup for about 5 years in the late-70s/ early-80s.
And I love fishing – trout in the summertime; gamefish in Mexico in the winter.
All of the above experiences are true, but they overstate my blue collar side. My mother was a college professor(math) and I’ve worked in white collar jobs for most of the past 30 years. And although I occasionally drink Coors, I’m a wine snob with a preference for Rosenblum zins.
ThOR (a52560) — 3/26/2016 @ 12:55 am1 Yes. 13 years. After college I lived in a lot of cheap apartments in the San Fernando Valley. Many are barrio now. Some were barrio then (Stores have signs saying “We speak English”).
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/26/2016 @ 3:04 am2 Yes/No. Dad was a salesman at times, an office worker at others. I’m the first person in my direct descent to go to college. Before I was born he had some blue-collar jobs (e.g. shipping foreman, supply sergeant) but I don’t count that.
3 No. Southern Cal native. Can’t swing a cat here without hitting a 7-11 or Starbucks. Spent 2 years in Silicon Valley. I’ve been a few weeks in empty places for work, though.
4 No. But there have been periods of unemployment or slow contracts where it seemed that way. I always seem to scrounge up more than that, though.
5 Yes. Worked at a Lockheed plant constructing military aircraft. Yes, work took me to floor but job was elsewhere.
6 No
7 No
8 Yes, several crazy effing liberals. One friend’s wife who I make a point NOT to argue with has been to Cuba several times. She takes it personal.
9 No
10 Yes. AA meetings, I quit smoking 10 years ago.
11 All of them
12 No & No
13 Hell No
14 No. I don’t drink, but when I did it would be yes.
15 No. Used to. There was a time when you could regularly catch bonita off the Huntington Beach pier.
16 Yes. Outback, IHOP and Denny’s
17 No
18 No. AA doesn’t count.
19 No. No reason really.
20 No. But I did working in a gas station after high school. Pumped your gas, cleaned your windows, checked your tires and oil. Gas was 30 cents a gallon. Super was 34.
21 Yes, but not in this country. Seems kind of cheaty to count bus trips in the UK, but Heathrow to Cambridge meets the test.
22 All but Inside Out, Furios 7 and Cinderella. Mockingjay part 2 was kind of sucky.
23 Only Big Bank Theory. I also like Better Call Saul (and Breaking Bad, the second best TV show ever).
24 Proudly not
25 Richard Branson. Virgin Galactic. Space entrepreneur. Don’t know anything about the midwest except to find it on a map.
Big Bang Theory. Big Bank Theory might be a decent comedy though. It’s not too soon anymore.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/26/2016 @ 3:10 am77
Retired military, moved back home to a steel mill town after.
Gerald A (7b533c) — 3/26/2016 @ 3:51 am60 points. Probably lost a bunch because I don’t do restaurants, movies or TV. Or beer or fishing. Now, if they had asked about last weekend’s day at the shotgun range…
For the record: Stepfather drove a truck delivering heating oil to homes; 14 years military (active & Guard); one year my reportable income was <$500; I've worked factory, private security, retail.
Rusty Bill (ad1f26) — 3/26/2016 @ 5:55 amSort of the opposite:
Richard Aubrey (472a6f) — 3/26/2016 @ 7:29 amhttp://www.realclear.com/funny/2015/10/30/reasons_to_never_step_inside_a_whole_foods_again_12295.html
1. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American neighborhood in which the majority of your 50 nearest neighbors did not have college degrees?
Yes, the hood in the NY Metro.
2. Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not in a managerial position or a high-prestige profession (defined as attorney, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, scientist or college professor)?
Yes, a butcher
3. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community with a population under 50,000 that is not part of a metropolitan area and is not where you went to college?
No. But this question is perplexing in terms of establishing bubbliness
4. Have you ever lived for at least a year in the United States at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line?
Yes.
5. Have you ever walked on a factory floor?
Yes, 3 years. When electronics were actually made in the USA.
6. Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
Yes, also had to do shipping and packing.
7. Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
Tons.
8. Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
All my black and gay friends.
9. Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
I never hung with the morons. My parents taught me well. If you can’t get C’s in HS, sorry, you are/were a moron.
10. During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
Yes.
11. Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia? (Click each one to show the correct rank.)
No clue. Again, how does this make on bubblicious.
12. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?
Yes Both.
13. Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
No, again how does this make you bubbly.
14. During the last year, have you ever purchased domestic mass-market beer to stock your own fridge?
Not that I can recall but what if you are not a drinker? So if you drink Yuengling you are bubbly?
15. During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
Dear god no. But I did work on a Chicken Farm and Slaughterhouse … again, how does this make one bubbly?
16. How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains?
I eat at plenty of Blue Collar Rural Type places, just not these too often.
17. In high school, did you letter in anything?
I was too busy working and being shit on by the Preppies to care.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or union local?
Would not even know where they are.
19. Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest or gay rights?’
When a child. St Patricks. I was forced to.
20. Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform?
No, that was the purpose of going to College and Grad School. Unless you call a suit a uniform.
21. Have you ever done either of these for a trip of 50 miles or more?
Ridden on a long-distance bus (e.g., Greyhound, Trailways)
hitchhiked
God no, that is why I worked since 10 and educated myself.
22. Movies seen
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Mockingjay Part 2
The Martian
[UPDATE: Mrs. P tells me I have also seen these:
Inside Out
Cinderella]
These and many more. My wife and I going to the movies about 30 times per year.
23. TV shows watched
I guess ESPN, NY Knicks, Big Ten Football and Foxnews don’t count? Big Bang.
24. Have you ever watched an episode of any of these shows all the way through?
I am straight. Sorry. I am also not a perpetual victim who seeks to wallow in pity parties.
25. What does the word “Branson” mean to you?
Both person and place have meaning. Never been on the airline nor the town.
Rodney King's Spirit (a089dc) — 3/26/2016 @ 7:34 am66 here as well. Military service, putting myself through college working all sorts of jobs, and having 7 kids (lots of movies and restaurant chains) is what made up my score.
Pete (0e517b) — 3/26/2016 @ 7:48 amI got a 68.
Grew up a mil brat. Then dad went to work for the city public works admin when he retired. I got points for working there in the summer and then putting on my uniform. Got bonus points for the neighborhood I live in now which is all factory workers and day labor types in the City near Seattle that I live in. Considering that the house I pay the bank to own is bumped against two trailer parks and are the closes neighbors. So the lack of college education (as most people view college being a 4 yr program) is what probably pushed me over. Add in that I am a manager type at the factory near me and walk the floors on an almost daily basis during a work week and twice a weekend in a month that two bumped me up.
Hate to say it but from time to time going to Dennys with the kids because well its cheap and mom is away and I don’t feel like cleaning up for breakfast, well you know how that goes. Ditto for work goes to the Applebee for special occasions at least once a month (the monthly combo b-day meal the senior management pays for). So that bumps me up as well.
