Working class parents tend to be more authoritarian and in my family it was my mother. No, it was no and that was it. There was no explanation, we all had to accept it and not question his authority. One thing you see in working class people, and I sometimes see this in myself, is that they don't question authority because they grew up in a home where it was expected of them that they comply. In comparison, middle-class parents negotiate and talk with their children at their level, as equals. This ultimately teaches these children that things are negotiable and that if the answer to something is no, there must be an explanation; “because I said so” is not an acceptable answer. In my family, it was my father who had this approach with us. Unlike my mother, my father explained why the answer was no and offered us alternatives. He spoke to us about the progress of his work and if he had any conflicts. For example, on several occasions he felt like they were not treating him fairly and he asked to speak to the manager, supervisor or owner to understand what was going on.