Quiz "Do You Live in a Bubble?"

[Amethyst]

I thought this was somewhat interesting, though inaccurate. There are 25 questions whose answers purport to show how insulated (or not) you are from "mainstream America," whatever that is. I scored 42, which equates to "second generation upper-middle-class person who has made a point of getting out a lot."

It's funny. My parents were working-class; we were always a bit strapped; we lived in a rural area; but everybody in the family loved to read. That makes a huge difference to a kid's future, and I notice that "reading" isn't even mentioned in the questions.

Do you live in a bubble? A quiz | PBS NewsHour

 

[RobbieB]

I got a 43.

 

[harley]

Sort of a weird quiz. I got a 63, which I think means I'm pretty much a working class hero. Not much bubble.

 

[REWahoo]

Sort of a weird quiz. I got a 63, which I think means I'm pretty much a working class hero. Not much bubble.

Same here (62). I think that trip to Branson really hurt my score...

 

[Ronstar]

I got a 62

 

[rodi]

Interesting. I scored 52. I think it's because I lived in some edgy neighborhoods during and after college. That and I have diverse friends (politically, religiously, etc.)

It's not very accurate since I am upper middle, so were my parents... heck - on paper I'm the poster child for living in the bubble since I live in the same house I grew up in... (even though I lived in a few different states and demographic areas before moving back and buying the house from my dad.)

 

[Philliefan33]

I got a 48. I think I got the most points based on how/where I grew up. My offspring would score much lower, I think.

 

[REWahoo]

That and I have diverse friends (politically, religiously, etc.)

I thought it interesting those question were couched in the present. I had diverse friends but they are all dead.

 

[W2R]

I got a 46, which is supposed to indicate either of these:

(1) A first-generation middle-class person with working-class parents and average television and movie going habits.
(2) A first-generation upper-middle-class person with middle-class parents.

These are both way off the mark.

I think my family is a great demonstration of the fact that we do NOT have a rigid class structure in this country, and that explains why PBS cannot easily categorize me. So, I celebrate the fact that the PBS test is wildly inaccurate, for me, anyway.

 

[frayne]

52, somebody please burst my bubble.

 

[Lsbcal]

I got a 25.

I have to admit, a lot of the TV and movie selections today make me cringe. Ditto for the politics of the times.

I don't mind being not average.

 

[MichaelB]

I got 56. I think the TV shows did me in .. I don't watch any of them.

 

[ABQ2015]

I scored a 54. The closest rating for me was "First generation upper middle class person with working class parents and average TV and movie going habits." Growing up in a working class family that often dipped into poverty and living in a small town of 15K impacted my score. Inexpensive neighborhoods in my 20's. Also those business trips where I get to my destination late at night and end up eating at a Denny's because nothing else is open increased the score. I may have not read the movie question correctly but I doubt the Cinderella movie that I watched was the same one that the quiz intended. And then there is my love of Miller High Life.

 

[JoeWras]

34, and the description for the typical 33 matches me exactly.

It was weird. I think the "Jimmie Johnson" question was interesting, and I answered football because I didn't know how to spell, even though I knew Jimmie was NASCAR. That thickened my bubble.

What probably thinned my bubble was the Greyhound bus and Union meeting. Both were infrequent. The Union was with my dad's union, not mine. But I attended. The bus was going to and from University. I thought this was a cheat. But it isn't because many of my friends drove their own cars or had mommy pick them up. Mom and Dad told me to take the bus 150 miles.

Those things add up and are remembered, even if it is only a bit of bubble thinning.

Now, I need to go out and buy a case of Bud instead of the microbrews so I can work on my bubble further.

 

[tmm99]

I got 38. I am a little surprised...

I don't know any evangelical Christians. I've lived in a small town of 15,000 and I have had a job that made my body hurt (waitress years ago) but I've never owned a pickup truck... No idea who Jimmie is.

A first-generation upper-middle-class person with middle-class parents. Typical: 33.

 

[Bir48die]

63. Have had a pretty diverse upbringing but no tough inner city.

 

[RockyMtn]

I got 26. Thick bubble here. In fact we call our gated neighborhood "the bubble" and can't wait to get back to it when outside of it. Lived in major cities all of my life but must admit that being out of them now is very enjoyable.

 

[MRG]

60.

I'm OK with a thiner bubble, I wasn't very sheltered. I cracked up on the "have you ever been on a factory floor?" Heck I recall wishing to be inside the factory because there was heat inside. Life is good.☺

 

[GrayHare]

If you live in a G7 country you are experiencing a high-standard-of-living bubble of a degree the planet (and perhaps the galaxy) has never before witnessed, and in which many other people do not yet participate.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I don't think it works well on a cell phone. I answered as if it were me and got 33 points. I pretended I was my dad and got zero points. Yet many answers were the same.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[6miths]

60. Interesting but not sure what it means as the paths to the same score can be quite different.

 

[NW-Bound]

26!

Darn. All that RV'in in the US did not help much to thin out the bubble.

 

[scrabbler1]

I proudly scored a whopping bubbly 10, pretty much what I scored when I took this in late 2014. It would have been worse except that I happened to ride an interstate bus more than 50 miles 2 summers ago.

 

[boog]

61. Fridge is stocked with cheap wine instead of beer.

 

[HFWR]

66