Seems like I do think of them a bit differently than I think about regular folks like myself.
I hadn't really realized that before, I guess, but then I recently got this wedding invitation. The bride is my friend, not a close one but somebody I have known for several years. And the first thing that came to mind, when I thought of what I need to do, was that I should bone up a bit on etiquette. Now, had it been anybody else I would probably have started thinking first about what to buy for a wedding gift, and what can I wear, do I have something suitable or will I need to go shopping, but she just happens to be an aristocrat. So I start thinking about etiquette.
Ok, Finland has always been a democratic country. But we have been independent only for less than a century, before that we were first a part of Sweden for several centuries, then a part of Russia for about a century, so we have this fossil aristocratic class, people who got their titles from the kings and queens of Sweden and, presumably, some from the tsars (not a part of our history that has ever interested me that much...). And those titles don't really mean anything anymore. Most of those families have lost most of the property they once had, so they work just like the rest of us, and have to pay for their apartments or houses by getting a loan from the bank just like the rest of us. They have no privileges, and no advantages from being who they are. The only thing they have is a funny surname, and the fact that they know a bit more about their family histories than most people. So really no need to be intimidated. Except I guess I am a bit. Not by her, but by her family, and by the fact that at least some of the other wedding guests will also be aristocrats.
Weird.
I hadn't really realized that before, I guess, but then I recently got this wedding invitation. The bride is my friend, not a close one but somebody I have known for several years. And the first thing that came to mind, when I thought of what I need to do, was that I should bone up a bit on etiquette. Now, had it been anybody else I would probably have started thinking first about what to buy for a wedding gift, and what can I wear, do I have something suitable or will I need to go shopping, but she just happens to be an aristocrat. So I start thinking about etiquette.
Ok, Finland has always been a democratic country. But we have been independent only for less than a century, before that we were first a part of Sweden for several centuries, then a part of Russia for about a century, so we have this fossil aristocratic class, people who got their titles from the kings and queens of Sweden and, presumably, some from the tsars (not a part of our history that has ever interested me that much...). And those titles don't really mean anything anymore. Most of those families have lost most of the property they once had, so they work just like the rest of us, and have to pay for their apartments or houses by getting a loan from the bank just like the rest of us. They have no privileges, and no advantages from being who they are. The only thing they have is a funny surname, and the fact that they know a bit more about their family histories than most people. So really no need to be intimidated. Except I guess I am a bit. Not by her, but by her family, and by the fact that at least some of the other wedding guests will also be aristocrats.
Weird.
