I'm a graduate (although working in food service) living in the North-West, in one of Manchester's most deprived Boroughs.
I grew up in rural North Yorkshire in a leafy affluent village for the majority of my teenage years, until well into my twenties. The village was tranquil and quintessentially British. Red telephone boxes, benches, rolling hills, dry stone walling and country pubs- literally post-card picturesque.
The people were well-mannered, polite and meant well. It was a very personal thing.
Of course, it didn't come without the downsides. Sometimes you'd get claustrophobic and it felt a bit backwards. Lack of public transport in winter months, and a general pack mentality of villagers. Your business was everyones. People lived there all their lives and there was a large elderly population, you might say some folk had no desire to step outside that small bubble and see the world.
Indeed, I was a student, I was intelligent and I had drive and determination to see the world and immerse myself in culture- hence I moved to a bigger city to find work.
As a side-note: I had a hiatus in Cheshire while studying at University- later to return to Yorkshire where I completed my studies.
Now, I live in a run-down area of a deprived borough in Greater Manchester, and its safe to say that government austerity has taken it's toll in this part of the North. In some cases it looks like abandoned mills have been left since the 70s and 80s to rot and stand empty decades later.
Some inhabitants are uneducated, and there is a lot of street violence, theft and thuggery and its just a world away from the life I lived beforehand. I'm not privileged in the sense that I am rich or wealthy, but I've been fortunate enough to reside alongside very middle class people.
Manchester is a very working class city, and one I respect. Plenty to do, but some of the people in the area I reside lack understanding of other cultures, intellect and general respect for others.
Young kids spitting in the street, people barging past to get on bus, despite the fact I've waited longer (and still I'm prepared to let them on!), people bad-mouthing and swearing in front of kids, and generally people picking fights and thinking they are tough.
There is this urban gangster subculture here, everyone wears like track-suit bottoms, and sport related clothing as an everyday fashion in the North-West. Like they've gone into Sports Direct and dragged out the whole store.
Whereas for me I wear like jeans, leather brogues, and I dress smart casual because I see no point in dressing like a thug from a council estate.
Sure, people in Yorkshire ain't exactly the bee's knees, but the dress sense there is entirely different to here. Like I say, here its like everyone is dressed to go jogging or go to a gym.
When I'm in work, people comment on the fact they think I'm a bit 'posh' because of the way I talk, my vocabulary and the fact I have the capacity to debate. I think the fact I work in food service and I went to Uni means they often jump to conclusions about me relatively easily. I don't mean to come off as conceited or stuck up because I'm not. These are just observations.
Perhaps this is all just a reflection of the upbringing I've had. My family are actually pretty working class, some might say poor. But I've had interactions with people on the other end of spectrum and thus I guess its shaped me a little differently.
I miss Yorkshire because its just clean, less polluted the people are polite, and its maintained much more. I blame governments for not intervening sooner really and leaving places to rot.
Does anyone relate to me?