If anything, it's worse for the working class folks because they don't have a buffer, their friends and family likely don't have one either, and they are considered infinitely disposable by their employers.
Going from no criminal record to your first is a huge change of circumstance vs getting another incremental charge. I shouldn't have used the word middle class as it distracts from the core dynamic at play.
Don't use those TV shows as a reflection of reality--they're as real as any other reality TV show, which is to say it's an incredibly distorted version of reality.
It is actually stresfull to be in jail for poor people too.
It is not a game.
Bless that man!
It seemed as if he had the process down.
I made more friends in jail than I did in college. But you are right - it is no fun and it is no joke. For anyone.
My impression from watching too much COPS and LivePD is that police don't really see arresting people as that serious, "They'll be out in few hours". For the people they arrest most often it's probably not that big a deal either. But if it's your first ever then your lifestyle is under serious and permanent threat.
EDIT: Removed "middle class". Getting arrested is terrible no matter what your economic or class status is.