5 minute read
Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams - Meghan Johnson
aegis 2008
Lubrano, Alfred. Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004. Meghan Johnson
Lubrano’s mission in this book is to expose the myth that the United States is “classless.” This country is known for its freedoms and endless possibilities, or what is commonly called the “American dream.” Lubrano argues, however, that class issues exist and they limit or confine individuals depending on which class they are born into. To do so, Lubrano chronicles his own experiences growing up as a young Italian-American male in Brooklyn, NY and the struggles he encountered when he attends college and leaves his working class roots for a life in the middle class. He supports his own experiences with input from working-class studies scholars and anecdotal evidence he received from 100 interviews over a nine-month period with other “straddlers.” Lubrano defines a straddler as those who “were born into bluecollar families and then, [like him], moved into the strange new territory of the middle class. “They are the first in their families to have graduated from college. As such, they straddle two worlds, many of them not feeling at home in the either, living in a kind of American Limbo” (2). Lubrano feels that studying and examining social classes is beneficial to people, “By ignoring class distinctions, people may be overlooking important parts of themselves and failing to understand who they really are” (5). It can be difficult for Straddlers because they were “trained” in one world, but need to survive and function in another. Those raised in a blue-collar family have different life tools and ways in which they interact with family and friends, but when they receive their college education and begin learning the ins and outs of middle-class life, they may encounter emotional conflicts. Lubrano summarizes it best when he says that Straddlers and their families are related by blood but separated by class (7). This statement, coming first-hand from a first generation college grad from a blue-collar family does wonders to prove that, in fact, class does exist in the United States and can cause rifts between not only different classes, but members within the same family as well. In an effort to further illustrate the differences between white- and blue-collar families, Lubrano addresses the issue of communication—“the number of words spoken in a white-collar household in a day is, on average, three times greater than the number spoken in a blue-collar home (especially the talk between parents and kids)” (9-10). Basically, Lubrano summarizes that in blue-collar homes, the parents come home from a hard day of laborious work and expect children to be seen and not heard. On the other hand, in white-collar homes, parents converse with their children and encourage them to voice their opinions and emotions. This major difference is what attributes to the courage and “belongingness” children of white-collar families carry into their college experience and white-collar jobs (9). Along with this “belongingness,” Lubrano also addresses the fact that we “begin in different places” and the differing journeys that white-collar and blue-collar children make “makes all the difference in how one ultimately views the world” (11). Also, those from middle-class families
may have a “jump start” in that they come “equipped with helium balloons to raise them to a higher stratosphere where things just come to you” (19). This statement proves that Lubrano, when speaking of white-collar families, is not talking about the average middle-class family. With the class boundaries becoming increasingly disparate in the United States, most families classified as middle class probably realize that their “helium balloon” is non-existent. Another interesting aspect of the book is Lubrano’s account of his experiences right here in Columbus, Ohio. He got a job at a now non-existent daily paper in the city in 1980 and when he told his parents what he was going to be doing and where, his father asked, “Ohio? Where the hell is Ohio?” He goes on to illustrate his opinion of Ohio’s ambiguity and blandness when he gives the following description:
The quiet yuppie preserves of Columbus (an Ohio cabdriver described the place as mashed potatoes without salt or gravy) couldn’t compare to the tumult of my old town [Brooklyn, New York]. The genuineness of the people charmed me. And the pizza and bagels were real, too. Once in Columbus, I’d asked a diner waitress for an untoasted bagel. She brought a plate with a frozen Lender’s round-bread-thing on it. (108)
His experience in Ohio revealed another difference between white- and blue-collar individuals. He made frequent trips home to visit his family, and his friends in Ohio would be amazed by this, saying, “I don’t see my family as much as you do yours,” and his relatives lived within 20 miles. Lubrano attributed this difference to the fact that “middle-class kids are groomed to fly away, and they do. The working class likes to keep its young close to home. Those who drive 600 miles west are the odd ones” (108). This stereotype makes a huge assumption about family bonds between the classes. It’s hard to believe that, across the board, white-collar families do not have a family bond and an innate need to visit and keep in touch, while blue-collar families do. With the obvious flaws in this book (the journalistic “research” style does not offer concrete numbers or diagnoses), Lubrano approaches a sensitive and complex issue in a reader-friendly and engaging way. The topic, or argument, presented is an interesting and thought provoking one. It forces individuals to consider the stereotypes they themselves may hold about different economic classes based upon the job they hold, the amount of money they take in per year, or education. This book definitely lends to discussion, but it may not always be positive—some individuals may feel intimidated or defensive depending on the experiences they bring to the table in relationship to the book’s subject matter. Despite the level of truthfulness the book has in its revelation that class issues do exist in this country, the deep generalizations and stereotypes it provides for certain classes may be a little too overwhelming for some people, especially those who are preparing to face, or may already be facing, an already intimidating transition into college life. But it’s also important to realize that these stereotypes are just that, generalizations, and that having a “white collar” or a “blue collar” does not define one’s life or destine them to certain family, life, or career scripts.
