Old school with old school baggage

The original title wanted to say "Am I from the old days?", but I hated putting a question mark on the title.

I never deny that I am old-fashioned. I like romantic novels, the music of the 1920s and 1930s, the atmosphere of the 1960s, and I like men who can help women take care of everything. The outdated thinking is just because I live in 2022, so no one will come to tell me what I should not think this way and how I should think.

I hate the era of political correctness. I believe that society has long since escaped the literati thinking of the 1980s. It is very difficult to talk to all those who pursue political correctness, and they often fail to see their beliefs. For example, I think people who support classical Chinese cannot be equated with Chinese worship. In fact, you can never say that other people's artistic pursuits are wrong.

I grew up in an old-fashioned family—meaning the old-fashioned traditional big family, the kind that consciously has aristocratic blood and values image—I grew up learning how to drink tea, table manners, sitting and sitting, how to speak properly, and “must-haves”. "Read" classic literature and "must listen" classical music... The habits formed under this made me seem unable to fit in in many places as a child, and even naturally became arrogant in the eyes of people, but I hate others to question my cultivation , and therefore do not question others.

Reading Chekhov's short stories reminded me of a childhood memory.

I didn't even go to elementary school at that time, and since then I realized that everyone's way of life is different, and it is rude to correct other people's habits. That represents a person's past upbringing, and no one can slander the culture cultivated by others, even if they don't agree with it - which is why I think there is no need to argue with people who have different values.

 First of all, I don't think our family's home education is correct.

It was the first time I drank tea outside, and I was very happy to finally practice the "etiquette" I practiced at home. I saw the old gentleman at the next table shake a little tea into his mouth with a stirring spoon, which disrupted the practice in my mind. , may have accidentally asked my mother a little loudly: "Why does he use a small spoon to drink tea?" I must have thought it was strange to ask.

My mom explained in a low voice that he didn't practice drinking afternoon tea at home, so he made a mistake in the procedure, reminding me not to stare at him or ask questions out loud, which was rude. This is of course the way to explain it to a child. All along, my mother has consciously trained me not to behave "inappropriate" anywhere, and later I also understood that that habit is derived from the style of the "declining family".

Back to Chekhov's short stories

The story is about the declining duke's family. The duke is a standard dude in trousers. He lost all his family property and contracted a lung disease. The duke's mother had to hire a famous doctor who was a serf. The doctor's ancestors came from a tenant farmer's family in the duke's family. When she was a child, she was beaten badly because she came to the duke's house to clean up. Afterwards, she became a doctor by studying. To become a local famous doctor, the car is a double-column carriage, and the Duke's family can only call a taxi at this time, and they also take credit everywhere.

The Duke's family and the doctor became a strong contrast. After seeing the doctor, the doctor even asked, "What is the Duke's surname?" Not sure if he really forgot his old landlord or deliberately despised it.

One of the episodes of drinking afternoon tea is very interesting. The duke's family is talking about the conversation of the old times, and it is related to the interpersonal relationship in the legion. The duke's sister also plays a piece of Chopin, and the old duchess also talks about which soprano was once. His students and doctors showed no interest at all, and even directly interrupted, "I don't want to finish listening."

During the conversation, the doctor explained the condition of the duke siblings with professional knowledge in a professional tone. After all, the doctor didn't think it was necessary for him to lower the level of conversation for the duke's family. The old lady felt that he was so arrogant and rude, and the duke felt ashamed. "He treats us as people of the same rank. I was just talking about the boring things about the legion, but it also shows that our status is still there." Thinking "The doctor is smart, but we don't deserve such a complicated conversation..."

It was an era of class breaking, just like in France sixty years ago, when Balzac's family turned into a bourgeois family. Chekhov himself is also a descendant of farmers, and went to the Faculty of Medicine on a scholarship. Although the young duke in the story is not doing a proper job, he also has a self-knowledge that "whoever has the head these days has a good background" and "I would rather trade my dukedom for his head and pockets."

Reading Chekhov's short story, I can clearly feel the difference between the two family backgrounds he described. The declining nobles like non-specific things, which may make them feel good and open. The old lady appreciates the character of doctors, dukes I admire the doctor's wisdom with my sister; and the doctor's comfortable conversation is specific medical knowledge. He doesn't like to talk about human feelings and art. When he arrives at the Duke's family, he doesn't hesitate to collect money, and he does what he should do pragmatically. .

The old school has the burden of the old school. Sometimes the old school people emphasize their own preferences, but in the eyes of the conscientious people, it becomes a kind of exclusivity. Just like the people who just broke the feudal system era, some things are a symbol of status, and academic knowledge can work hard obtained, the existence of intellectuals is precisely to illustrate the integration of society.

Written at the end, this is just a chatter, not a comparison of old school or not old school.

original text here