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Ultralight
3-25-16, 7:56am
Hey all:

Check out this interesting quiz from PBS. It is about socio-economic class, Trump voters, liberals, and what-have-you. It takes about five minutes.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/do-you-live-in-a-bubble-a-quiz-2/#.VvSLvMtTKqg.facebook

I scored a 43.

Zoe Girl
3-25-16, 8:11am
I got a 35, could have been a lot lower number except I like Star Wars.

iris lilies
3-25-16, 8:15am
I scored 23. Interesting.

It should be a little higher, I suppose. I did have a job that caused body parts to hurt. I was a waitress, but I was young so I don't remember body parts actually hurting and it was 40 years ago, so I marked "No" to that. Now that I think about it, my 50 nearest neighbors don't have a college degree, but probably 40 out of 50 do, and there are a fair number of physicians and physicians in training on our block. The thing is that I DO know exactly what job most of my neighbors have, because I know my neighbors. Most people do not so I don't see how most could answer that accurately.

Probably my answers should be a bit different. I'll take the test again and come back to report.

The question about fishing was a surprise.I view that activity as retro-lux along with things like canning food, using a clothesline, etc.

32 was my second, likely more accurate, score.

catherine
3-25-16, 8:16am
Hey all:

Check out this interesting quiz from PBS. It is about socio-economic class, Trump voters, liberals, and what-have-you. It takes about five minutes.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/do-you-live-in-a-bubble-a-quiz-2/#.VvSLvMtTKqg.facebook

I scored a 43.

I scored 45. Bombed on the TV and movie habits

Alan
3-25-16, 8:23am
76

rodeosweetheart
3-25-16, 8:26am
I scored a 56. Apparently I fit the Bernie white middle class voter a little better than I thought. . .

pinkytoe
3-25-16, 8:29am
Yikes. I got a 6. I need to get out of Austin...

catherine
3-25-16, 8:30am
76

Congrats on your high score, Alan. Can I ask what thinned your bubble? Just curious. You seem staunchly educated middle class to me--neither elitist nor blue-collar.

iris lilies
3-25-16, 8:33am
We don't eat at standard American chain restaurants because they do not exist in our city, the Applebees and etc are out in the county. I don't drive outside of the city to eat out, and our city is jammed packed with independent restaurants anyway of very high quality so why should I? We DO actually go to fast food places like Burger King and I go to White Castle, but those were not on the test.

Once I drove our truck in a parade. I got some points for that.

Alan
3-25-16, 8:33am
Congrats on your high score, Alan. Can I ask what thinned your bubble? Just curious. You seem staunchly educated middle class to me--neither elitist nor blue-collar.

I have no idea how the quiz was scored. I suspect it came from growing up in a very poor small town comprised of non-college educated blue collar workers, serving in the military and never watching a full episode of Ellen.

iris lilies
3-25-16, 8:35am
I have no idea how the quiz was scored. I suspect it came from growing up in a very poor small town comprised of non-college educated blue collar workers, serving in the military and never watching a full episode of Ellen.

Have you been to Branson for the entertainment?

Chicken lady
3-25-16, 8:36am
45. I'm with Catherine. And eating out. Also my friend Toni quit smoking in January and I don't discuss politics with friends.

interestingly though, I would say I'm third generation middle class - but I would have scored higher if I wasn't such a hermit (which is a bubble I guess)

also interesting is I'm first generation liberal, and it's the things that raised my score that make me lean that way.

Alan
3-25-16, 8:38am
Have you been to Branson for the entertainment?
Nope

Tammy
3-25-16, 9:01am
I got 66. There's a reason I don't feel at home in my management job. :)

Ultralight
3-25-16, 9:07am
The question about fishing was a surprise.I view that activity as retro-lux along with things like canning food, using a clothesline, etc.


