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Relationship between Doormen and Tenants

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Doormen and tenants are socially distant from, yet immensely close to each other. Nannies often have to personalize their service to accommodate the needs of different children, and by doing so, they accumulate both directly and indirectly an extensive knowledge about the people they work for. But to keep professionalism, they often do not disclose much about their own personal lives and because nannies are often employed by those who are relatively wealthy, there is also a class distance. Bearman reveals that there is an inconsistency in the relationship between doormen and tenants because on a socioeconomic level, tenants are often from a higher status, thus creating an apparent class difference. But in order for doormen to deliver professional service, they must pay attention to tenants’ specific lifestyles and tenants themselves often unknowingly train doormen by letting their preferences be known either implicitly or explicitly. Such interaction bridges the distance since doormen develop a rather intimate knowledge about and a personal closeness with the tenants. An alternative explanation that could explain why doormen and tenants have a conflicting relationship is that social distance is always perceived because it is ingrained by societal norms, but it contradicts with a closeness that is actually tangible. There is an indelible mindset influenced by social standards that when an individual works for another person, especially for monetary pay, the inherent

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