For the record, I come from a middle class, blue collar family.
My grandparents were professionals. My paternal grandfather was a dental surgeon and later a dean of a highly regarded dental school. My maternal grandfather was an attorney. He graduated from Harvard law school and had license to practice law in pretty much every state. My father was a structural engineer who chose to work in other fields. My stepdad was a painting contractor who put on a paint uniform most days when he went to work. As for the women in my family, my maternal grandmother taught French (she was French). My paternal grandmother was a homemaker. My mom worked occasionally in a variety of jobs. After I was grown, she became a nurse.
I would say I come from both a blue and white collar background. As far as I can tell there isn't much difference between white and blue collar folks except those they self impose and sometimes their finances. I worked for a living all my adult life in a mixture of blue and white collar jobs. Money has never been hugely important to me.
My wife's family was all white collar. Her mom played bridge and told the maid what she wanted her to fix for dinner. Her father and his brothers were in minerals....namely oil, as were my wife's grandparents. Clearly, I married up.
