New York Times columnist David Brooks was ripped on Twitter Tuesday morning for a new opinion piece about how off-putting “upper-middle-class culture” can be.
Commenters zeroed in on this passage in particular in his column, titled “How We Are Ruining America.”
“Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named ‘Padrino’ and ‘Pomodoro’ and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.”
That “insensitive” encounter sparked a quick online backlash, with one commenter calling the right-leaning columnist a “condescending ass” and others shuddering at the prospect of sharing a meal with Brooks in the first place.
“I have a PhD and no clue what that stuff is,” tweeted writer Sarah Kendzior. “This person probably seemed anxious to flee because she was stuck having lunch w/David Brooks.”
Brooks’ larger point — that the upper-middle-class use “cultural signifiers that are completely illegible unless you happen to have grown up in this class” — was largely drowned out by readers focused on his reported encounter with a less educated friend.
And the Twitter backlash came faster than you can say, “Hold the pomodoro.”
https://twitter.com/jbarro/status/884755642564653058
I'm starting to think there are reasons why no one wants to go out to dinner with David Brooks. https://t.co/fyGksU0rfr
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) July 11, 2017
I have a PhD and no clue what that stuff is. This person probably seemed anxious to flee because she was stuck having lunch w/David Brooks. https://t.co/1eyNJeiXck
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) July 11, 2017
It is hard to distinguish yourself as a condescending ass these days, cuz we're overrun, but David Brooks has always been an overachiever.
— Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) July 11, 2017
I invited David Brooks to Taco Bell and while trying to pronounce "baja blast" his whole body went limp like cooked spaghetti
— August Thompson (@a_r_thomps) July 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/LukeGolf2012/status/884768546450022400
my whole timeline right now, thanks to David Brooks pic.twitter.com/bRViqHrwyC
— Seth D. Michaels (@sethdmichaels) July 11, 2017
This David Brooks thing reminds me when he listed Stella as an ironic trucker-cap beer bc it was "the beer of the Belgian working class."
— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) July 11, 2017
When David Brooks walks you into a deli pic.twitter.com/sMlqWdjzOx
— Sam (@simmonsclass) July 11, 2017
Inevitably, the column spawned parodies.
great stuff in the latest David Brooks column pic.twitter.com/6PFYAaKaCT
— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) July 11, 2017
today's David Brooks column is worth reading pic.twitter.com/6UbURCmVAc
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) July 11, 2017
Recently I took a colleague who never got past kindergarten to Twitter. "Who's Pepe? What is ((()))?" she said. We went to Facebook instead.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) July 11, 2017