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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   2788 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 3, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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I don't hear much talk about the "towel principle" and I'm curious if it relates to a real phenomenon and how one could use it in their interactions with other people or with oneself.

If you're not familiar, the towel principle is from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide: "More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (Non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost." What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

Basically, the principle would be that if you're the sort of person who does or has something that takes a decent amount of effort, people will see that and cut you a break in other areas. Specifically I was thinking about it in relation to housework. I'm a pretty terrible housekeeper - not hoarder or pest-attracting level (much) but I have a lot of trouble getting myself motivated and making a system to stay on top of things. And my ex tweaks me about it often and it stresses me out because I know it's a problem but I wish they would just shut up about it.

Anyway I was looking for a new system and read something about how much someone enjoyed cleaning their baseboards and how it gave them satisfaction. Baseboards. What kind of person cleans their baseboards? Is this really something where people wake up one day and say, yep, it's baseboard day?

Baseboards are far down my list of potential cleaning goals - but maybe they shouldn't be. A place that hasn't been deep cleaned in a while does collect grime and dust everywhere, including baseboards. On the other hand, if someone has clean baseboards, that's probably the sort of person who's on top of their cleaning. I do think there's a perceptual difference between a home that is cluttered AND ALSO has dirty baseboards, versus a home that is cluttered but has clean baseboards. If I clean my baseboards, does that change the character of the house even when I'm behind on other stuff? Do I feel better about myself, because now I'm the sort of person who cleans baseboards so I can take a little pride in that? Will it get my ex off my back a little more because it has the appearance of me putting more effort in?

Anyway, just wondering if you think I'm onto something and if there are other potential applications of the towel principle.

I think of this as "definitely not a bum privilege" and I am conscious of how valuable it is for someone like me who is too disorganised to reliably be able to prove that they are not a bum on request - if you have it, people really do assume you are a respectable person having a bad day and wave off all kinds of minor irregularities (missing paperwork and being in the wrong place at the wrong time are the ones I take advantage of most often). It also makes people willing to do cheap favours like letting your child use an employee-only toilet.

But there isn't a simple cheap signal like knowing where your towel is that is unusually effective in generating definitely not a bum privilege - my suspicion is that it is necessarily anti-inductive in order to work. The key things that seem to make a difference are personal hygiene, vaguely normal physical appearance, broadly conventional dress (clean, non-ripped jeans and a T-shirt is fine - wearing a suit doesn't seem to make much difference beyond that), and accent (upper-class British is optimal on both sides of the Atlantic for different reasons).

Part of what the "white privilege" crowd in the US appear to be talking about is that black Americans need to do significantly more class signalling to benefit from definitely not a bum privilege than non-blacks. This is a little bit true in the UK, but not enough to be worth ranting about.

I don't think it's anti-inductive so much as it is about class. Wearing a pair of chinos and a dress shirt with dress shoes is generally more than enough: look like you just got off work at your white-collar office job.

Part of what the "white privilege" crowd in the US appear to be talking about is that black Americans need to do significantly more class signalling to benefit from definitely not a bum privilege than non-blacks.

That’s maybe/maybe not true, but IMO the bigger factor is that the same level of not-a-bum behaviors are a far more significant departure from AADOS cultural norms than from standard white American ones, whether blue or red tribe. Dreads, sagging, Ebonics, etc scream ‘good for nothing lumpenprole’ with good reason and a greater percentage of blacks openly engage in them when asking strangers to do small favors than do whites.

There are some liminal attires and behaviors, like jogging or wearing a hoodie, that are perceived differently depending on race.

That's probably a better description yeah.

The bum / not a bum perception IMO is based on behavior as much as appearance. Even before they really do anything, you can often just tell that they move differently. Most normal people out in the world are actively doing something, or appear to be relaxing or waiting for someone or something. Bums just seem to have a kind of restlessness and not knowing what to do to them.

They also seem to have a way of asking for things in excessively flowery language. Or with long explanations of whatever ridiculous situation they are supposedly in.

