Uh Oh
I only scored 14 but its probably because I grew up upper middle class in coastal So Cal. We did not have any of those chain restaurants anywhere close. There has never been any decent public transportation anywhere I’ve lived. I think we had to drive over 20 minutes to find a Dennys. The movies listed are not my type of movie. Oh well …guess I’m insulated.
I’m with you @coralbrook…whew, I was starting to feel isolated on this thread! I wonder how other SoCal residents would do on this quiz.
48 for me. I don’t live in a bubble - my life is a mix of people, places and experiences that have allowed me to see things from a number of perspectives. Not sure what number is “good,” but I think I have led a life that allows me to understand more than just “my side” of things.
- Grew up with working class parents. I was first generation college and grew up evangelical Christian. No chain restaurants for me or TV. Moved from small town to larger city. Happened to live a half mile from Jimmie Johnson - so yes I knew who he was. #48. I feel fortunate that I have had an exposure to a diverse group of people and perspectives.
I grew up in the 1% and I’m 2nd & 3rd gen, but I’ve in lived diverse neighbors in 3 cities as an adult, I ate at Applebee’s once this year and Chili’s twice. I worked at a job that made my body ache - my fathers companiy’s warehouse pulling product off conveyer belts and onto pallets with about 50 teamsters when I was in my 20’s and done with college and career in NYC. It was my favorite job ever.
I’ve hitch hiked (is there anyone who grew up in the 60’s or 70’s who didn’t) and took the bus several times when stranded.
I scored a 31. I’m glad I was a bit of a rebel -otherwise I probably would have ended up with a negative number! 
I scored 51.
Dad managed a clinic, mom was a HS choral director. All four of us (sis included) have master’s degrees – dad has two. I suppose NPR thinks i should have a lower score.
Since leaving home i’ve lived in multiple environments, held multiple jobs, and seen some interesting things. Spice of life, eh?
The worth of people is not in what they do or how much they earn, but in how they treat others. Regardless of our bubble scores, if we are good to others, we excel where it counts.
Scored 26.
I do currently live in a neighborhood which my 50 nearest neighbors don’t have college degrees, but I live in college apartments. I don’t think that’s what they meant! :))
Great post, @prezbucky. Maybe the categories should be “people who live in a bubble but don’t realize it” and “people who live in a bubble and do realize it.” I think most people on CC are in the latter group.
Interesting…
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/the-man-who-designed-the-bubble-quiz-also-lives-in-a-bubble/
I think most native Southern Californians are going to score very low on this quiz. We do have a lot of chain restaurants but they are not popular with locals. I think they are probably popular with visitors who seek something familiar (believe me…I have been known to seek out a McDonalds in China). They tend to be located near shopping malls and large tourist attractions although we certainly have a lot of Denny’s around.
We don’t have any decent bus transportation but the younger generation did hitchike a lot in the 60s and 70s near more urban areas. We are not very urban either. SoCal is a giant suburbia, even in the LA area
Oh. I scored a 5. But somehow I was less surprised by the results of the election than many I know.
Scored a 45.
Grew up in what was a working-class NYC neighborhood where the majority of neighbors didn’t have a college degree and my parents were working low-income blue collar jobs despite college educations due to language barrier and other issues as immigrants.
Knew the military rank insignias as many of the adult neighbors were military veterans(WWII/Korea/Vietnam)…whether career retirees(mostly enlisted) or draftees and I’ve had several older relatives serve as well…though mostly as commissioned officers(Army/Navy).
I think what lowered my score is the following:
I never owned a vehicle from growing up and mostly living in urban/suburban areas with good public transportation.
I don’t eat out a lot or watch movies due to extremely frugal spending habits honed from growing up with serious financial constraints and and not feeling the cost/benefit ratio is high enough to justify the expense…especially if it’s only myself*.
Not a big country music fan, especially growing up. Part of it was growing up in NYC where it wasn’t popular and part of it was because I viewed it as “music for parents/older generations” as older relatives were such big country fans they ended up overplaying it during my extended visits and thus, alienating us in the younger generation(boomer & Gen X).
On the TV watching…would have probably scored a lot higher if I took this survey as a child until latter junior high. Stopped watching TV regularly once I started 8th grade due to a combination of newer shows not appealing to me and time constraints from school/ECs. Especially once I started at my public magnet and started tinkering with computers from sophomore year onwards.
Nowadays, nearly all my TV watching time is limited to infotainment cable news** and PBS/NOVA/NatGeo nature shows…and that’s a few hours a week at best.
- Movies and eating out are activities I prefer to engage in with a group of friends. Don't really see a point in eating out alone when I can cook up/make up something at home or forgo that meal altogether.
** Not my main source of news.
I got 42. The questions were so transparent though - I knew both the Branson’s but which one to pick? I chose Branson, MO FWIW.
I wonder how accurate this is for African American and Latinos who are working class or lower income. Do they eat at Waffle House and drive pick up trucks? It seems like a different metric should be used. These seemed like very white questions.
I’m black and I grew up in Brooklyn NY and I got a 69. I don’t know if that means the test works or doesn’t.
39, but I cheated. I felt like I lived in poverty the grad school and internship, and the quiz excluded those. Well, I didn’t bite. I lived so frugally for all those years. I also cheated when they mentioned chain restaurants. My male friend likes to expose me to Denny’s, IHOP, etc., at least one a year. I mean, 1 a year.
- I've bought Avon and taken long bus trips. My parents used to love to go to Branson. Off to google Jimmie Johnson.
I scored a 22…but I don’t think this is a particularly well designed quiz. I live in a bubble area now, but grew up in weird circumstances where our income fluctuated frequently and was never above working class even in the best of times, but may never have dipped quite to poverty level. My parents never owned a house or went to college, but there was never a doubt that my sibling and I would. Like several others none of those chain restaurants exist near me, and though I watch lots of junky tv and movies I just didn’t see the ones they mentioned! I think I understand a fair bit about how both ends of the socioeconomic spectrum live so I don’t see myself as really being in a bubble.
“Off to google Jimmie Johnson.”
I meant to ask before who the heck he is.
Race car driver.