1. Retro-lux is such a great term! Thanks for turning me on to it. I had never heard of it. :)

2. Canning food and using a clothesline and gardening and making your own yogurt, etc. are totally retro-lux. In Columbus, OH we have a thriving business called City Folks Farm Shop that sells the stuff for these retro-lux hobbies. And they practically have their own university for teaching people this stuff. I have taken numerous classes with them. No one else is a fisherman. I mention fishing and eyes glaze over. I spend a lot of time fishing, rarely do I see a hipster or a crunchy granola-type. It is mostly billies, old black folks, and Asians -- in many ways Asians dominate the urban fishing environment here. There are three old Cambodian guys who slay the trout, panfish, and catfish. I have spoken to them. I was fishing for catfish with one of them and I hooked a fish, it went into a tangle of tall grass and I had to super-slow-motion fight the fish out of the grass. The guy said, in broken English: "Catfish goes into the weeds and sticks. Makes hard to reel in. We practice fishing and get better. But we must remember fish practice fishing too." But out in the rural areas it is all billies and old black folks.

CathyA
3-25-16, 9:29am
45

iris lilies
3-25-16, 9:38am
In my immediate area, you're right, fishing is the hobby of old black folks. In our urban core the city stocks lakes in parks. It is constant tension between race/class here to keep our neighborhood's Swans, purchased with yuppie private funds, away from fishering line and hooks.

But I had just figured that outside of my urban core, fishing was an old fashion hobby, newly popular. I dont know who fishes the
mississippi and where that takes place even tho I prqctically live on the river.

herbgeek
3-25-16, 9:41am
27 here. I freely admit I'm out of the mainstream, for example only do chain restaurants when forced to (traveling) and don't watch much TV. I've intentionally arranged much of my life to contain the elements I like, and avoid what I can of the elements I don't like.

Chicken lady
3-25-16, 10:09am
Swans are a nasty invasive species. Someone should enlighten the yuppies.

rodeosweetheart
3-25-16, 10:17am
Swans are up here all over on Lake Michigan and I love to watch them. I want to know how they stay alive here all winter and where they nest!

Okay, just checked out this nesting question, as I suspected, in sedges along shore, but they did say the territory for each pair was 6-150 acres and I am seeing them pretty close to each other on the lake.

iris lily
3-25-16, 10:20am
Swans are a nasty invasive species. Someone should enlighten the yuppies.

Here, they are coddled and named. Susie, Sarah, Sabrina, and another girl whose name starts with S.

People grow stuff in their gardens for the swans.

Years ago we had only one swan, Willie, who every spring got it into his dim swan head that he needed to find a mate. He left the lake and went waddling down Park Ave. It was always the job of the current neighborhood president to catch Willie and retuen him to the lake. It was a tragedy, one Ive never forgiven certain people, when the lake was drained by our city's parks department and dogs waded into the slush to catch and kill Willie.

pinkytoe
3-25-16, 10:23am
Even though I got a bubble score, I am very familiar with and experienced many of the items for very short periods of time. Both of my parents grew up in isolated rural areas (think one room school house) but for whatever reason, both went on to get advanced degrees and have professional careers. My husband's parents/family on the other hand never got past high school, eat fast food and watch Dancing with the Stars "religiously." I get that we all have different experiences and viewpoints. One of the important factors for picking our retirement spot is to find a middle of the road kind of place.

oldhat
3-25-16, 10:24am
I think this test is baloney. I scored a 33, but I'm much more of a snob than that.

rodeosweetheart
3-25-16, 10:27am
Even though I got a bubble score, I am very familiar with and experienced many of the items for very short periods of time. Both of my parents grew up in isolated rural areas (think one room school house) but for whatever reason, both went on to get advanced degrees and have professional careers. My husband's parents/family on the other hand never got past high school, eat fast food and watch Dancing with the Stars "religiously." I get that we all have different experiences and viewpoints. One of the important factors for picking our retirement spot is to find a middle of the road kind of place.

Maybe not Branson. . .

Williamsmith
3-25-16, 10:40am
I took the test but I really don't see the value in it. Sorry.

Alan
3-25-16, 10:52am
I think this test is baloney. I scored a 33, but I'm much more of a snob than that.
:+1:

Ultralight
3-25-16, 10:53am
:+1:

I would say this test is not scientific! But it was amusing.

bae
3-25-16, 11:11am
77. I have my doubts about the test, my guess is that it has some age bias built in.