No, I think you're misdirecting your towel application. Nobody actively notices clean baseboards. They maybe notice messy baseboards. I think the towel principle relies on a conspicous element that implies the rest, not some inconspicous, subtlety.

Necktie bars suggest a certain fastidiousness. I remember reading in Paul Fussell's book Class years ago that tie bar or tie pin is actually a middle class signal, for anyone in the upper realms would never bother. I don't recommend that book; Fussell was most interesting when he wrote or spoke about war. Class was less like Bourdieu and more like Jeff Foxworthy.

I'd say shined shoes, but I'm not sure about that one. Just because your shoes are shined doesn't mean you did it yourself. Well-ironed trousers maybe--a crease suggests you were in the military or police force and think you need one. Pressed but without the crease suggests you weren't and don't.

An interesting thing (to me) about Japan is how prepared everyone is for everything. Going for a walk? You have your sun visor or cap, your sporty shorts and shirt, possibly a sports watch on your wrist, maybe a small rolled (literal) towel around your neck. Riding your bicycle for leisure? You have your bike shorts, helmet, water bottle, wrap-around shades, bike shoes. Kids who leave the house take their thermoses on straps around their necks. There are proper accoutrements for every activity, and you damn well better don them. Students have pencil/pen cases in which they keep extra erasers, pencils and extra lead, colored pens, rulers, maybe even collapsible scissors, Wite-Out or corrective tape or whatever. When I grew up, if you wanted to go fishing you made sure you had your poles and tackle box and maybe something to eat--here you need the vest, waders, possibly gloves, a fishing hat or cap, the right pants, etc. Don't even get me started on golf. Are you an artist? I can probably tell because you are wearing a beret. A male classical musician? You have let your hair go white and a bit wild, like Beethoven. Bourdieu referred to the habitus and in Japan these traits are like required markers, almost stereotypically. You don't actually see many tweed jackets on professors, now that I think about it, but that may have something to do with climate. You do see professors' offices full of vertically stacked books and papers everywhere, seemingly chaotic. It's like a requirement.

Outside this Japanese cultural context and more back in the states, I remember as a graduate student I was a house-sitter for two years in a fairly large house with a giant yard and a large swimming pool. I would throw parties at this home for my graduate cohort from time to time, and I am not unconvinced my girlfriend then wasn't dating me because she unconsciously associated me with this kind of wealth (I was not wealthy). Anyway one Christmas the owner and his wife decided to make an impromptu return, and I was told by someone who knew them well that the wife was very fastidious about cleanliness. I spent the next two days cleaning things like that 2mm shelf on the light switch plate that collects dust,, as well as yes, baseboards, under couches, etc. As someone else has written it's possible when you enter really clean places it simply means they have the wealth to have someone do their cleaning for them.

I've strayed quite far from your topic, I'm afraid.

For the record, tie tacks are tacky and they ruin your ties. Tie bars can be droll, ironic, or complete dada fashion statement, but the average Joe still has to proceed with caution. Some of them have teeth that can ruin your ties. I currently have two tie bars in my collection. One is in the shape of a golf club and will be worn should I ever score a hole in one. The other is a Huckleberry Hound one (with teeth) that I'll probably just hang onto as an investment.

Well, I will enter this all into my file. I don't use tacks but do use a tie bar. It was a gift from students, and I'm sentimental.

I don't know if there's a specific trigger (a towel seems like a pretty silly one), but there does seem to be a thing where you're willing to make significant effort to help people who you know personally or observe to be suffering from certain types of issues, while also completely ignoring the plight of anyone you don't know or who is suffering through other issues.

The unkempt bum lying on the street demanding money with a opiate-induced need in his eyes gets ignored. The lost but cleanly dressed stranger gets (correct) directions. You might cover an acquaintance's share of the check without a thought.

I dunno about housework. If somebody's house is messier than usual, I don't really care much. I guess they're a bit lazy about cleaning. If somebody's house is a little too clean, then it seems like they either hire cleaners, or spend much more time than usual cleaning, which is a little odd.

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