Charles (3cf0f0) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:02 amI was mad at the Branson one though. I thought of both at the same time. There was no “both” allowed. (I’ve never been to Branson but, hey, I have stacked up my share of Southern Living magazine and like Andy Williams.
SarahW Gump (67599f) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:05 amAnd who doesn’t know Sir Richard who also reads about music and space and flying around and the Daily Mail?
SarahW Gump (67599f) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:06 amI scored 48. I do not watch any of the TV series shown and have no bee in a movie theater since Mr.s Doubtfire was being run.
The Gentle Grizzly (f4d71f) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:07 amI think my answers can all be answered with some version of “epigenetic Presbyterian.”
SarahW Gump (67599f) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:09 amIt’s funny: I think that many of us take a low score on a quiz like this as a badge of shame — even though I’m not sure it should be.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 3/25/2016 @ 8:43 pm
It may be that we associate the bubble people with left-coast liberals. You know, as Cruz said, those are people with “New York values” who mock traditional, conservative values.
I was recently in Albuquerque and read an article that amused me because the writer felt the need to defend New Mexico from the insults of late-night television:
“After (Tine) Fey told Colbert the film was shot in New Mexico, Colbert noted jokingly: ‘That took a lot of courage, for you guys to go to New Mexico.’
“Fey responded: ‘I was so worried about a ‘Breaking Bad’ scenario happening.’
“Then (‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ co-star Margot) Robbie chimed in:’Lots of missing teeth.’ ….”
“But Robbie was ripped by some New Mexicans for the missing teeth insult – isn’t that the kind of crack that should to be reserved for people from somewhere supposedly worse off than New Mexico, like a mythical Old South backwater or Great Britain?”
The urge for condescension is great. Read the whole article.
AZ Bob (d6a3a9) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:13 am1. Lived in Mammoth Lakes in ’83-84–mostly ski bums, I think.
Golden Eagle (552ded) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:16 am2. No–my father was the head of an insurance brokerage in Oakland.
3. In Mammoth Lakes again. There were maybe 2,000 year-round residents.
4. Yes. I was laid off in 2014 and went on food stamps and Obama Care. My parents helped me out. No poverty as a child, though.
5. I had a job teaching factory workers in So. El Monte–never worked on the floor, though.
6. Yes–three years on the set-up crew for campus events in college, putting up stage extensions, tables, and chairs. I also picked grapes for raisins for one day.
7. Yes, although the born-again element is minimized. I’m an Episcopalian.
8. Yes, e.g. an attorney friend–a former Republican who turned liberal. Law school often does that, eh?
9. No, I grew up in Berkeley–my friends were a lot of professors’ kids who attended then excellent public education. Had friendly acquaintances with such kids, like the black kids in my P.E. class. Don’t such kids usually drop out?
10. Almost all are Dems, I think. If I have a Republican friend, we don’t talk about it out of fear. I think people will dislike me. I work in academia.
11. My new bosses smoke. It doesn’t bug me in the least.
12. The two-star general, I reckon. I was never in the military.
13. I knew both but guessed. The hidden NASCAR option confirmed my suspicion, what with the test’s nature; I haven’t seen an Avon salesperson since the ’60s. My mom may have bought something in 1966 or 1967. Or was that the Fuller Brush man?
14 No pick-up trucks.
15. Drank cheap beer after I was laid off.
16. No. Fishing is too expensive a hobby, isn’t it?
17. Once each at Chili’s and Applebee’s–both within the last month here in Saudi Arabia. You find hoi polloi at the Costco food court.
18. No high school sports.
19. I covered a Kiwanis Club meeting as a news reporter in Mammoth Lakes. I begged out from fear of the “fines.” I made $6.25 an hour.
20. I sang first tenor in the barbershop quartet in the Mammoth Lakes 4th of July parade.
21. No uniforms. I don’t suppose choir robes count . . .
22. Oddly complete here: I saw Jurassic World free at City Walk, and I took my girls to Cinderella and Inside Out. I showed Rogue Nation to my class while I did busy work. It was the first MI film I’d seen. Otherwise, I shun movies.
23. No TV shows, but my girls like Modern Family.
24. I think I watched Ellen once with my girls.
25. Intuited the Missouri town was meant, but I knew both. I’ve never been there.
BTW I saw many Prius cars with Sanders bumper stickers in Santa Fe as well as “women who were married to (the Eagles’) Don Henley … gorgeous, like 58-year-old blonde women with like six squash blossom necklaces,” to quote Tina Fey.
AZ Bob (d6a3a9) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:17 amThe notion that boob tube watching or mostly random cinema selections might reduce one’s score of isolation is totally, totally retarded.
DNF (755a85) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:24 amSnicker. I went back and gave the most opposite answer possible from my honest test. I got a 48. My honest score was 34.
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:43 amMr P
Do I get extra credit for my wife once cleaning the beach home of the producer of the TV show you listed?
steveg (fed1c9) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:48 amMy friend who got all C’s was a tremendous athlete and a loyal team mate.
Once we were no longer on a team together, we could only talk about the good old days or over minor nagging injuries, or over his latest bad job. He used to push the carts at the supermarket until the local markets hired the mentally challenged. He was too smart for that job which was good because now he is a janitor out at UCSB and makes pretty good money and great benefits
I lived in a trailer park for a year after the ex had me arrested on charges false in every detail.
I have a chest for the suitable medal.
DNF (ffe548) — 3/26/2016 @ 9:23 amI got 53. Don’t watch much television these days, or the score would have been higher. It’s not a matter of taste, it’s a matter of time. And I was a Key Club kid in high school, so the Kiwanis meetings were a big part of my youth.
Mr. D (ee128f) — 3/26/2016 @ 9:35 amI grew up in a poor area of Brooklyn where my sister and I were practically the only white kids. Parents worked hard to get us out of there and into a middle class neighborhood. I know what it is like to grow up a minority.
These tests are dumb.
njrob (4d1579) — 3/26/2016 @ 9:56 amI think on the other thread I said I got 53 or so. Wife took it and got 62.
6. Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
If you have a kid, make sure they do this. Especially if it’s a male child.
7. Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
Went to parochial fundamentalist evangelical Presbyterian school for 3 years. Knew many then, though not so much anymore. Yet still the same people.
8. Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
Had a good friend of 20 years with whom I would have coffee every morning for a time. He and I (along with many other friends) disagree significantly and try not to talk about such issues. He picked up something I commented on the web (didn’t know it was getting repeated on FB) concerning that idiot preacher in Gainesville, FL who was burning Korans and got our idiot leaders all upset. I had defended his right to burn any Korans he had acquired legally. This so upset my friend that he cut me out of his life for 3 weeks or so. If I hadn’t pursued the friendship, things would have gotten mighty awkward among our other friends.
9. Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
If you recoil at the thought of having such friends or even having had such friends, you are in a serious bubble. It’s not so much not having such friends but to think that such people are dull or uninteresting is quite the tell.
10. During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
Would have gotten points for this a few years ago as I shot pool in leagues for about a dozen years. See above about C students. Until you’ve matched wits with a C student on their field of battle you have no idea what the world is really like.
11. Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia? (Click each one to show the correct rank.)
Knew all but the Air Force one, which is ironic-ish given that I’m working a project developing SW for AF enlisted men. But I do know the general idea and rankings and such. Just not the specific stripes/count.
12. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?
Know both. And I’ve grown to loathe NASCAR to a certain degree.
13. Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
Yep. Ranger in the driveway with 109K miles on it right now.
15. During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
Every chance I get. Which means three. And I live in FL.
17. In high school, did you letter in anything?
Swimming 4 years. Two school records. Name in headlines of sports section, bottom of page 2.
19. Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest or gay rights?
WTP (094b61) — 3/26/2016 @ 10:00 amBoy Scouts. I find parades about as exciting on the inside as on the outside. Which is not saying much. At least on the inside you have something to do.
Oh, and curiosity is killing me Mr. Hitchcock, but what is a “part-time Marine”? You mean like merchant marine? But then…capitalized…?
WTP (094b61) — 3/26/2016 @ 10:04 amWell that film is up to fey’s standard, think dowd in kabul, in re ms Robbie one suspect’s she was familiar with said product concerning her role in that DiCaprio film.
narciso (732bc0) — 3/26/2016 @ 10:16 amnk (dbc370) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:43 am
It is like taking the “carbon footprint” survey, where it is partially rigged to give mostly “bubbilicious” scores. No offense offered to you, Patterico, I like your new word.
felipe (56556d) — 3/26/2016 @ 10:30 am6) retail and wholesale.
8) I lived in a very blue berg.
10) not since college
12) NASCAR is big here.
narciso (732bc0) — 3/26/2016 @ 10:38 amWhat I would actually find interesting is a test that measured a divers experience. A person who gets out of high school with a C- average and never reads a book or newspaper after that, works in a chicken-plucking job in rural Arkansas, drives a pickup to NASCAR and watches network TV and blockbuster movies every evening is in a as much of a bubble as some NY co-op resident.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/26/2016 @ 1:57 pmKevin M. I think the point is there is no overlap but the chickenplucker has an idea why the leftcoaster votes as he does. The leftcoaster does not know the chickenplucker exists and certainly wouldn’t understand his voting pattern.
Richard Aubrey (472a6f) — 3/26/2016 @ 2:16 pmWent to Branson and saw six shows. One was a tribute to Hank Williams and the other five were not country.
In one show, the performers said something nice about veterans. In four shows, they asked veterans to stand so the rest could applaud them. Which they did.
Not seeing that happening on the left coast.
I scored a 44 overall.
1. Yes, in an Albuquerque neighborhood called Martineztown.
2. Yes. My mom is a nurse practitioner and was the chief breadwinner for about half of my childhood.
3. Yes. Live in Los Alamos NM (pop. ~15,000) til I was eight.
4. No. We had some tight years when my dad was getting his business off the ground, but I don’t think we were ever at the poverty level.
5. No.
6. Yes. I refereed soccer games through my teen years to make spending money.
7. Yes. I was raised as a Catholic, then an evangelical Christian, and am still a Christian. My brother is a youth minister.
8. Yes. Mostly about gun control and abortion, where I’m more conservative than most of my friends.
9. Not that I know of.
10. Yes. I only recently quit smoking (in January), although I still allow myself to have cigarettes when I’m doing other drugs.
11. I knew the general one, but thought I knew more.
12. I thought it was the football coach. Didn’t realize there was a different spelling, and don’t watch NASCAR.
13. No, but I’m about to buy a truck in the next couple months.
14. Yes, I buy cheap American beer all the time. Also fancy American beer. Tons of microbreweries in Albuquerque.
15. I sat with my friends while they fished the last time I went camping, but didn’t fish myself.
16. I’ve eaten at those restaurants a collective dozen times in the past year, I would guess.
17. Lettered in soccer in high school, as a sophomore. Dropped out of high school after the season was over.
18. No.
19. Yes. I actually marched in the Cesar Chavez Day Parade this morning.
20. Yes, soccer uniforms. I play in the local men’s league with a bunch of buddies.
21. No.
22. Star Wars, Inside Out
23. None of these. I don’t watch much TV anymore, other than sports.
24. No.
25. Richard Branson
Leviticus (a6edbd) — 3/26/2016 @ 2:47 pmit’s hard to properly explore Los Alamos and the magical lands around it all before you’re eight which means you must return one day
happyfeet (831175) — 3/26/2016 @ 3:20 pmI lost ppints for being a health-conscious, frugal vegetarian… would rather go for a run than watch TV; hate paying $10 to see a movie in the theatres; cannot eat anything on the menu at many of the chain restaurants mentioned; obviously, do not go fishing; loathe all beer, but have several bottles of wine that cost about $8/bottle in the house.
Would have wanted to see a question or two about guns, eg, ownership, knowing gun owners, if you have ever fired a gun, etc.
Thought the poverty line question was too narrow. Better questions would have involved working class parents, home ownership, age of cars driven, etc.
bridget (37b281) — 3/26/2016 @ 3:58 pmhate paying $10 to see a movie in the theatres
If only.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/26/2016 @ 4:17 pmI wonder if 3-buck Chuck counts the same as Schlitz.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/26/2016 @ 4:18 pmyes yes the gun question is a good one i think
it would make a good question to test the scores against
happyfeet (831175) — 3/26/2016 @ 4:20 pmSo bridget, if you are a “frugal vegetarian” (I don’t know what frugality has to do with it unless it means you only eat your lawn to save money), don’t watch TV, don’t do movies (there’s that “frugality again),can’t eat out at restaurants because with the thousands of restaurants around you just can’t eat anything on their menus, won’t drink beer and only cheap (frugality) obviously domestic wine where, oh where, do you go with friends or for a date?
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 3/26/2016 @ 4:30 pm1. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American neighborhood in which the majority of your 50 nearest neighbors did not have college degrees?
Marci (c7079f) — 3/26/2016 @ 4:34 pmYes, at least 25 years in rural area where most people became farmers or loggers and few went on to college.
2. Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not in a managerial position or a high-prestige profession (defined as attorney, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, scientist or college professor)?
Dad was a rancher.
3. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community with a population under 50,000 that is not part of a metropolitan area and is not where you went to college?
About 25 years in rural America. Growing up the closest town had a population of 1200.
4. Have you ever lived for at least a year in the United States at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line?
Yes, BUT I had no clue that we were poor. We ate steak and had plenty of food because we grew it ourselves and everyone I knew wore hand me downs. New was rare.