Zoe Girl
3-25-16, 11:23am
Swans are up here all over on Lake Michigan and I love to watch them. I want to know how they stay alive here all winter and where they nest!
.

One of our neighbors got a swan when we were kids (in Michigan). I got too close and got hit by it. Not gentle like the ducks that were all over our back yard pond.

LDAHL
3-25-16, 11:29am
I scored 54, it seems to class me in nouveau middle class territory because I served in the military, argue politics with my friends and like the occasional Grand Slam Breakfast, but earn more money than my father.

I suppose that's how the average PBS viewer would view me.

JaneV2.0
3-25-16, 11:31am
77. I have my doubts about the test, my guess is that it has some age bias built in.

I thought that too. When I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood, the majority of parents probably didn't have college degrees. I think the national average is still only 30% or so.

I got 35. Seems about right. I've had a lot of physical jobs (stringing wire, stocking shelves, doing cleanup work), but I don't recall ever being in pain. I'm pretty comfortable in my bubble.

ApatheticNoMore
3-25-16, 11:34am
I did have a job that caused body parts to hurt.

I suppose carpel tunnel is not supposed to count, but there are times I have come home in too much pain to do anything but lie in bed.

The thing is I always wonder if I'd like a more physical job (not backbreaking needless to say, but more physical than sitting 8 hours), if I'd like a more extroverted job (although there are some people I don't get along with that would not be a fit etc..). But whatever take the job you have and hate it, it's all you can really get work in anyway. I know. I do believe that works sucks for almost everyone.

By the way how would I have ANY IDEA whether my neighbors had college degrees? What are they supposed to wear their diplomas on their heads or something? It's not a ghetto, but it is apartments on this block, so that's by definition not real money, so it's really hard to tell. They don't want you go google your zip, but otherwise there is no way of knowing.

I got 9
0–20: A second-generation (or more) upper-middle-class person with the television and movie going habits of the upper middle class. Typical: 2.

I guess that means I don't watch television or movies? That's right. I don't. And I deliberately insulate from American culture if that means Hollywood products especially, basically because I hate Hollywood.

Uh I don't think my income makes me upper middle class though. I wish, if only it were true .... but since it's not about income fine.

i'm a serious introvert and hermit as well so I never have a large circle of friends by definition, since I have never known all that many people of course I'm not going to know a lot of people with different lifestyles.

CathyA
3-25-16, 11:57am
There are tons of quizzes like that that are baloney! But I think we all like answering questions about ourselves. haha
There's just so much crap out there. But.....I do fall for it sometimes. !Splat!

ApatheticNoMore
3-25-16, 12:06pm
There are tons of quizzes like that that are baloney! But I think we all like answering questions about ourselves. haha

+1

the thing is not only do I not really have an upper middle class income (although national averages are going to be a bit off since California is expensive), I rather doubt even my parents were upper middle class and they did better than me. They were basically solid middle class. It's hard to characterize working in a hospital as blue collar for instance. What collar even is that? None really. There were a lot of professor types in the non-immediate family, which explains a certain amount though. But the disconnection from American culture at large in terms of media is how I choose to live.

rodeosweetheart
3-25-16, 12:20pm
I see a real bias against Southerners--I have a pick up truck and love the Waffle House, but I have a PhD in Literature.

CathyA
3-25-16, 12:31pm
I see a real bias against Southerners--I have a pick up truck and love the Waffle House, but I have a PhD in Literature.

That combo sounds good to me! :)

ApatheticNoMore
3-25-16, 12:41pm
I see a real bias against Southerners--I have a pick up truck and love the Waffle House, but I have a PhD in Literature.

yea I kind of think I scored as I did (a 9 baby and proud of it :), I don't like this society and why should I) in part because I'm a Californian (where ever Branson is, it's a long way from here, isn't it?) in addition to being seriously introverted and idiosyncratic, which in someone's mind (but alas not the IRSes) adds up to upper middle class.

freshstart
3-25-16, 12:52pm
43 but my brain could not make logic out of how to answer the military rank question so who knows

KayLR
3-25-16, 1:25pm
48 here. Wasn't really sure on the question about being raised by a white/blue collar individual. What would you consider a law enforcement officer? Blue?

