You may not have asked them about their financial or living situation, but there are always a few blatantly obvious signs that someone is living a more than comfortable lifestyle. To guide you, here are 18 signs that somebody is clearly middle class.
Grocery Delivery
The true middle class will refuse to even leave their home to get the weekly shop in. Instead, they’ll have it delivered and dropped at their doorstep by an exhausted driver on his 19th drop-off of the day. They’ll then get their cleaner to put the shopping away for them–fancy, eh?
A House Full of Things
Middle-class people are known to accumulate a lot of ‘things,’ with UCLA describing their living situations as a ‘cluttered paradise.’ Many of these items belong to children, with their parents purchasing their children more items out of guilt that they don’t spend enough time with them due to work commitments. That’s rather depressing!
Organic-Only Shopping List
There will be no regular supermarket brand items on the shopping lists of the middle class. In fact, they don’t even register the existence of ‘normal’ food–only the organic stuff. It doesn’t matter if this is just herbs, spices, bread, or vegetables; nothing on their shopping list will be anything less than the best.
They Behave Like a Sommelier
You can always tell when someone has made the transition upward to middle class as they suddenly take on the character of a sommelier when handed a glass of wine. Swilling, swirling, and looking for flavors that don’t exist, they want you to know that they’ve done this before.
Romantically Engaged
Those with dual incomes are far more likely to feel financially stable and, therefore, become part of the middle class. Single people tend to feel less secure financially as they have to fend for themselves, making them much more likely to consider themselves below the middle class.
Fast Food is Off-Limits
The middle class wouldn’t dare poison their bodies with the cheap treat of a fast food meal; the thought of the additives used in the making of the burger makes their stomach churn! Instead, they’d happily skip the meal, waiting until they can eat something more ‘high-class.’
Refusal to Shop at Discount Supermarkets
You’ll never catch the middle class traipsing around the aisles of a budget supermarket; instead, they choose to spend big on upmarket stores like Whole Foods. However, YahooFinance points out that Whole Foods is actually far too expensive for the middle class to shop sustainably, which is actually rather humbling to read!
Interest in Unique Sports
Anyone who considers themself to be middle class will have zero interest in watching the football game while snacking on chips, yet they’ll go wild for the horse races when the next event rolls into town. Honestly, we think this is just snobbery, but each is their own!
Owning Their Own Home
The middle-class American dream revolves around owning your own slice of land, which is becoming harder for people further down the class hierarchy to do. There is an obvious stability that comes with being middle class, with home ownership at the core.
Not Wasting Time on Public Transport
Middle-class people don’t have to waste their time messing around on public transport because they’ll have their own car to get them from A to B. Trains, and buses are nothing more than dirty, sweaty boxes to those who can transport themselves. That’s alright for some!
Having an Interest in Watches
The middle classes are aspirational, often requiring some sort of material goal to aim for. In many cases, it’s a luxury watch; take a trip to your local city center, and you’ll likely spot a middle-class person with their nose pressed up against the glass of a Rolex shop.
They Are Happy to Take a Trip to the Hospital
While the lower classes will do anything they possibly can to avoid taking a trip to the hospital, the middle classes are far more willing to pay the costs. This sentiment may change as inflation rises, as increasing costs are set to hit the middle classes the hardest, according to Forbes.
Frequent Vacations
The middle class may not indulge in trips to far-flung, wealthy destinations, but they will always take some time out of their schedule each year to enjoy a family vacation. They have far more disposable income for these trips than the working class, and you can bet they won’t stop talking about it!
Following Health Fads
Looking into the cupboards of the middle class, you’ll likely find an abundance of green juices, kale, and avocados. The middle class can afford to spend their money on following complicated diets that will supposedly add an extra half an hour to their lives, and they won’t shut up about it either!
Having Middle-Class Parents
Wealth tends to flow comfortably down the generations, with those lucky enough to be born into the comfort of the middle class very rarely dropping out of it. CBS News states that 70% of adults who consider themselves middle-class grew up in middle-class households, which is shocking when you think about it!
Only Traveling on Fancy Airlines
True middle-class travelers will skip out on budget airlines in favor of the more upmarket airlines that offer you an extra couple of centimeters of legroom. They’ll likely claim that they were the only tickets they could find, but they’re fooling no one.
Complaining About Menial Things
One thing that middle-class people love to do is complain. Whether it is justified or unjustified, you’ll be able to find them at any customer service desk, giving the receptionist an earful. After all, what else is there to do when you have very little to genuinely worry about?
Owning More Technology Than Required
Finally, middle-class households will have more Apple than an orchard, with iPhones, iPads, and AirPods littered around the place. They’ll also have an army of Alexas and a speaker system linked to every room in the house; they’d probably clone themselves if they could!