Class Observation Essay

We’ve all been told not to judge someone primarily on the way they present themselves but by the content of their character. “You know my name not my story” is a common phrase that is thrown around in our society today. Despite the effort we give to not judge it happens subconsciously, because we are human. In this essay I will use my observation of others around me to better understand more about how we as individuals size up others based on their Socioeconomic status; a measure of an individual's place within a social class system; often used interchangeably with “class”(Ferris 2016). I will also use the perspective of a symbolic interactionist which explains social behavior in terms of how people interact with each other via symbols to help me better understand the idea behind class consciousness.
I chose to write about this essay

I chose three individuals who in my opinion looked, and acted remarkably different. My first victim subject to judgement was a caucasian woman who looked like she could be in her early thirties. She was wearing basic black leggings with a grey sweater. She was pushing a baby in a stroller who looked like she was about 8 months old. Immediately I noticed that the woman had no coat on. This observation made me jump to the conclusion that she was apart of the working class. It was about 33 degrees and very windy that day and the woman had no coat. According to the National Public Radio working class families spend a large portion of their money on basic necessities such as food at home, utilities, and healthcare (Goldstein). Therefore many individuals who are apart of the working class don’t have extra funds for something as simple as a coat. I quickly concluded that buying a coat might not be apart of her spending plan. No coat on a very cold day was the indirect symbol that allowed me to conclude that the woman belonged to the working