Margaret3

I thnk its coz i work in the operating theatre and work with surgeons, i obviously very rarely interact with the patient as the are sleeping , and working through the agency i have worked in most of the private hosps in melbourne, in the private hosps here , you are often reminded to treat the surgeons as customers.

I once ended up at a staff meeting once in one of the private hosps , and the whole emphasis of the meeting was 'how happy the surgeons were working here' and 'how could they continue to keep the surgeons happy', i was tempted to pipe up 'does anyone know if the patients are happy with the service'

Admittadly i do work 2 days in the public sector and their is a totally differnet 'feel' to it, we even get our lunch break

I am beginning to think melbourne is not really the place for us as i am finding it very 'class-orientated', in everything, from schools to suburbs to hosps, but again i wonder if i am feeling this more coz of my work!!

BadgeIsBack

My experience is everyone does. I've had as much fun being ''posh'', if not more, as not being ''posh''. I don't particularly want to look at a Waynetta.

Vim Fuego

Agree with that in general.

You do, however, still get some snobs (the sort parodied in Kath and Kim) but it's more a human nature thing (showing off their new plasma, 4x4, whatever) and not an ingrained 'class' hatred in my view.

Wendy

Do you regret not giving Perth a chance Margaret?

esperanza

So if you're 'cultured' then you don't know how to have a good time?!

I like to think I can do both! Some of the absolute best nights out I've been on have begun as very formal dressed up dos, but by the end of the night.... it's a whole other story!! Excellent fun. But I expect some people would perceive it as a bunch of posh wankers who are obviously boring as hell and up their own arses because of their accents and educations... I find snobbery is often even worse in 'the other direction'.

ozzieeagle

It seems very a very different ball game in the Mental health area Marg... I've been to work does with the wife plenty of times, and been amazed as to who is the Consultant Psychiatrist v who is the Orderly or cleaner... IE:The cleaner is the Greek lady with the BMW the Consultant Psych came on the scooter. Thats the Royal Melbourne lot as well !!

Maybe your work colleagues would go to a Karioke night and let their hair down that way.... If not I'm amazed because most of the Mental health workers at all levels have been to those before.

Could be that Surgeons are a unique breed ?

Just remembered last time I went to a do, I was having a chat with a fellow about football, he was telling me about his time on the Terraces at Dynamo Zagreb, v Red Star Belgrade.... turned out he was one of the Doctors.... Admittedly he was Yugoslavian, however I wouldnt have had a clue about his position... and that seemed to be the general feel of the wifes work colleagues.

Timber Floor Au

Im ruff as shit, and dont give a toss about ppl's accents.

However this is about class culture.. and I agree with Fluff, a lot of what you see has been imported by , Poms !

It used to bother me, cos of the old saying.. tarred with the same brush, not now though ....

I dress like a tramp ( so wife says ) I swear like a trooper, drink like a fish , smoke like a chimney, and hung like a donkey.

So aint all bad is it !!

BadgeIsBack

I agree, in my experience it's the complete opposite.There is nothing more interesting than playing hard,working hard with people who know their sh*t and know there is a time and a place for everything and have fun all the time.

I used to know blokes who were busy out training for skiiing in the morning, or whatever their thing was, could add 1+1, who would be with the lads all day, go to a debs ball in the evening, slink in to SW1 - I'm talking the postcode *and* the club ;-) does memory serve? :-) pick up a wild-eyed girl etc etc then have Maccas in the morning - if they didn't pick up they could sleep in the changing rooms somewhere because they were skint.

The memories!

Wendy

Hey, you sound like me (except the donkey bit, I don't have one of those )

jad n rich

Melbourne can be very snobby, PIL lived in one of the very posh beach suburbs very close to the city, everyone had 'connections' or 'knew someone' Sydney certainly has the same thing in 'certain areas' not sure if brisbane is that snobby, but probably is in once you get into the expensive private schools circle or areas where property has gone sky high.

Just move somewhere less posh, at least your bogons and ferals dont have airs and graces

nightnurse2

No, I didn't mean that at all!
From the outside looking in, it would have looked like, as you say, 'a bunch of posh wankers who are obviously boring as hell' but it wasn't - it was just a bunch of people, dressed up, having a good time - absolutely nothing wrong with that!
What I was trying to say (and not saying very well) was that IMO yes, there are snobs in Oz, as there are everywhere, but on the whole, the people I have come accross, here in Perth, are down to earth and are equally happy to 'dress up' or 'dress down'.

POW148

That comment is pure gold

BadgeIsBack

But when you shag your wife, do you support your weight? A true gentleman always uses his elbows.

ozzieeagle

It must come down to peoples formative years... I'm definitely a product of Lewisham, However I spent all of my UK working life in the City of London EC1 around Lombard and Fenchurch st, working alongside public school educated Foreign exchange dealers and Shipbrokers.. There were also amongst those people that came up through the ranks, some did play the class card... but the Majority didn't... consequently when I see a pin striped suited person, I dont automatically assume they are going to look down on me because of my sarf london accent... (hmm its probably aussie now)....

What I mean about the above, is how people perceive class is maybe something to do with how they perceive themselves.

I've just recalled something the most shocking change I ever saw in a person, was in my Days at Morgan Guaranty, when one of the fellows that came up through the ranks, and ended up as a dealing room head...he turned American, it was totally weird... one month a knock about Essex type of geezer drinking in the Red Lion out the back of Lombard st, with us Telex Operators and other sundry staff.. The next month Steel rimmed glasses, a mid atlantic accent and one syllable responses, to anyone he thought wasn't at his level.... there again, he probably ended up working in America... so maybe there was method in what he was doing.

Vim Fuego

Would have been impossible with some of my old flames ... beggers can't be choosers though ...