Member-only story
Are you working class now?
How to deal with suddenly becoming part of the biggest demographic from someone who has always been part of it.
I am working class and from Finglas, Dublin. I may have moved around the country a lot (probably about eight different houses before the age of 9) before settling in Dublin in the early ’90s, but I consider Finglas my home. In case you don’t know, Finglas is an extremely working-class area, and no matter how built up it is, it still has its problems. It isn’t without its charms, though.
However, I was kind of in a weird situation because I was never really considered middle-class or working-class in any proper sense of the word. At various stages, I was considered ‘posh,’ was picked on in my area and school, and found it difficult to make friends locally because my parents, who thought they were protecting me, wouldn’t let me associate with people nearby. However, despite their best efforts and what-not, I was still considered ‘common’ by more middle-class families, and likewise, people weren’t allowed to hang around with me. Also, I feel that the ‘working class’ label has worked to my disadvantage in college and led to people severely underestimating me. I mean, I don’t know what I am, although once I say Finglas with my glorious accent, the decision is taken out of my hands. But I kinda dislike poshos anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.