5. Have you ever walked on a factory floor?
Yes
6. Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
My father didn’t have hired hands. He had children and we spent long days working.
7. Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
Yes, I am one myself.
8. Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
Probably no. I have relatives that I have strong disagreements with but they aren’t ones I see every day or even often.
9. Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
Nope.
10. During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
No. I find the entire habit disgusting.
11. Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia? (Click each one to show the correct rank.)
I knew one. I knew what service they were but not what ranks.
12. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?
No on Jimmie Johnson. Yes on Avon but it was many years ago.
13. Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
Several times.
14. During the last year, have you ever purchased domestic mass-market beer to stock your own fridge?
Nope. My sons-in-law stock it for themselves. I just supply the fridge.
15. During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
Yes. I went Salmon fishing. Totally different than trout fishing a river in the mountains. Quite fun.
16. How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains?
Eaten several times at several of the restaurants.
17. In high school, did you letter in anything?
Band geek. Never did sports because I had to go home to take care of chores after school hours.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or union local?
Nope. I’ve been to Lions Club events but never a meeting.
19. Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest or gay rights?
Yes, many times. Homecoming parades, rodeo parades, fair parades to name a few.
20. Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform?
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
21. Have you ever done either of these for a trip of 50 miles or more?
I rode a bus from college home, a trip of about 500 miles but we mostly drove everywhere by car. Vacations weren’t a reality but we did make an annual trip to buy bulls at the National Western Stockshow and we often went up to Denver to see family. Always driving two mountain passes to do it.
22. Movies seen
All but two of them
23. TV shows watched
Criminal Minds
24. Have you ever watched an episode of any of these shows all the way through?
Ellen. I think she is a truly funny person.
25. What does the word “Branson” mean to you?
Branson, Missouri of course. But I do know who Richard Branson is also. First to mind is entertainment though.
Rev Hoagie, if you had read what I wrote, you would see that my comment about restaurants referred to the ones on Murray’s list, not all ir most in America. But perhaps you were too busy being snide to spend much time on reading comprehension.
bridget (37b281) — 3/26/2016 @ 5:19 pmThis was strange for me. Grew up, call it comfortable in the NE. Dad was Wall Street. Didn’t get along and went out on my own early, started working in a factory at 19 while at college. While still in school, military reservist, did Greyhound and hitchhiking, slept in flop-houses. After school, went to a Wall Street place for a couple of years but hated it, ended up as a cop in a big city department. So, yes to uniforms, hurt at work, etc, and know all that NASCAR, red neck stuff. Don’t watch TV or go to movies much, so failed all those questions. Don’t drink at all but always have a 4×4 pick-up and a dog. Now we’re retired and live in a small, Southern town.
JCC (fb0bee) — 3/26/2016 @ 5:39 pmmid-upper 40’s, depending
1. not sure if I’ve ever lived in a neighborhood where >50% had a college degree
for 10 years in a neighborhood where not sure if 50% had graduated from HS
2. dad a chemist most of my life, but for a time he worked in a grocery store (6 yr plan for his BS) and mom a secretary
3. No, but many years in a <60,000 with classmates from the farm, and cumulative 2-3 yrs in <15,000 farm country
4. maybe no, but for years pinto beans and cornbread was dinner at least 2x/wk, name brand cereal a treat
5. yes, worked in a mill that applied specialty coating to paper
6. yes, internship and residency!!, after 24 hours awake my back hurts, my legs and knees ache, and I feel feverish; mill made me thirsty and tired only
7. many, am myself
8. yes, but not among closest of friends
9. yes…, but some never tried, so I don't know
10. yes, oldest son smokes
11. well, I thought the two pointed lines meant corporal, but lots of military in extended family, friends ex-military, friends with children in military
12. On the periphery of my attention I knew he was nascar
Do that many people like NASCAR to make it part of being "mainstream"
13. No trucks, but second hand station wagons…
14. I said no, but when Rolling Rock was mentioned I figured maybe Yeungling counted
15. oldest son takes me fishing for my birthday each year, turnabout from my taking him fishing when he was a boy
16. Applebees and Outback only in last year, lots of IHOP at times past
(I can remember as a child hearing my grandmother and aunt raving about how special IHOP was with all of the different flavors of syrup, but there were none nearby to go to)
17. what does lettering have to do with it? doesn't being on a team and sitting on the bench count??? (baseball, tennis)
18. As said before by others, what about Lions, or Elks
19. never any parade
20. no uniforms
21. bus in college
22. no movies, but would have gone to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding II tonight with wife and daughter if I was home (no, they did not take a bottle of Windex with them)
23. none
24. nope
25. somewhere learned of it being a big family friendly destination in MO
As mentioned previously, this was intended to identify people in "mainstream" America, there are many different "bubbles" that are mutually exclusive, of quite wide cultural/economic differences.
MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (a8334e) — 3/26/2016 @ 6:03 pmThe problem is trying to pick surrogate markers for something that is not easily directly measured.
I will say that during my east cost medical career (training and practice) I felt very much out of the bubble that others were in, I would have been the token evangelical with different political views for many of my colleagues. State university not Ivy league, etc. The freak who thought sex should be saved for marriage.
MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (a8334e) — 3/26/2016 @ 6:07 pm@35 – Emil Villa’s: Which one Thor… Telegraph Ave (old location), or Rockridge?
Gramps (6a37e4) — 3/26/2016 @ 7:20 pmThis is fun!
I scored 51.
1. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American neighborhood in which the majority of your 50 nearest neighbors did not have college degrees?
Yes. Thrice. I had to make an educated (no pun intended!) guess.
2. Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not in a managerial position or a high-prestige profession (defined as attorney, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, scientist or college professor)?
No. My dad was a hospital accountant.
3. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community with a population under 50,000 that is not part of a metropolitan area and is not where you went to college?
Yes. I attended high school in a southern Utah town of about 7,000 people.
4. Have you ever lived for at least a year in the United States at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line?
No, but my dad’s penny-pinching ways made it feel like it.
5. Have you ever walked on a factory floor?
Yes, but only as a result of a job that was not factory-related.
6. Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
Yes. In the 1970s, I worked for $10 a day as a groundskeeper at a hospital where my dad worked. It had reflective windows on the outside, so I could never tell when my dad was looking at me. I was 13, and was paid out of petty cash. My dad arranged the whole gig. Worked my ass off. My whole body ached. It was a little more than a summer, because I quit school early that year, so I counted it. Later, I had jobs that lasted longer, where my feet would ache, including making pizza skins at Chuck E. Cheese.
7. Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
Yes, if my mother and brother count. Alternatively, my best friend is a devout Mormon. Mormons are Christians, despite what some people say.
8. Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
Two come to mind. With one I can have a civil conversation. The other is too invested in her position, and would get very worked up emotionally if I tried to explain why unions are mostly bad. She scoffs at “the market”.
9. Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
Yes, if we’re talking traditional Cs, and not the participation trophy grading that exists now.
10. During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
I did two months ago. I went to see a friend who manages the apartment complex where I used to live. We watched the first Thin Man movie together. She was so polite about smoking, even asking if I minded if she smoked, in her own apartment!
11. Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia? (Click each one to show the correct rank.)
Not all, but at least one.
12. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?
I know both, but wasn’t dialed in on the spelling. I lucked out by choosing the NASCAR driver.
13. Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
I came close, but ended up with a Jeep Wrangler instead.
14. During the last year, have you ever purchased domestic mass-market beer to stock your own fridge?
I try to always have some beer in the refrigerator, as it helps when my IBS flares up. No joke! Coors is my favorite. Yes, I know the old joke about what mass-market beer and making love in a canoe have in common. (They’re both f*****g near water.) I happen to like the mild, crisp taste.
15. During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
No.
16. How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains?
Only Outback, and it was to go, so technically I didn’t “eat” there. I counted it anyway.
17. In high school, did you letter in anything?
No. I hardly participated in anything, let alone sports. I was like Beavis and Butthead—standing in the hallway with my friends and making salacious comments about girls that would walk by.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or union local?
No.
19. Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest or gay rights?
No.
20. Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform?
Yes. I worked for the Department of Justice for nine years.
21. Have you ever done either of these for a trip of 50 miles or more?
I rode Greyhound from Boston to Salt Lake City. It took forever. I’ll never forget some poor guy who had pants that were about ten inches too large in the waist. He didn’t have a belt, so he walked around with the top of his pants bunched up in his fist.
22. Movies seen
Only The Martian.
23. TV shows watched
I watched The Big Bang Theory quite a bit, but they were the older shows, not the 2014-2015 season, so I answered no. Other than that, I didn’t watch any of the other shows to speak of. I like shows that are on cable TV much better, like Better Call Saul, Fargo, The Americans, Homeland, and True Detective.
24. Have you ever watched an episode of any of these shows all the way through?
I watch Ellen occasionally, but I feel sorry for her staff. I’ve heard from more than one person that she is very difficult to work with.
25. What does the word “Branson” mean to you?
I’m aware of both Bransons, but knew what the survey was shooting for, so I answered Branson, Missouri.
norcal (885b95) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:09 pmI scored 65, which might explain why I have a hard time taking many of my academic colleagues seriously most of the time 😉
Sean (221079) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:16 pmAlso, what’s with having my profession, college professor, linked as a high-profile job? Sorry, but people who work around 7 months a year teaching aren’t exactly worthy to be put on a pedestal with those working 40-60 hours in a profession like the others listed. Don’t get me wrong, there are many in academia who do good work, and research, but that’s hardly the vast majority of academia.
Sean (221079) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:24 pmAs a general culture, having a college degree and often education beyond that makes people more similar than different, I think, in many ways.
That said, a bunch of engineers and physical scientists are typically different from a group of literature professions and sociologists.
Can we ask what you teach? Once upon a time in a different millennium I was headed to academia in bio-organic chemistry and have friends who are in academia.
MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (a8334e) — 3/26/2016 @ 8:51 pmFunny thing about watching the Big Bang Theory….this past year my husband and I were guests at the dedication ceremony of the Darkside-50 project at the National Laboratories at Gran Sasso, Italy. We are talking physicists out the whazoo. Fascinating project in the search for Dark Matter. I actually met the man who serves as the advisor to the TV show to make sure what they say is real and can pass muster with the science community. After returning home I watched an episode of BBT and they made a passing reference to those crazy Italians looking for Dark Matter. I laughed because I knew the truth behind that statement.
Marci (c7079f) — 3/26/2016 @ 9:57 pmI scored a 23. And I’m still a conservative. Imagine that.
Evan3457 (057459) — 3/26/2016 @ 10:32 pmAlthough my degree is in Music I teach Graphic Design—mainly web, interactive, and multimedia design.
Sean (221079) — 3/27/2016 @ 12:44 am1. Yes. While I was a law student, I lived in an apartment building in which almost everyone else was first generation working-class hispanic immigrant, and most of the neighborhood was a similar demographic.
*After I left* basically every building in the neighborhood was torn down and replaced with expensive modern apartment buildings targeting gentrifiers. But I suspect it still counts.
2. Yes. When I was a child, for much of my childhood, my (single) mother worked a light office job (secretarial, admin type stuff). Her second husband was an operator at a sewage treatment facility, and her fourth husband did mechanical work at the MWD.
3. No. I have *never* lived outside of a major metro area.
4. No. Even when my mom was poor, she was not below the poverty line by Murray’s standards. Which is to say: my mom made around $30K in 1990, with two kids, but that’s NOT below the line once you adjust for inflation. On the other hand, in my first full time job (as a software engineer), I made more than she ever did.
5. Yes, by the same standard as Patterico: i’ve taken tours of both the jelly belly factory AND various distilleries.
6. No.
7. No. I’ve had evangelical friends, and my best friend is an ex-evangelical, and my brother was an evangelical for a while, but I’ve never had a *close* friend who was an evangelical Christian.
8. No. Again, I have *casual* friends with whom I have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements, but no *close* friends.
9. No.
10. Yes. I am RIGHT THIS VERY INSTANT visiting an aunt who is dying of lung cancer but is still smoking.
11. I got one of them.
12. I have never heard of Jimmie Johnson and have not purchased Avon products.
13. No. I’ve never bought a car myself, and my husband owns a civic hybrid.
14. No. When I drink beer, it’s not mass market stuff.
15. No. I went fishing as a child and found it boring.
16. I’ve been to none of these in the last year.
17. I did not letter in anything in high school.
18. I *have* been to Rotary Club meetings; in high school the local rotary club held debate competitions for local HS kids.
19. I’ve never *participated* in a parade of any sort. Watched them, yes. Not the same.
20. I’ve not worn a uniform, no. Even in school I never wore a uniform.
21. I have both ridden on a long distance bus AND hitchhiked.
22. I’ve seen four of the ten movies.
23. I’ve watched none of the tv shows in the last year – although I *have* watched Once Upon A Time in previous seasons – and watch very little TV in general.
24. I’ve not watched any of these shows all the way through.
25. Branson means both ‘an entertainment center in the midwest’ AND ‘richard branson’ depending on context. I’ve never been to Branson.
So:22 points.
I wouldn’t describe myself as an elitist in the sense that I don’t think that my experiences and tastes make me *superior* to anyone; but they certainly mean I ‘m in a bubble.
aphrael (559f0e) — 3/27/2016 @ 9:08 amYou do realize the fact you said that makes you elitist? Sometimes you guys (and gals) are so funny.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 3/27/2016 @ 9:31 am1. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American neighborhood in which the majority of your 50 nearest neighbors did not have college degrees?
