Do You Live in a Bubble Quiz?

[FreeJoe]

98. My answers

Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American neighborhood in which the majority of your fifty nearest neighbors did not have college degrees? No. I grew up thinking that virtually everyone went to college because I knew almost no one that didn't.

Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not in a managerial job or a high-prestige profession (defined as attorney, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, scientist, or college professor)? No. Dad was an engineer/manager/executive.

Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community under 50,000 population that is not part of a metropolitan area and is not where you went to college? Suburbs of L.A., New York, and Houston.

Have you ever lived for at least a year in the United States at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line?

You may answer "yes" if your family income then was below $30,000 in 2010 dollars. Graduate school doesn't count. Living unemployed with your family after college doesn't count. Almost yes. I spent several years after college barely employed, but I lived at home. I moved out and earned over $30,000 the first year. I strugged for most of the second year, but after about 9 months I landed a job paying the equivalent of about $40,000.

Have you ever walked on a factory floor? No. I've been out to oil drilling sites and wells, but not factories.

Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day? No. Cooked at a pizza place. Babysat. Office jobs.

Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian? Yes. I'm not, but living in Houston, it's hard to avoid them.

Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements? Yes. Most of my friends are Republicans or Libertarians. I work for an oil company in a Houston suburb. My being a Democrat almost makes me a freak show act.

Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard? No. I was part of the geek crowd in high school. Few of my friends ever got Cs in anything.

During the last month have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes? Definitely not. I have no close friends or co-workers that smoke. I find it nauseating.

Do you know what military ranks are denoted by these five insignia? (Click each one to show the correct rank.) At least one. I think the bird is a colonel. The stars are probably a two star general. The two stripes is a corporal. The one with lots of stripes is some kind of sergeant. The bars is some mid level officer, but I don't recall which.

Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is? Dallas Cowboys coach.

Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck? No. Sedans and minivans. Pickups are things you borrow from your neighbors.

During the last year, have you ever purchased domestic mass-market beer to stock your own fridge? I don't drink beer. Strictly water and fruit juices.

During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing? No. We canoe and kayak, but we don't fish.

How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains? 0. We don't eat out much. When we do, it is typically at non-chain pizza places.

In secondary school, did you letter in anything? No. Geek crowd. You couldn't letter in math.

Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club or Rotary Club, or a meeting at a union local? Not even sure what those are.

Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest, or gay rights? No. My wife sometimes helps set up the Fourth of July parade while I watch with the kids.

Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform? Assuming that a suit doesn't count, no.

Have you ever done either of these for a trip of fifty miles or more? I've taken plenty of commuter and inner city buses, but never a 50 mile ride. I take that back, I took a chartered bus on a rafting trip once, but I assume that the question was regarding public buses.

Which of the following movies have you seen (at a theater or on a DVD)? I saw Despicable Me at home on a Blu-ray. I haven't seen any of the others. I generally only watch movies with my kids and they are a little young for the others.


During the 2009–10 television season, how many of the following series did you watch regularly? I rarely watch TV. When I do, it is kids shows with my kids.

Have you ever watched an episode of any of these shows all the way through? I've never seen any of any of them.

What does the word "Branson" mean to you? I've heard of both. I picked Richard because I know more about him than the town.

I must have changed one of my answers. I'm up to 12 now!

I'm second generation upper middle class. Like my father, I've held professional roles in the oil and gas industry. He was an engineer. I am in IT. I don't think that I have "upper class" taste in movies or TV. I watch little of either. I read lots of technical books, spend a lot of time on photography, and read an odd mix of literature, sci-fi, fantasy, and history books. I follow my own path and don't feel that attached to any class stereotype...well, maybe "geek" if you consider that a class.