I
am a member of the privileged American class known as the
WASPs, the silver spoon people, the people who were handed
things from an early age and stepped into a safe, clean, white
world.
—Thomas Langhorne Phipps, writer
In the first of three profiles of specific American classes,
People Like Us visits the group that for over a century
has been considered to be the top of the social pyramid –
the White Anglo Saxon Protestants, or WASPs, whose ways of
dressing and acting have been widely imitated. New York blueblood
Thomas Langhorne Phipps serves as our guide, providing a peek
at the self-image of this tightly-knit class ("We stand
better, we walk better, we speak better, we dress better,
we eat better, we’re smarter, we’re more cultured
and we treat people better..."). Other WASP observers
offer a collection of "WASP lessons" that help them
spot the real thing (madras pants, threadbare Oriental carpets,
absolutely no artificial flowers).
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