Poll
Question:
Someone offers you a choice of one of two freebie refreshments. One is considerably more expensive/valuable than the other. Do you...
Option 1: ...choose the more expensive refreshment; you can easily buy the cheaper one later if you want it, but you may not be able to afford the more expensive one that easily.
votes: 4
Option 2: ...choose whichever you fancy more, irrespective of whether it is more or less expensive one.
votes: 40
Option 3: ...choose the less expensive one; you don't want to appear as if you went for the more expensive one just because it is expensive.
votes: 2
This poll was inspired by a couple of situations I've been in lately (like, being offered champagne or water while waiting for my data to be processed at a 5-star hotel reception), and surprisingly, even to me, I went with option no. 3.
I don't know if you will agree, but to me it is a classic middle class response, and shows a classic middle class phobia of being perceived as a lower class; option 1 is clearly the lower class response, and option 2 is the upper class response.
I wonder how it differs based on the society/country people come from - I suspect I may get more agreement over this from the Brits (which I found have very similar concepts of social class as Poles) than, say, Americans.
Anyway, curious about your views. :)
I take the best I'm offered. If someone takes the trouble to pop the champagne and pour a glass, it would be rude to not accept, even if it wasn't specifically done for your sake.
Quote from: Jaron on October 16, 2009, 01:40:40 PM
I take the best I'm offered. If someone takes the trouble to pop the champagne and pour a glass, it would be rude to not accept, even if it wasn't specifically done for your sake.
Well they just get that from the bar, so this is no different than getting a drink and paying for it.
The point is they go through the trouble to prepare it, so be a gentleman and drink!
Business situation? Grab what I can.
What ever I fancy at the time. I don't care if champagne might be more expensive then water. I don't like champagne.
lol can i be: upper class :huh:
If the "someone" offering is a business like in your case, I take whatever I want. If the "someone" is some person, or maybe a one-man business, I would possibly go with the cheaper option.
If the dumbass didn't want me to drink the expensive stuff, he shouldn't have offered it in first place duh.
Im confused. What does this have to do with homosexuality? :unsure:
I would take what I fancy. I am not a very pretentious person at this point in my life. I prefer comfort and things that I enjoy.
That's not to say that I am adverse to trying new things but prefer to do so in the right setting.
Quote from: Lettow77 on October 16, 2009, 02:18:36 PM
Im confused. What does this have to do with homosexuality? :unsure:
Some like to be pretentious and avant garde.
The "high class" thing to do would be to take what you fancy regardless of price. Any other position implies that you are considering the price.
The middle class thing to do would be to take the cheap option, to show you are politely not making yourself a parasite.
The low class thing to do would be to take the expensive stuff.
Quote from: Malthus on October 16, 2009, 03:03:59 PM
The "high class" thing to do would be to take what you fancy regardless of price. Any other position implies that you are considering the price.
The middle class thing to do would be to take the cheap option, to show you are politely not making yourself a parasite.
The low class thing to do would be to take the expensive stuff.
All one has to do is look at the poll results to see that that is baloney. :contract:
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 16, 2009, 03:06:29 PM
All one has to do is look at the poll results to see that that is baloney. :contract:
As is any claim based on an arbitrarily-defined "class".
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 16, 2009, 03:06:29 PM
Quote from: Malthus on October 16, 2009, 03:03:59 PM
The "high class" thing to do would be to take what you fancy regardless of price. Any other position implies that you are considering the price.
The middle class thing to do would be to take the cheap option, to show you are politely not making yourself a parasite.
The low class thing to do would be to take the expensive stuff.
All one has to do is look at the poll results to see that that is baloney. :contract:
Look at behaviour, not self-reporting. :lol:
Quote from: Maximus on October 16, 2009, 03:09:59 PM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 16, 2009, 03:06:29 PM
All one has to do is look at the poll results to see that that is baloney. :contract:
As is any claim based on an arbitrarily-defined "class".
Don't agree. Are you of the opinion that there is no such thing as a class difference?
Quote from: Malthus on October 16, 2009, 03:14:03 PM
Don't agree. Are you of the opinion that there is no such thing as a class difference?
