Zagavory

How odd to think that in Burke's time, 'professional' meant 'lower class' (as in a person who has a profession rather than living off his land), and, now, it means 'upper class' (a person who has a white-collar job, rather than working in retail or in a factory or being unemployed.) (You can see this latter use in Craigslist postings for roommates. Everyone describes himself as 'professional', since he is afraid of saying 'rich', 'educated' or 'white'.)

A note on the increasing democratization of society, and on the importance of a job to Americans.

In other news, I learned that I am technically a member of the middle quintile--the middle middle class. Better than I thought, but still unsatisfying. The paychecks come too slowly, and I still don't know how to dress.