Class differences and class awareness in great Britain
Class differences and class awareness in Great Britain are other issues featured in my book “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”There are so many ways of assessing social class, it is difficult to know where to start. So, I`ll start with what my day starts with: tea.
Having said that, there are so many ways “tea” can be an indicator of one`s social class. So, I`ll start with the age-old question of the milk.
The question being not whether to add milk to my cuppa, but when to add it.
Milk first and then the tea?
Or tea first and then the milk?
It is a handed-down-the-generations position that the higher the class, the more likely one is to put the tea in first. There was a time when it was important that one could show that the porcelain of the teacup was of such high quality as to be able to withstand the high temperature of the tea. So, tea first (just to rove the point) and then milk.
If one had lower standard cups the milk had to go in first in order to ensure that the temperature was lowered to such an extent that the cup didn`t crack.
Such were the days, and the story lives on.
For my part, I put the tea in first for purely pragmatic reasons: I can then see how much milk I need to get the strength (and thus the colour) of the tea I wish for.
This brings with it the added advantage of perceived “class” – but only for those in the know.
NB: Just a short note to all those who think this isn`t valid today: when my son went for his first tutor group meeting at university, the professor favourably commented on the fact that he “knew how to take his tea”.
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