Yes and god bless (white?) Americans and seeming belief in a "uncontroversial" subject when talking about even the weather is very classed and regional and culturally specific. Down south, down class you talk about how the weather is making your life hard.
Up class, maybe across region, you talk about how delightful the weather is. Up north, across class, the weather is a trying to kick your ass and you commiserate together. Working class? The heat got your boss tripping and made it harder for you to make a dollar.
Black folks? All this heat is the devil. I think there is something in there I'm supposed to know how to say about white people and sunburns? And so on and so on. There is no "neutral" topic, only a hegemonic one. And that was the point.
To expound briefly. Talking about the weather leads to talking about the heat which leads to talking about recreational hobbies one has undertaken in the heat. Recreation is often a function of social class which is a function of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality.
I have no idea what it means that you are "peeling". None. I have never peeled except for when I have paid for it at a dermatologist. But, I have to come to learn that peeling is about tanning which is a symbol of time spent in the sun, signaling one's ability to recreation
If I don't get this right, I risk saying "ewwww" because skin falling off of a human body is pretty gross especially if it has never ever happened to your body. I have to come to learn this to talk to you in an elevator.
You do not have to learn to talk to me about how the heat is hard for my hair.
There is no neutral in small talk.
There is no neutral in small talk.
This happens across all group lines, but the risks are not distributed normally. My major point is that when we use small talk as a proxy for sociability we really mean within our own status group and all social media snark about it should be read with that in mind.
