Wendz, good one!!!!

And while at it, where is the boundary in terms of these classes, I have never understood but most people who blog believe they are in the middleclass!!!

Many..... they have been many threads on the same... the current one is just one of them..... And i would prefer we dont drag it here so that we can stick to the issues at hand... check out one where I think it was @mukiha was complaining of some thugs, there was also another on thika road, and another on a road across runda or something like, another on children and private/public schools - thats what i can remember of head and my pretty used up brain shouldn't allow me to remember so many so quickly..... see what i mean?

@WENDZ

Who or what is JHM? Could it be John HM?

To response to your issue, my opinion is rooted in the words of one writer

Be smarter than other people, just don't tell them so.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

@Wendz - I think its more about attitude and ego. One can be in the highest of classes and still treat everyone else as human beings....in a post about the Juja and other by elections, I think it was SimonKabz who made a comparison between Kabogo and whathisname of CitiHoppa - that Kabogo will sit down with the people and have a beer....etc etc.

In the same breadth, I have always admired poor people who are never ashamed of their stations in life and walk proud and stand tall.

Having said that, I recall Maslow's hierarchy of needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs) - think of all the people you know personally and those we hear about like politicians, etc...try and think where they belong in Maslow's Pyramid....

I personally find that even the most affluent people, as long as they have big egos and poor attitudes, can never self actualise (top of the pyramid) and remain very petty despite having met their basic needs. They are miserly bastards that look down upon the rest. On the other hand, you have people of modest means who are content with what they have and want no more than they need - it could be a teacher, a cleaner, a doctor, (a lawyer? no scratch that ), etc but they have esteem and can self actualise in small but very impactful ways.

Having said that, its true - sometimes the affluent look down upon the rest - and what is worse is when they themselves had humble beginnings.

My two pesetas on a Friday...

I think it is hard for a nation like Kenya to celebrate and appreciate the wealthy within mostly because we are exposed to negative stories of how they acquired it. Is there one wealthy Kenyan you can think of who doesn't a "story"? I can only think of Muguku but I'm sure there are people who have a -ve story about him. I think I'm currently middle class headed up and I'm proud of it.

I thought @qw25041985 clarified that he's much older than his name suggests.He plunged into the NSE in 1995!

@Wendz..interesting view point, let me give my contribution..In the School i want to (Read Uni) we were indeed encouraged to be proud of our achievements but however we were cautioned that not every-one will accept, infact the very mere fact, will be treated with disdain, contempt almost that i have seen all too well in my life as well as Wazua. That said we are a product of our experiences this sums as all..here is why, my experience in Uni and later life.

On one hand, life revolved around hours slogging away in the library, messy club nights and copious quantities of cheap wine. On the very opposite end of the scale, real food and an escape from college bureaucracy awaited tantalisingly at home. The alternative realities of the average student split us down the center.

The Ivy switch-over is a little more off the rails than normal. It’s rather bemusing to go from an environment where a disproportionately large percentage of the population have a doctorate, a penchant for smart casual trousers, waist-coats and a nicely beveled brogue, to the normal world, in which trackies, jeans & mini-skirts are more realistic attire.

The Ivy “bubble” looms large. Although not a campus university, the general consensus amongst students is that the colleges’ dominance over a compact city center creates a sometimes stifling atmosphere.

As our term came to an end, a conversation unfolded about how home provides “nothing to do”, and how the college's 24/7 barrage of activity is welcome relief from siblings that “drive us nuts”.

Once we become accustomed to the eight-week blitz, it seems, any slower pace of living – i.e. anything besides a career in the NY, London or Singapore – drags by painfully.

I don’t think my experience here is much outside the Normal Distribution. In the mtaa I call home,(Msee was Starehe) the reading material of choice is well nothing. Obohos,girls ho-ing, and the football-pitch is the hub of the universe on a sunny Saturday afternoon. My "new' world, makes The Kiss FM’Classic FM trivia, look positively enthralling. As I wave good-bye to Uni at the end of each term, the rapid deceleration in the pace of life is very noticeable.

So i asked myself? Does the experience change throughout a university career? Does one simply accept the fact that home and college life/work are pretty much irreconcilable, and learn to treat one’s role in each differently?

Well i have had to do so...my point is which you drove all too well, what may seem "Normal" to me, may not be in another s eyes..however do i stifle myself to make you feel comfortable???
Do i not share my contributions, speak of my experiences for fear of sounding elitist??

I am not saying i am, but am posing a question, @Djinn raised a fundamental point "attitude and ego" contribute to the differences we see in terms of how we relate/see one another.

So back to my point regarding our experinces, now imagine that Kenyan who works in Nasa, or a kenyan chick i know is a top dawg in CISCO, if they were to go and say open their companies in Kenya, make a trip to Sheria house, what would you think will happen, name calling, threats?? For people who are used to operating a a high level- where excuses do not exist then..you will notice the difference through their words and attitudes..trust me i know.

One thing regarding class on Wazua; I have noticed that many of us like to pretend that we are bottom of the pyramid consumers! You have money to spend on internet, refreshing threads on Wazua all day, but then when Masaa ya Kubamba comes, you say things like "what if I don't have 100 bob to buy credit?" You don't have to pretend to be poor to fit in with the common mwananchi

Maybe she was brought up in Kibera.