Any such distinction would have to be based on arbitrarily-defined strata which in turn would have to be based on the experiences, resources, and general world-view of the person or persons who defined it. Since these basic conditions are unlikely to be similar except within groups smaller than than the class sizes they define, it is not a very useful structure except for discussion within said group.
Quote from: Malthus on October 16, 2009, 03:03:59 PM
The "high class" thing to do would be to take what you fancy regardless of price. Any other position implies that you are considering the price.
The middle class thing to do would be to take the cheap option, to show you are politely not making yourself a parasite.
The low class thing to do would be to take the expensive stuff.
So we are in 100% agreement then. :)
Quote from: katmai on October 16, 2009, 02:02:39 PM
If the dumbass didn't want me to drink the expensive stuff, he shouldn't have offered it in first place duh.
I agree but I would drink whichever one I feel like drinking regardless of cost.
I think if I were the one offering I would want the person to pick the more expensive one. :huh:
Well, I'm curious to see what the Brits will say. Most people who answered so far were American, and Americans have a very un-European concept of social class (for example, last time we had this discussion, most Americans argued it is almost solely based on income/wealth).
I don't drink.
I don't understand the question. Is the hypothetical is someone asks if you want a glass of dom perignon or a cosmo?
The objective is to make me happy, not to cause damage. I'll choose whatever I like.
Quote from: Caliga on October 16, 2009, 02:00:18 PM
If the "someone" offering is a business like in your case, I take whatever I want. If the "someone" is some person, or maybe a one-man business, I would possibly go with the cheaper option.
This is my answer. If it's for business I'll take whatever I damn well want.
If I'm over at someone's house I would generally avoid the most expensive option at least, but otherwise would ask for what I would like.
I find it amusing that such a question involves social class :lol:
Quote...choose whichever you fancy more, irrespective of whether it is more or less expensive one
That's my actual and genuine response.
You do realise you skewed the results of this poll with your explanatory post, don't you?
Quote from: Monoriu on October 16, 2009, 07:23:23 PM
I find it amusing that such a question involves social class :lol:
Everything's about class, dear boy, you either have it or you don't... :bowler:
More seriously, although definitions and terms differ between countries, I am confident that analogues to class exist everywhere, even in supposedly classless societies (see the Communist parties of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe for good examples.)
And class depends on self-image as much as anything. My current status would see me marked down in a census as being lower/working class, from what I recall. In my mind, I am middle class (with upper class leanings), nothing else.
It also depends on who's offering, when, and where. very specific rules apply in these situations. I went with #2 because of this.
Quote from: Agelastus on October 16, 2009, 08:44:47 PM
Quote
You do realise you skewed the results of this poll with your explanatory post, don't you?
Not really. The poll is skewed because people regardless of "class" will generally not be thinking about the price when offered a drink.
I want to say I'd take the 2nd option, but in reality I'm sure I would go with the third. I'm so middle class. :(
Quote from: Liep on October 17, 2009, 03:45:31 AM
I want to say I'd take the 2nd option, but in reality I'm sure I would go with the third. I'm so middle class. :(
Precisely. That is why it is so funny.
Whatever I fancy.
This would be something which costs over water on 99% of occasions but meh.
In a instance like this hotel though unless they underlined the complimentary I'd probally be too scared to get anything but water. Like the time I was at a restaurant on my birthday and they offered me a fre; I made sure they meant free before saying voda and coke.
I double-check that it will indeed be free before accepting, but I do accept because it'd be rude not to. That said, my inner lower-middle-class-ness usually gets all knotted up over people inconveniencing themselves on my behalf.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on October 17, 2009, 08:04:37 AM
I double-check that it will indeed be free before accepting, but I do accept because it'd be rude not to. That said, my inner lower-middle-class-ness usually gets all knotted up over people inconveniencing themselves on my behalf.
Ok see, this is another thing. For me double-checking if this is
really free before accepting would be the crudest thing ever, and I'd sooner die before I ask that.
