Today’s story is from "What Class Are You?," a periodic series I make with Vermont Public.
I started making it back in 2022. I wanted to talk with people about growing political and cultural divides, without ever talking about politics or cultural divides. I had no idea how to do it. Then one day I asked my editor, Mark Davis, if I could just drive around and ask people what class they are. He said sure, so I did. And what I found was that as dumb and offensive as this question is, people have a lot to say about it. Socioeconomic reality is the one thing we all share. Some of us have a lot, some have a little, and most of us fall somewhere in between, but it’s a big common denominator.
This is a conversation with Kaye Phipps, who lives in Montpelier. Right now she works as a custodian at a grocery store. She’s also been a florist, a housekeeper, and a house cleaner. But even though she’s sometimes working multiple jobs, she often comes up short. In this episode, Kaye talks about how having limited income can make her feel like a child, long into adulthood.
Rumble Strip is a podcast produced by Erica Heilman and distributed on the radio by Vermont Public. Learn more about the show here.