Not sure what this all means, really. I love "retro-lux" and can't wait for an opportunity to use that!

iris lilies
3-25-16, 1:41pm
I pulled "retro-lux" out of my deep reptilian brain. That makes up for yesterday when
I couldnt find words. I trailed DH around and asked him to supplynthe words
I couldnt pull out of my head.

JaneV2.0
3-25-16, 1:45pm
I pulled "retro-lux" out of my deep reptilian brain. That makes up for yesterday when
I couldnt find words. I trailed DH around and asked him to supplynthe words
I couldnt pull out of my head.

"Retro-lux" sounds rather like a stylish vacuum cleaner.

Teacher Terry
3-25-16, 2:02pm
Got a 50.

mschrisgo2
3-25-16, 2:14pm
I got 63.

nswef
3-25-16, 2:19pm
Got 56 but figure it is because we live in a rural area. I have friends who are far different from me regarding politics, but we never discuss it. We try to find common ground.

Alan
3-25-16, 2:23pm
"Retro-lux" sounds rather like a stylish vacuum cleaner.
"Nothing sux like a Retro-lux!"

ApatheticNoMore
3-25-16, 2:28pm
I have friends who are far different from me regarding politics, but we never discuss it.

I'm of this theory too, that it is sometimes just better not to go there. If you could learn something maybe, but if you are just going to end up in an argument and you know it ....

frugal-one
3-25-16, 2:33pm
I pulled "retro-lux" out of my deep reptilian brain. That makes up for yesterday when
I couldnt find words. I trailed DH around and asked him to supplynthe words
I couldnt pull out of my head.

So, what actually, is the definition?

Score: 30

iris lilies
3-25-16, 2:43pm
So, what actually, is the definition?
It means things and activities that are old fashion, and people now do them who have time and resources to use modern technology, but who choose not to use the modern
things.

These are no longer the province of poor and country people. It refers to the entire "slow" movement and it touches on the idea that homemade and homegrown is better.

Florence
3-25-16, 2:52pm
I scored 31 and it was pretty accurate --> I am a first generation upper middle class person with middle class parents.

Ultralight
3-25-16, 2:58pm
I feel like 43 is right on for me.

In my hometown my dad, an RN, was the most educated person. Granted, the town was super rural and had only 250 people in it. Everyone worked blue collar or similar working-class jobs, in factories or construction in "cities" a half hour away.

I don't watch any of the TV shows in the questionnaire, nor do I eat at those restaurants. I had no idea about those military insignia things.

But I have a couple of advanced degrees.

Obviously I fish. haha

ApatheticNoMore
3-25-16, 3:15pm
I don't watch any of the TV shows in the questionnaire, nor do I eat at those restaurants. I had no idea about those military insignia things.

yep


But I have a couple of advanced degrees.

I have a 2 year degree from the community college.


Obviously I fish. haha

I'm not sure where I even would fish, other than the Pacific ocean. But there might be fishing somewhere. It would be a drive of course. I suppose some people fish if they camp for vacation. It seems peaceful.

JaneV2.0
3-25-16, 3:23pm
"Nothing sux like a Retro-lux!"

Well done! :laff:

CathyA
3-25-16, 5:31pm
They should have called this quiz something else than "Do you live in a Bubble?"...........like......What class do you fit in? or are you white trash? or Do you like stuff with no class? or Are you arrogant?
.........but "Do you live in a Bubble" is just stupid. >8)

I can't remember all the questions, but I think it's silly and am confused why it was a PBS thing.

rodeosweetheart
3-25-16, 5:56pm
They should have called this quiz something else than "Do you live in a Bubble?"...........like......What class do you fit in? or are you white trash? or Do you like stuff with no class? or Are you arrogant?
.........but "Do you live in a Bubble" is just stupid. >8)

I can't remember all the questions, but I think it's silly and am confused why it was a PBS thing.