Yes. about 8 years total.
2. Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not in a managerial position or a high-prestige profession (defined as attorney, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, scientist or college professor)?
Yes.
Was the chief breadwinner for most or all of your childhood in what you consider to be a blue-collar job?
No, a teacher.
3. Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community with a population under 50,000 that is not part of a metropolitan area and is not where you went to college?
No.
4. Have you ever lived for at least a year in the United States at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line?
Yes.
You may answer “yes” if your family income then was below $33,000 in 2015 dollars.
For how big a family?
Have you experienced poverty both as a child and as an adult?
Yes as an adult, but I’m not sure about as a child. I was not aware of any such thing then, but in hindsight I think we may have. I answered no.
5. Have you ever walked on a factory floor?
Yes.
Was it related to your job?
No.
6. Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
Yes.
Did the job last longer than a summer?
No.
Did the job make you ache all over?
Yes.
7. Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
Not a close friend. Plenty who are the rough Jewish equivalent, though.
8. Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
Yes.
Do you have more than one such close friend?
Yes.
9. Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
I don’t think so.
10. During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
I think so.
11. Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia? (Click each one to show the correct rank.)
I got colonel, “two-star general”, and corporal.
12. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?
No.
Have you ever purchased Avon products?
No.
13. Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
No.
14. During the last year, have you ever purchased domestic mass-market beer to stock your own fridge?
No.
15. During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
No.
16. How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains?
I’ve never eaten at any of them, because they’re not kosher.
17. In high school, did you letter in anything?
I’m only vaguely aware of the concept of “lettering” from TV. My school had no such thing, but if it had I still wouldn’t have.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or union local?
I don’t think so.
19. Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest or gay rights?
Yes.
20. Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform?
No.
21. Have you ever done either of these for a trip of 50 miles or more?
Ridden on a long-distance bus (e.g., Greyhound, Trailways)
Yes.
hitchhiked
No.
22. Movies seen
None. I’ve read Mockingjay and The Martian.
23. During the 2014–15 television season, how many of the following series did you watch regularly?
I haven’t regularly watched TV in about two years. I used to watch Modern Family.
24. Have you ever watched an episode of any of these shows all the way through?
No.
25. What does the word “Branson” mean to you?
Both.
Have you gone to Branson yourself?
No.
34 points. That’s 3 more than I got last week so I must have answered something differently.
Milhouse (87c499) — 3/27/2016 @ 11:02 am“You do realize the fact you said that makes you elitist? Sometimes you guys (and gals) are so funny.”
– Hoagie
Do you realize that you’re the only person on this thread criticizing other people’s survey responses?
Leviticus (a6edbd) — 3/27/2016 @ 3:39 pmThe score is random. It’s just an inducement to make you take the survey. The way other research projects pay their volunteers with cash or a gift coupon or a “free subscription”. Will Patterico tell us, do you think, when Charles Murray offers to sell him the demographic profile of this site’s commenters?
nk (dbc370) — 3/27/2016 @ 3:46 pmDo you realize that you’re the only person on this thread criticizing other people’s survey responses?
FWIR, he was criticizing someone’s justification of their survey response. Not like being judgmental is anything new or special, eh? Sometimes you guys (and gals) are so funny.
WTP (8894aa) — 3/28/2016 @ 6:53 amWhen I was a high school kid, went on some epic bus trips. Helena, MT to Milwaukee, WI one year. Seems that I went on the bus to Southern IA with my mom once to see grandma. Went on the train once to see the same grandma with mom too.
Lion’s club apparently doesn’t count like Kiwanas. Or I could have scored higher.
Knew both Bransons.
Fishing is boring, catching is fun, but since you can’t guarantee the latter, I don’t do the former.
A commercial bakery counts as a factory, and I worked there for a bit, one summer. Until the workers started talking about a strike, and I needed money for college that fall.
“Star Wars” to the rescue! When Mockingjay pt 2 comes on Amazon prime I will see it.
Got a pity letter in High School. They gave all the seniors on the football team letters, even if they didn’t actually qualify. Tossed it in my footlocker, where it still remains.
Loren (66de82) — 3/28/2016 @ 9:48 am30
Almost entirely due to military experience.
Funny that Murray is so popular here. His observation that there is increasing stratification does not explain Trump except indirectly and not as most would suspect.
paul deignan (785ef7) — 3/29/2016 @ 1:02 amI scored a 75. I guess I’m just a blue-collar guy. Funny thing though; I taught college for nineteen years. Strange, huh?
Bill (3eabce) — 4/13/2016 @ 8:27 pmI got a 26 a few weeks ago, but don’t recall the details. I think some of my answers put me in “bubble” range because of things like #2 – my Dad was a supervisor of a team of insurance underwriters, #13 – I always end up with whatever vehicle the old lady gets sick of, #17 – I played JV soccer as a sophomore and then worked after school the next 2 years.
Dave (in MA) (313218) — 4/13/2016 @ 8:30 pm57 for me, but then I grew up in a small North Dakota town and worked on summer construction and a newspaper plant in school. Different crowd than the “city” types.
free tibet, as if! (b9b01a) — 4/13/2016 @ 8:36 pm73 raised in small town ,< 500 people, Iowa. Served in the army. Don't have cable. Daughter like movies. Lettered in sports and was in the band(parades).
Abadman (0a5248) — 4/13/2016 @ 9:06 pmAlso LOVE waffle house
Abadman (0a5248) — 4/13/2016 @ 9:07 pmI got a 64, and I’m not really sure what to make of that. I’m the son of a doctor, attended private primary school (but went to a state college-by choice). I currently make more than 95% of Americans in a non-credentialed profession, and I live in a solidly middle/upper middle class neighborhood (and the only reason I don’t live in a “bubble” neighborhood is because I decided not to pull the trigger on buying a house in one last year for various reasons that had nothing to do with my ability to do so).
But….
There was the journey from there to here.
1. Yes. Wife and I rented one floor of a house for first year of our marriage, then 3 years in a solidly working class neighborhood, 6 in a lower middle class one then purchased a home here.
2. Yes. Dad’s a doc.
3. Yes. Hard to really escape the metro area on the east coast, but I figured a town of 12K 40 miles from the city counted.
