This (a conversation) is the first intimation I have that ... there are different kinds of common people. Apart from the gendered differences between men and women, I soon realise that women are very careful of the distinctions between kinds of common people. Anita gives me a pointer to lead me away from a descent into being the kind of common person that she feels it wouldn't suit me to become, and indicates that there are other kinds of common women that I can be more like.
Different kinds of common people! Fancy that! Guardian readers now discover, to their astonishment, that poor people aren't all the same.
But this paragraph I thought was priceless:
I realise that the educated talk of the middle classes is useless to me with Sharon; I no longer need to demonstrate how knowledgeable I am about the world, how broad my experience of it is, and how ambitious I am to get on in life and improve myself. When I resort to such talk I am teased mercilessly about being posh and I quickly learn to keep the breadth of my education firmly in the background.
I've got news for you doll - it ain't a feature, it's a bug. The type of middle class person whose conversation is directed at 'demonstrating how knowledgeable I am' is the problem not the solution. You are rightly disdained by people who actually do have knowledge and wisdom. You never know - some of the 'Common People' might even be more intelligent than you.
Now, tell me, have I missed the joke? Is this supposed to be a portrait of a complete idiot?
