Workers are the backbone of a nation, and yet they are the least respected class. Those in positions of privilege and power-- who perhaps do not realize to what extent they were born into their success-- shame the people who do the jobs they wouldn’t want to do themselves. There is something very odd about this arrangement. After all, wouldn’t the natural response be one of gratitude, not one of contempt?
   

Something people with money often do (having lived among them most of my life) is shame the people who provide them with the things they want and need. This is not to say that being a plumber, for example, is a pleasant occupation-- it is not. All I mean to say is that everyone, including plumbers, deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. All of the childhood etiquette lessons seem to quickly erode in the presence of someone of “lower status.” And this is not exclusive to scenarios in which someone is employing someone else. Certain liberties will be taken based solely perhaps on how a person is dressed-- a construction worker in jeans and a t-shirt-- even if this person is off work-- is liable to be thoroughly bossed around by a stranger in a business suit. The reverse of this situation seems absurd.
   

This little late-night stream-of-consciousness is by no means an adequate account of discrimination against the working class-- and particularly against poor people of color. I hope, however, that it may remind a few people about a few basic rules of conduct-- respect others, and avoid making ignorant assumptions.