Just thinking out loud
A yuppie
a fashionable young middle-class person with a well-paid job.
"stereotypical 1980s yuppies obsessed with material objects and financial success"
What is a 'yuppie' the answer lies above. Why did I need to know, reading an article on the French elections, it talked about how the population had divided, the young middle class picking up cheaper housing in the towns, doing the houses up and changing the poor areas of the towns and cities. I had seen this happen in Bath, the Georgian terraced houses had their basements converted into long kitchen/cum living areas. All to do with being fashionable of course. This of course pushes their poorer residents out to other areas, but as a conurbation has to be 'serviced' immigrants have moved in to cheaper areas, making the 'class' of poorer citizens outcast in their own country - no wonder the resentment. This had happened in the French country towns and villages outside the urban areas, results in earlier deaths also. So what is experienced is a greater divide between the poor and rich, hence the anger and resentment shown in the rise of the far right wing, also found here in our country when UKIP* took to the stage.
So to return to the normal part of this diary like blog. What is the weather today like, beautiful and sunny, when I went out to feed the chickens, there was a little blue tit managing to get the last scraps of the insect log inside the feeder, tiny creature had squeezed through the bars. All the birds are so much tamer at this time of year when they are feeding their young, the song thrush hops ahead of me on the lawn quite unconcerned that I am behind. The blackbirds are harassed by their young and the whole family of tits raid the seed holders without a thought that I stand behind them. Lucy cavorts on the lawn like a young pup as I feed all the birds, her turn for a small handful of biscuits for breakfast when we go in.
In the week we went to Castle Howard garden centre, Paul spends most of the time talking to a Chinese English teacher, the Chinese seem to like this English country estate, there are many of them wandering around. Bought an everlasting pink sweet pea, it's foliage ripe with energy and it is to go on the willow trellis I bought for a rose that is starting to grow up the church wall. You can just see the tower of the house above the tree line.
*And luckily has fallen of that stage!
I remember the term yuppy very well. Now it is about millennials, but they don't seem to have it as well as those before them.
ReplyDeleteOf course you are right it is just history repeating itself. We in the Western world have become very acquisitive, success would better be found in striving for a simpler life style..
DeleteI think that living up here, as we both do, we don't see the worst of this underclass you speak of - maybe it is here but most of it is hidden away.
ReplyDeleteMostly of course it is in the big Northern towns like Manchester, people who are unlucky in the lottery of life. Not sure what the answer is?
DeleteWe had a definite yuppy surge in the late 80's/early 90's. My home town is about 20 miles north of Manhattan and we saw so many people move into our little town from the city. It was great for the older people that had been wanting to move to warmer weather when they retired. They received top dollar for the houses that had been paid off years ago. It was horrible for those of us that wanted to spend the rest of our lives in the town we grew up in because it was almost impossible to afford a house unless you were a family with two "yuppies" and put your kids in daycare. I remember driving thru town and not knowing anyone walking on the street when a few years before I knew almost everyone. Now we're feeling the resentment in the new town that we live in. The old time residents resent us for taking over "their" town. I empathize but we have felt the wrath of some of our neighbors. We just smile and wave. : )
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
It is a sad business, the price of your house becomes the pension for later life, making our homes a high price savings capital - if that makes sense. Holiday homes were alway a moment that triggers off resentment in villages. The young residents of the village can't afford them and they migrate to the towns. Quite a few years ago, there was a flurry of burning down English holiday cottages by the Welsh, presumably nationalist, but it died a quiet death.
ReplyDeleteAn everlasting sweet pea. That caught my eye. Does that mean it is a perennial or just that it blooms all sumemr?
ReplyDeleteYes they do exist as hardy plants and perennial though they don't have a perfume, see here...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vanmeuwen.com/flowers/flower-plants/climbing-plants/sweet-pea-everlasting/69142VM