I love your titles, especially "Are you arrogant" and "Do you like stuff with no class."

rosarugosa
3-25-16, 7:48pm
I scored 32, but I think I had answers that ranged the spectrum. I worked in a factory right out of HS and that's what motivated me to go to college. My dad was in the Merchant Marines, but he rose to the rank of Captain, so I wasn't sure how to answer that one (a prestigious rank in an adventurous but not necessarily prestigious occupation). I have a BS but most of the people I associate with outside of work do not have degrees, nor does DH or either of my parents. I don't like TV and am admittedly a bit of a food snob. Those are the restaurants I think of when I make the point that if one isn't going to dine well away from the home, one is better off having a grilled cheese sandwich at home. We bought a 6-pack of Michelob a couple of weeks ago for a friend who was coming to visit and doesn't like "fancy" beer, so lost or gained points there. Where do they draw the line between middle and upper middle class? I've definitely spent my entire life somewhere in the middle class.

Lainey
3-25-16, 8:42pm
47 here. I agree there's an issue with answering yes or no to things that were true decades ago but not true today. But I do agree we are a product of our life experiences.

ToomuchStuff
3-26-16, 2:58am
I will say the test seemed screwy to me. First thing, I wouldn't have a clue about the education level around me. It would be a different answer if they had asked about one of the areas I grew up. It gave me a score of 41, but while I come from a middle class background, I do not have a college degree (started college, worked full time, had a hospice thing go on with a family member then ended up with a house and mortgage and couldn't afford to keep going.) One of those restaurants i have eaten at and liked, but I am NOT going to drive a long distance for, so I might get to eat there once every 10 years. One I ate at once (wanted to try a bloomin onion, didn't have enough money to order it/friends bachelor party). The one that was local burned down, so never got to try one or eat there again. Friends tend to be at extreme income ends. The ones in the low 20's to probably 40K tend to eat at home. The ones who are making six figures or better, I can't afford the places they go. One of the tv programs I watched that year, but burned out on. Knew all the ranks, but 4F, so there went my way I thought I could pay for school. Branson, wouldn't let me pick both things it means. Know what it is as a place, MAY have been to it (would have been under 8), have a friend that works down there, if still alive (last I heard, fighting brain tumor).
Been exposed to a lot of things, doesn't really mean I have lived much.

jp1
3-26-16, 9:00am
I got 30. I suppose that's about right.

When I lived in NYC I used to ride my bike down to the southern tip of Manhattan several times a week to watch the sun set. There were always a couple dozen guys fishing for their dinner. Apparently a fair amount of people fish in Manhattan because I remember on more than one occasion getting a mailer from the city's Department of Environmental Protection warning people to not eat fish from the water surrounding the city more than twice a month and never if you were pregnant or had small children because of the amount of pollution in the fish.

LDAHL
3-26-16, 11:04am
Years ago, Paul Fussell wrote an interesting book called Class in which he tried to make the case that there was an American class system based more on taste than wealth. It's a fun, somewhat snarky read. I see elements of that thesis in this quiz.

My problem with that thinking is that this country has so many semi-balkanized subcultures that take so many different approaches to snobbery that making general conclusions about a "mainstream" is ridiculous. Are there any meaningful ranking systems to compare an NPR-Vegan Restaurant-Art House Cinema guy to a NASCAR superfan? A Hipster artisinal cheesemaker to a Senior Vice President for Institutional Underwriting? Boasting about how your trip to Malawi changed your outlook or about how your time at Paris Island made you grow up? Taking pride in your PhD in Sustainable Development or your status as a 28th degree Mason? Status competition can range from
who has the best birding life list, most extensive collection of vinyl records, most elaborate bass boat, highest bowling score or most dressage trophies.

It might be fun to think about, but I can't see drawing much by way of meaningful conclusions.

JaneV2.0
3-26-16, 11:25am
Years ago, Paul Fussell wrote an interesting book called Class in which he tried to make the case that there was an American class system based more on taste than wealth. It's a fun, somewhat snarky read. I see elements of that thesis in this quiz.

My problem with that thinking is that this country has so many semi-balkanized subcultures that take so many different approaches to snobbery that making general conclusions about a "mainstream" is ridiculous. Are there any meaningful ranking systems to compare an NPR-Vegan Restaurant-Art House Cinema guy to a NASCAR superfan? A Hipster artisinal cheesemaker to a Senior Vice President for Institutional Underwriting? Boasting about how your trip to Malawi changed your outlook or about how your time at Paris Island made you grow up? Taking pride in your PhD in Sustainable Development or your status as a 28th degree Mason? Status competition can range from
who has the best birding life list, most extensive collection of vinyl records, most elaborate bass boat, highest bowling score or most dressage trophies.

