[ExI] Linguistic Markers of Class

[spike]

 On Behalf Of John Grigg
	 >  Gang members would smile at us in a way which revealed they
weren't quite sure whether to say hello or mug us. ..
	 

No John, the reason the bangers didn't ever bother you is that you were in
uniform.  They knew what the two clean shaven young white guys were doing
there, they knew you didn't mean to cause harm and they knew mugging you
would be pointless since you had no dope and not much money on your person.
And they didn't want those hard leather shoes.  Right?  Everyone knows what
it is when they see two white guys about 20 years old on bicycles with white
shirts and narrow black ties.  Regardless of where you go, people's
encounters with these have likely been pleasant or neutral.
	 
	 
	 
	 
	>   But what really chilled my blood was when little boys around
five or six would stare at us with cold eyes and say "keep on moving, white
boys (someone obviously taught them to say that)...


The five-year-olds hadn't been taught yet about the few exceptions: the
Mormon boys are OK, the census taker is OK, the nurse and the social worker
are probably OK.  The rest of them are invited to get out of the
neighborhood.  We had places like that where I grew up.

spike