4. I didn’t dig out old tax forms, but I’m pretty sure I only made about 30K for the first year of marriage or so.
5. I said no, but by Patterico’s definition it would be yes. Never worked on one.
6. Yes. Waiting tables and bartending for years while in college and just after.
7. Yes, and I probably meet that definition myself although I don’t regularly attend church
8. Yes, although my wife has more than I do.
9. Yes, but Cs in the private school I attended would likely be As in public school
10. Yes. When I want to go out for a beer I go to a working class bar. Great people.
11. Yes, all 5 but I never served.
12. I said yes but thought it was referring to Cowboy’s coach Jimmy Johnson. NASCAR doesn’t interest me.
13. Yes. Bought one last year to have when I need to haul stuff around. They’re useful to have around.
14. Yes. I like micro-brews, but I like American lagers too.
15. Yes, but it was maybe one time. I threw a line in the lake when visiting my late brother-in-law.
16. Yes. We eat out too much.
17. Yes, but it was golf.
18. No.
19. Yes, in 4th of July parades as a kid.
20. No.
21. Yes. As a kid. From Maryland to Texas.
22. Yes. 4 of them IIRC
23. Yes. Big Bang theory and Onec Upon a Time
24. No *shudder*
25. Yes, Missouri, although I know of the Virgin guy too.
So, there you have it. By present circumstances I should be in a bubble, but I guess I…..haven’t forgotten my roots?
Weirddave (ada0c3) — 4/13/2016 @ 9:23 pmI got 44. #12 is a trick question! JimmIE Johnson is a race car driver, JimmY Johnson is former Cowboys coach. I hit the button for Cowboys coach! OOPS. “Have you ever purchased Avon products?” Yes but not makeup and not from Avon. I bought a beer stein from a flea market with Old West scenes on it and a lid that looked like a silver concho. Very manly but on the bottom it says “Handcrafted in Brazil for Avon, 1980.” I drink either beer or soda out of it when i am playing D&D or WoW.
hurricane567 (75f3e8) — 4/13/2016 @ 9:29 pm51. Demographically my category is the second lowest (son of 1st gen upper middle class who in turn came from a working class family), but my actual score was 51. What pumped me up seems mainly to have been:
-5 years of active duty service in the Army
-Having lived for the past 6-7 years in rural and isolated small towns in middle america, which is not really the culture or region I grew UP in for the most part. I didn’t know where or what Branson was until a few years ago, but now I live on the other side of the state from it, and “going to Branson” seems to be as big around here as going to Disneyland or Sea World was when I was growing up in California, or Six Flags Great America when I was living in Beloit.
-Having worked uniformed retail and customer service jobs, then worked my way up to frontline management in same over the past few years.
My bubble is thin not because of either my family’s habits, or even my own personality and choices, but because I am surrounded by the “average” referred to in the survey, and the vast majority of my superiors, subordinates, co-workers, and customers would probably have bubble scores in the 60-99 range.
Then again, I don’t think I actually mesh that well with the upper-middle class “inside the bubble” culture either. Internet geekdom doesn’t really map well.
Lysenko (49f5d6) — 4/13/2016 @ 10:44 pmI got a 60. It would have been higher, but I don’t watch television. I worked in the oilfielderly for years, but didn’t wear a uniform.
TexasJew (a1ffc8) — 4/13/2016 @ 10:47 pm66. I grew up in the smokies.
Father is illiterate.
You wouldnt believe what I grew up in.
My understanding though w/o reading Murray is how insulated you are from various subcultures and not how much youve been exposed to poverty.
If this is the criteria we could make a better test. Im editing on the phone and i turned off the autocorrect.
dave (7afc1b) — 4/13/2016 @ 11:02 pm56. Dad was a college prof and I have a Master’s, but I had a lot of odd jobs and have chosen to raise my family in the country with hardscrabble salt-of-the-earth neighbors. It’s real life.
bradc (50b8dd) — 4/13/2016 @ 11:03 pmI scored a 7, that’s YUGE!
Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
D.T. (4dd398) — 4/13/2016 @ 11:58 pmNo,I agree with all my friends political opinions even if they disagree with each other.
My score was 47. I figured my love of Waffle House would get me a higher “hick” score, but no. No questions about setting irrigation pipe, hoeing and side-raking beans, or milking cows, no extra bonus points for knowing that one Idaho potato can feed a family of 7, if your uncles bring you their spuds, no value for choosing a line of work that avoided all the “sore body” questions because of physical disability…my body hurts all the time, and I don’t have to do anything to make it happen!
Also, no value for having friends with different political ideas, but respecting each other enough not to poison the friendship by throwing politics into every discussion.
MathMom (823912) — 4/14/2016 @ 5:18 am64. I have a masters in Economics (from a lowly state school), and in my position of the last ten years I work primarily with PhDs. My family is blue collar; dad is a retired AF Lt. Colonel who bootstrapped a degree when he was a 30 year old Captain, mom never went to university. BTW, I always thought of my father as a professional as a SAC aviator; as in “Peace is our Profession”. My grandfathers earned their living as a butcher (who eventually owned his own grocery), and a railroader.
TexMike (6e87db) — 4/14/2016 @ 5:38 amI believe my political and societal views to be well developed and feel quite comfortable defending my beliefs. Normally when I have a discussion with a leftist, I feel pity. Its akin to clubbing a baby seal. I am a regular reader of Patterico, and an admirer. However, I think one of your comments really misses the mark. That you find less educated people boring. In my experience nothing will lead to my praying for the immediate arrival of SMOD faster than being dragged into a conversation with a group of hyper-educated, soft-handed doofuses.
Please reference the profound wisdom of Iowahawk here: “Some of the most intelligent people I know went to college. All of the biggest idiots I know went to college.” Truer words were never spoken.
I scored a 52 and have no idea how Patterico scored so much lower than I did.
Grand parents = dirt farmers (small acreage) and WW II refugee (Grandfather killed as German prisoner of war in Russia)
Parents = homemaker and poor factory worker to electrical engineer and manager of a production line at Ford
Me = Former military, college graduate and IT job.
Dave (778f3b) — 4/14/2016 @ 5:54 amThis quiz was weird. How am I supposed to know if my neighbors have college degrees? I guessed no.
The Branson one…I think of ‘branson’ as the place in the Midwest but I know who Richard Branson is too. I don’t think of him as ‘branson’ though. There wasn’t a place to check ‘I know both of these things’.
I can’t remember going on a factory floor. I have been on the floor of the Chicago exchange though! I bet I would get negative points for that.
Lea (b59bf7) — 4/14/2016 @ 6:25 am“98.I got 44. #12 is a trick question! JimmIE Johnson is a race car driver, JimmY Johnson is former Cowboys coach. I hit the button for Cowboys coach! OOPS. ”
Thank you! I hit the cowboys one. I don’t follow nascar.
39, btw. Which is about right, by their ‘what this means’ standard.
Lea (b59bf7) — 4/14/2016 @ 6:29 amI scored a 58, and yet I am married to a doctor, and live in a pretty good (NOT rich but nice) neighborhood.
My husband is the first one in his family to get a college degree. My father was the first in his family, and the only one of his eight siblings. My husband went to medical school when he was 34. I supported him and our son (mine from a first marriage) through our mid forties. We had no savings until our early fifties, but we have paid off all our debt.
We consider ourselves well educated (I had various high level jobs in corporate America – hey Patterico do you remember a little outfit in Dallas called Texas Instruments? I affectionately called it the mother company) but frankly, I would rather dig ditches than spend my time talking politics with a bunch of whiners on a Friday night.