It might be fun to think about, but I can't see drawing much by way of meaningful conclusions.

Fussell's Class was one of my favorite books ever--especially the part where he did all kinds of contortions to declare himself above class, an "X." :cool:
You have a point--who gets to determine what's "classy?" Those with press access, in the old days--it may be different now.

rodeosweetheart
3-26-16, 11:28am
Years ago, Paul Fussell wrote an interesting book called Class in which he tried to make the case that there was an American class system based more on taste than wealth. It's a fun, somewhat snarky read. I see elements of that thesis in this quiz.


I thought of the Fussell book, too. He had a quiz, as I recall, and one of the items was "do you have prints on the walls of your living room or original art, not painted by your relatives."

It was the same sort of thinking, the same sort of snobbery. He posited the idea that intellectuals formed their own class, outside of the upper-middle-lower class paradigm, and I think that caught on over the years.

bae
3-26-16, 11:34am
I thought of the Fussell book, too. He had a quiz, as I recall, and one of the items was "do you have prints on the walls of your living room or original art, not painted by your relatives."


Here you go:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2012/05/begin_with_a_base_score037567.php

ApatheticNoMore
3-26-16, 11:35am
We bought a 6-pack of Michelob a couple of weeks ago for a friend who was coming to visit and doesn't like "fancy" beer, so lost or gained points there. Where do they draw the line between middle and upper middle class? I've definitely spent my entire life somewhere in the middle class.

I don't even buy beer, and if I was to yea I'd buy something a little better, go to trader joe and pick something nicer :). And I don't really buy wine either. The only wine I have around is three buck chuck which I use mostly for cooking. I kind of like hard ciders but mostly I don't drink. I last drank at new years eve and it was champagne. I guess not drinking is upper middle class, like not watching t.v. or movies. You have to earn a lot of money to not do stuff! Who knew?

I do like Fussells book, but as I remember it, it was a far more accurate read of things than that ridiculous quiz.

bae
3-26-16, 11:41am
I don't even buy beer, and if I was to yea I'd buy something a little better, go to trader joe and pick something nicer :). And I don't really buy wine either. The only wine I have around is three buck chuck which I use mostly for cooking. I kind of like hard ciders but mostly I don't drink. I last drank at new years eve. I guess not drinking is upper middle class, like not watching t.v. or movies.


I trade wine lovingly hand-made made at the winery at my own vineyard for beer brewed down in the village by this cool Scottish fellow who opened a nice brewery in our village a few years ago. You'd think there'd be a tax savings there from the barter, but the BATF keeps track of every drop of production :-(

rodeosweetheart
3-26-16, 11:41am
Here you go:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2012/05/begin_with_a_base_score037567.php

Yeah, that was it!!

jp1
3-26-16, 11:49am
Here you go:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2012/05/begin_with_a_base_score037567.php

According to that test I'm lower proletariat.

ApatheticNoMore
3-26-16, 11:52am
That living room test was tough work for a not even very successful minimalist. I don't have almost any of those things pretty much, uh books yea on the floor and stuff too.

100 to 185: middle class

CathyA
3-26-16, 12:55pm
I was 164.........smack in the middle of middle class. I'm insulted. :~)
I had to laugh at some of those questions........

Miss Cellane
3-26-16, 11:29pm
I got a 42, helped along by a military childhood--I could recognize the rank insignia, and the fact that I went to see Star Wars. But we don't even have a Waffle House in the area, I never go out to eat, I don't drink beer.

But don't we all live in bubbles? Just different bubbles.

pcooley
3-27-16, 2:10am
I scored a 50, but I'm not sure my bubble is really that thin. I worked in an ice manufacturing plant in high school and a little bit of college. I'm not sure that is really a factory floor, but I did ache at the end of the day. My dad grew up on welfare and was career military. He worked at the post office when I was growing up. I don't know my fifty nearest neighbors. However, because of some low-income type housing nearby, I bet that the majority do not have college degrees. The people I do know by name in the neighborhood probably have a slightly higher percentage of degree holders among them.

