“Limbo” is a terrific book about the class “straddling” experience. “Straddlers” are
people who grow up in the working class who find themselves in the middle class as
adults. Through personal narrative, interviews and research, “Limbo” describes the pain
and confusion people experience as they what journey from working-class origins to
middle-class jobs and standards of living.
Alfred Lubrano is the son of a bricklayer who grew up in the working class neighborhood
and culture of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn. He went to Columbia University as a commuter
student at the same time his dad was working on a construction job on campus. He is
currently a journalist at the Philadelphia Daily News.
Lubrano’s own assessment of his upbringing: “I will always love aspects of blue-collar
culture that live on in me—the whatever-it-takes work ethic, the lack of pretense,
people’s forthright manner—but working-class Brooklyn could be crowded and mean….
We lived so close and tight, we could hear arguments and lovemaking, squalling babies,
and the disapproving squawks of meddlesome in-laws…. There was the surfeit of anger
and fear and alcohol. Men’s jobs were hard and sapping. Women’s afternoons with
babies were long and relentless.” Many Straddlers are the first in their families to attend school. For those who go on to work in academia, the Straddler experience is even more bizarre: “working class raised professors teach the children of privilege how to “become the bosses of their parents, siblings, cousins, and childhood friends.” Labrano describes the importance of what French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu calls “cultural capital.” It’s the edge that more privileged kids pick up—knowledge of art, high culture, travel, knowledge of the world, and social networks.
The Essay on Cultures Experience People Friends
When I was a child I was exposed to many cultures, much in the same way as a military family would have been. With my father having worked on C ecom Fort Monmouth since the time I was born, I have been exposed to different cultures, races, and religions all of my life. This small fort in the middle of Eatontown is a perpetual melting pot of ideals, colors and beliefs. As far back as I can ...
Straddlers who choose middle-class professions that pay less than blue-collar work
encounter the consternation of their families and friends (“Are you nuts?”).
This violates
what Lubrano calls “Blue collar rule #1,” which is “Make as much money as you can, to
pay for as good a life as you can get.” White Straddlers will say that racism was one of the first things that separated them from their friends. Because they did not share the prejudice, they felt out of rhythm with the neighborhood vibe.”
Lubrano’s description of “blue color values:”
• Well-developed work ethic
• Respect for your parents
• Need for close contact with extended family
• Open and honest manner devoid of hidden agenda
• Loyalty: a sense of solidarity with people you live and work with;
• An understanding and appreciation of what it takes to get somewhere in a hard
world where no one gives you a break;
• A sense of daring
• A physicality that’s honest, basic and attractive