I guess you Americans are much more open/straightforward about it - for me it would be the height of bad form.
I'm in this position fairly routinely as we spend a lot of time on company-sponsored outings.
My instinctive reaction is generally that I don't want to look greedy, but I know of course that no one cares since we are out to have fun so I always pick what I want without considering the price, which in turn often means something I haven't tried before, the reason of which is often because it is an exotic item whose price seems high in relation to the return.
IE, I don't want to look greedy, I pick what I prefer regardless of price, but it often comes out being the pricier alternative.
Thus, all of the above. :D
Edit: Or actually, the thought process is usually, "Well. That looks nice. Oh shit. It's the most expensive one. I wonder if I will look like a greedy asshole now. Nevermind. It looks nice."
Quote from: Martinus on October 17, 2009, 08:06:54 AM
Ok see, this is another thing. For me double-checking if this is really free before accepting would be the crudest thing ever, and I'd sooner die before I ask that.
I guess you Americans are much more open/straightforward about it - for me it would be the height of bad form.
I'm never quite that direct about it, unless the perceived status gap is HUGE.
Lacks 'I don't give a shit what other people think' option.
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on October 17, 2009, 08:30:13 AM
Lacks 'I don't give a shit what other people think' option.
That's actually simply a more crudely worded option #2 and thus redundant. ;)
Quote from: Slargos on October 17, 2009, 08:34:46 AM
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on October 17, 2009, 08:30:13 AM
Lacks 'I don't give a shit what other people think' option.
That's actually simply a more crudely worded option #2 and thus redundant. ;)
errrr...I guess I read that too fast before responding :blush:
Quote from: Martinus on October 17, 2009, 08:06:54 AM
Ok see, this is another thing. For me double-checking if this is really free before accepting would be the crudest thing ever, and I'd sooner die before I ask that.
I guess you Americans are much more open/straightforward about it - for me it would be the height of bad form.
Yes, I think you should use Shame as the epitome of what it means to be American.
Quote from: Malthus on October 16, 2009, 03:03:59 PM
The "high class" thing to do would be to take what you fancy regardless of price. Any other position implies that you are considering the price.
The middle class thing to do would be to take the cheap option, to show you are politely not making yourself a parasite.
The low class thing to do would be to take the expensive stuff.
What is this? Reposting For The Hard Of Thinking?
I guess sheer curiosity would make me choose the champagne, just to see which brand did they serve their customers.
Quote from: garbon on October 17, 2009, 12:18:58 PM
Yes, I think you should use Shame as the epitome of what it means to be American.
It's true; I don't even
like freedom fries. :contract:
:huh: It would never even occur to me to chose anything other than the drink I prefer.
I have a hard time seeing this as the "upper class option", given that however you define "upper class" it doesn't include me. <_<
Quote from: BuddhaRhubarb on October 16, 2009, 09:05:13 PM
It also depends on who's offering, when, and where. very specific rules apply in these situations. I went with #2 because of this.
Agree 100%. It's all situational. I would never choose the more expensive option just because it's free, but I would probably choose the more expensive option if I prefer it to the less expensive option.
There are people out there that offer you a choice to
seem polite, but are secretly hoping that you take the cheaper option. There are also people out there that honestly want to do something nice for other people & taking the cheaper option just to be polite might upset them. There's also the case of people that drink Coors Light or other such swill that are offering you the Guinness that somebody left in their fridge just to get rid of it, in which case you are actually doing them a favor by taking the more expensive option. I've encountered all of these situations in life, and I've also been the one offering all of these situations at various points (well, insert "PBR" for "Coors Light" :P ).
Every day is Anything Can Happen Day. To try to pidgeonhole people is pretty narrow, IMO...
Generally when I am offered a drink, the person just asks me what I would like, not a which one-of-the-two situation.
Quote from: garbon on October 17, 2009, 09:52:27 PM
Generally when I am offered a drink, the person just asks me what I would like, not a which one-of-the-two situation.
Your friends keep everything stocked?
The US is the land of New Money. If you can afford to eat/sleep there, you don't have to worry about impressing the staff.