I've never eaten at any of the restaurants named, and the only TV show we've watched is Gray's Anatomy, and my wife is the one who watches it, and only then when it streams on Netflix. Lately, I've been watching "Inspector George Gently" on Netflix. I also didn't recognize most of the movie names, though I have seen Star Wars.

What makes me think I am in more of a bubble than my score indicates is that I do not know anyone in America who is angry. Who are all these angry people? Why is it that people think Obama has done a poor job? We really should have a single payer health care system instead of lagging so far behind the rest of the developed world, but it was not exactly a harmonious, idealistic process. I have no idea why anyone would support Donald Trump, and his popularity is baffling. I bicycle most places most of the time, and I see the streets of my city as being very safe and friendly. I grow a garden, raise my honeybees, tend my chickens, work at a college, and bicycle over to the Zendo to meditate. I'm pretty sure I'm in my own little bubble that is somewhat separate from both the liberals and conservatives. (I hear of just as many angry liberals as conservatives). I exist in a bubble of happiness and simplicity, (except for a few minor gripes caused by my own shortcomings rather than the governments).

Williamsmith
3-27-16, 3:17am
My granddaughter was over today. I got out this big bottle of bubbles and we went outside where the wind was blowing. She took a bright purple wand, dipped it in the bottle pulled it out and waved it in the air and a dozen or so bubbles, perfect little spheres of soap took off carried by the wind. Some slightly larger than others, some bursting on the ground right after they were created but a few glistening in the sun took off skyward. A few were caught by an unseen stream of wind and pulled skyward ever higher and higher until they were out of sight. One floated by, a double bubble. One bubble failing to separate from another. Unable to gain height and headed toward the ground drawn by gravity....... Where it vanished......... suddenly...finally. It's not hard to imagine living in a double bubble.

rodeosweetheart
3-27-16, 8:05am
My granddaughter was over today. I got out this big bottle of bubbles and we went outside where the wind was blowing. She took a bright purple wand, dipped it in the bottle pulled it out and waved it in the air and a dozen or so bubbles, perfect little spheres of soap took off carried by the wind. Some slightly larger than others, some bursting on the ground right after they were created but a few glistening in the sun took off skyward. A few were caught by an unseen stream of wind and pulled skyward ever higher and higher until they were out of sight. One floated by, a double bubble. One bubble failing to separate from another. Unable to gain height and headed toward the ground drawn by gravity....... Where it vanished......... suddenly...finally. It's not hard to imagine living in a double bubble.

Thank you, Williamsmith, I need this today.
Happy Easter to you!

Williamsmith
3-27-16, 8:10am
Thank you, Williamsmith, I need this today.
Happy Easter to you!

And to you also rodeo sweetheart

CathyA
3-27-16, 9:17am
My granddaughter was over today. I got out this big bottle of bubbles and we went outside where the wind was blowing. She took a bright purple wand, dipped it in the bottle pulled it out and waved it in the air and a dozen or so bubbles, perfect little spheres of soap took off carried by the wind. Some slightly larger than others, some bursting on the ground right after they were created but a few glistening in the sun took off skyward. A few were caught by an unseen stream of wind and pulled skyward ever higher and higher until they were out of sight. One floated by, a double bubble. One bubble failing to separate from another. Unable to gain height and headed toward the ground drawn by gravity....... Where it vanished......... suddenly...finally. It's not hard to imagine living in a double bubble.

That was beautifully written Williamsmith, and gave me wonderful images to see in my mind. :)

nswef
3-27-16, 10:12am
Yes, Williamsmith, thank you.

Zoe Girl
3-27-16, 11:42am
Very nice

btw I got 125, I need that potted palm!

iris lilies
3-27-16, 4:48pm
The MMM group did the Fussell test fairly recently. I get middle class. The parquet they talk about is not the kind of parquet I've got on my floor, but I will still count it.

Fussel's test is very old because it mentioned ns all of those magazines. Anyone who gets haard cover magazines are old, like me. I have one magazine subscription.