We have two pickup trucks, which my daughter and I drive. If I could have a gun rack in the back I would.
I think that this test was interesting but a bubble is exists only if you want it to. At the end of the day, you can still smile at people, be polite, courteous and respectful, no matter what they look like (or smell like). Those behaviors have to do with who you are not who anyone else is. I have paid grocery bills for people in line who I saw struggled to get change enough to meet the total. I try to help quietly, without fanfare, because it is not about me, but about helping out. I remember being a single mom and struggling to work two jobs with a toddler. I remember sleeping on a mattress on the floor and being grateful I had the mattress. You can chose to forget your past or learn from it and be better for it.
Ok, I admit, far off topic, sorry.
Oh and I don’t watch tv anymore so I had no idea what most of those shows were. Now if they had listed Southpark…
Jeannine (8ad7a9) — 4/14/2016 @ 6:46 am1)Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American neighborhood in which the majority of your 50 nearest neighbors did not have college degrees?
Yes. Heck, most of my childhood I don’t think I even had ten neighbors, let alone 50. I put at least 20 years as the time spent in that kind of area (I’m in my mid-30s), though I’m sure it’s higher than that. Most areas I’ve lived in have been fairly rural with a largely blue collar population. My college years were boring as sin, full of stuffy intellectuals and idiot college kids who PRETENDED to be intellectuals when they weren’t getting wasted every night.
2)Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not in a managerial position or a high-prestige profession
Yep. Dad was a flooring installer.
3)Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community with a population under 50,000
That’s pretty much my entire state. My hometown had about 5K people growing up. Current residence is in a town of around 8K.
4)Have you ever lived for at least a year in the United States at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line?
Yes. Not that I really knew it, but I know my parents struggled when I was a kiddo.
5)Have you ever walked on a factory floor?
I put no, but I’m almost positive I have. Certainly never in a work capacity. I did work at a newspaper for several years, though, and would often walk through the print room. That place was so cool! And noisy as heck when the press was going.
6) Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
Yep. Summer job at a survey taking company in the mall. My feet were KILLING me by the end of the day.
7) Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
Yes, though I’m not one myself.
8) Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
Yes, though one of the conditions of our friendship is we just don’t talk about politics, religion, or any of the other hot button topics. It also helps that they live on the west coast and I’m on the east coast.
9) Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
Yes! I had quite a few friends in grade school and high school who weren’t the highest achievers, in some cases due to learning disabilities, but they were good friends.
10) During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
No. Hate the smell, and it triggers my allergies.
11) Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia?
To my shame, no. I feel like I should.
12) Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?
Yes, though I was stumped for a minute on whether he was the NFL coach or the NASCAR driver. I was pretty sure it was the latter, though, since I was pretty sure the other Johnson spells his first name with a “Y” not an “IE.” Turns out I’m right.
12) (continued) Have you ever purchased Avon products?
Yes, but not cosmetics. Usually little doodads and knickknacks.
13) Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
No, though I’ve always wanted one. They’re so useful! My dad always had a truck when I was growing up. It was the best.
14) During the last year, have you ever purchased domestic mass-market beer to stock your own fridge?
No. Blech. Not a drinker, and I especially don’t like beer.
15) During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
Yes! Last year I went fishing for the first time with my now-fiance, and I caught my very first fish! It was great!
16) How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains?
Of the list I’ve eaten the most at Chili’s (I put 3 times) and second most at Applebee’s (twice). Haven’t eaten at any of the others in years, if ever.
17) In high school, did you letter in anything?
Nah. I was into chorus and theater.
18)Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or union local?
No.
19) Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest or gay rights?
No. I like to watch holiday parades, at Thanksgiving and the 4th of July for example, but I’ve never taken part in one. And protest parades are a boring waste of time and space. Set up shop somewhere and protest there instead of snarling up traffic for everyone else, losers.
20) Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform?
No.
21) Have you ever done either of these for a trip of 50 miles or more?
Yep. Easiest way to get to the airport is to take the bus; around 70 miles one way.
22) Which of the following movies have you seen (at a theater or on a DVD)?
Star Wars: TFA, Jurassic World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, all in theaters.
23) During the 2014–15 television season, how many of the following series did you watch regularly?
Ew, none of them. That whole list makes my skin crawl. Where’s “The Walking Dead?”
24) Have you ever watched an episode of any of these shows all the way through?
I say this with all the love in my heart: I’d rather lock myself in a garage with the car running than watch five minutes of any of those.
25) What does the word “Branson” mean to you?
Midwest entertainment center. Richard Branson is much less cool.
I got 52 Points, so I guess I fall most closely in the 42-100 range. Seems about right.
48–99: A lifelong resident of a working-class neighborhood with average television and movie going habits. Typical: 77.
42–100: A first-generation middle-class person with working-class parents and average television and movie going habits. Typical: 66.
11–80: A first-generation upper-middle-class person with middle-class parents. Typical: 33.
MWR (32e6a8) — 4/14/2016 @ 6:52 am83 … It would seem that a poor Nashville/murfreesboro upbringing with a stint in the military (hooray! VEAP benefits), a wife and multiple kids, and a high end industrial maintenance job, outweigh the 5 household bachelors degrees (1 JDD still to be completed. GO EMILY!) I’m guessing my kids will score lower than I, but have been exposed to a lot of my background minus the poverty.
1 Y, 50 yrs (early years poor area, last 25 small town/exurbia)
A Heathen Down South (f6620e) — 4/14/2016 @ 7:05 am2 Y,Y
3 Y, 10-25k
4 Y,N
5 Y, Work on factory floor
6 Y,Y,Y
7 Y,Y
8 Y,Y
9 Y
10 Y
11 GO ARMY!
12 Y, watched races at Nashville speedway as a kid… still like to watch them run
13, 14, 15 Y
16 Waffle house about 1/month, my dad likes Chili’s
17, 18 N
19 Y
20 Y,Y
21 Y, bus Ft Gordon- Nashville several times (girlfriend!)
22 Star wars, Avengers, Spectre, M.I.
23 BBT, but losing interest
24 None. So i don’t have to shoot my tv
25 Knew both but Branson very popular here. First to come to mind.
69 “Schwing!”
Joe Bar (33428e) — 4/14/2016 @ 7:23 amFlaw in the scoring. I don’t watch TV, rarely ever watch a current film, but it says I have average TV/movie viewing habits. I did learn that I’m too insulated from military and community organizations/unions. I’ve never walked a factory floor. Overall interesting survey.
Crowley (c8314c) — 4/14/2016 @ 7:44 amMine: 45
Husband: 55
My 19-year-old daughter was a 22, and I was surprised it was that high. Mostly owing to being an evangelical Christian I suppose.
commonsensemom (e86c77) — 4/14/2016 @ 1:07 pm