NY Times Columnist David Brooks Shredded as ‘Condescending Ass’ for Gourmet Sandwich Shop Story

Brooks sparks backlash for column about “American upper-middle-class culture”

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

https://twitter.com/LukeGolf2012/status/884768546450022400

Inevitably, the column spawned parodies.

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