What have you learned from those with less education, travel, and sophistication than you?

[Anonymous]

I hate the attitude that educated, sophisticated, well-traveled people are the only ones worth being around.

That's a quote from a poster on another thread about moving away from DC and how to adjust to living amongst people who aren't all that we Washingtonians like to believe we are. It struck a chord with me.

I remember falling in love with a computer programmer (hardly uneducated, but not up to my so-called friends' standards) in my 20s and someone asking me, "but what do you TALK about?" He tought me about unconditional love and letting my hair down to just have fun. I remember my southern grandmother who was rich but lived an unmaterialistic, simple life with valued friends and a close circle of friends. She never went to college, but she taught me the value of humility and doing for every needful person that was put in my path. I think of my adopted sister with developmental delays, and how much more affectionate she is than any person I know in DC.

What about you?

[Anonymous]

How to open a locked car when my keys inside.

Patch or replace drywall

Replace kitchen counter

Replace disk and drum brakes and most belts

Change oil and filter by myself

From Dad

[Anonymous]

Devotion to family; patience.

oh, and from someone I employ in our household: unconditional love for a spouse. (still working on that one).

[Anonymous]

Treat people with respect no matter who they are.

Thanks Dad.

OP, I am your husband and my husband said I taught him...

And the best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It's only life after all

[Anonymous]

I've learned that money truly isn't everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Treat people with respect no matter who they are.

Thanks Dad.

OP, I am your husband and my husband said I taught him...

And the best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It's only life after all

Closer to fine.

[Anonymous]

Anything from my brothers and sisters.

Love, being less judgmental, accepting anyone, helping those in need without a sense of pity, the true value of family.

[Anonymous]

I hail from a state that people love to make fun of. It's the butt of comedians' jokes, and it's the very definition of flyover.

I LIVE in a Ward 3 neighborhood that DCUMers love to pick on. All of my neighbors are Important People In Their Own Minds. Many are insufferable and condescending. Many are unbelievably lazy, though they call it "strapped for time" because that's what affluent, highly educated folk call it -- but, in reality, if they could hire a recent immigrant with brown skin to bend over and pick up their dropped keys so they don't have to, they surely would. I mean, that person is already down there picking up their labradoodle's shit for them, right? Why not get the dropped item while they're down there?

I love going home to Flyover State and whenever I do, I am struck by how industrious everyone is. They're also tough. From my peeps, I have learned industry and resourcefulness. I am encouraged to buck up and not whine (even in my own head).

[[The life expectancy in this state is very high, possibly the highest in the U.S. and I've always believed it's because residents keep moving throughout their lives and clean their own gutters / mow their own grass / shovel the sidewalk into their 70s / weed their own gardens.]]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate the attitude that educated, sophisticated, well-traveled people are the only ones worth being around.

LOL, that was my quote from the other thread

Anyway, the short answer to your question is 'true friendship'

I come from bumblef!ck USA and my oldest and my closest friend still lives there. Our paths couldn't be more different. I went to college then graduate school, started a career, travelled around the world, got married then had children. My friend stayed in our hometown, worked in retail, dated a mechanic, got pregnant then married and is now a SAHM.

She may never visit Europe and her favorite show may be Real Housewives, but who cares? Despite our differences, we talk on the phone almost every single day and have since I left for school. We talk about LIFE. Seriously, the same struggles we educated, latte-sipping yuppies have really isn't that much different from 'common folks'. They also have problems with their in-laws, and want their DH to help out more and struggle with loss of identity when they become parents. Those issues weigh more on my day to day life than what's in the latest issue of The New Yorker.

[Anonymous]

That it's possible to live life with very little in the way of materialistic things and still be very happy. Maybe even happier.

That uneducated and unsophisticated doesn't necessarily mean stupid. My grandmother was one of the smartest people I've ever known and she had to leave school after the 8th grade to help take care of her brothers and sisters.

[Anonymous]

Manners! In almost every job I've had, my day has been made so much nicer by the friendly greeting of the concierge, doorman, secretary, or janitor. There's nothing like a sweet cashier at the grocery store either. I learned that being friendly and polite is so important to keeping everyone's day running well.

[Anonymous]

We are happy with how smart and sophisticated we are, but that's only the first three innings of life.

Knowledge comes from school. Wisdom and virtue come from living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Manners! In almost every job I've had, my day has been made so much nicer by the friendly greeting of the concierge, doorman, secretary, or janitor. There's nothing like a sweet cashier at the grocery store either. I learned that being friendly and polite is so important to keeping everyone's day running well.

This.

The young lady who cleans out the trash from the offices where I work is so kind and professional. Much more than some of my staff who likely makes 3x her salary.

I'm not so well off myself but I crave to be in the midst of money to just benefit from things like schools and healthy lifestyle choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manners! In almost every job I've had, my day has been made so much nicer by the friendly greeting of the concierge, doorman, secretary, or janitor. There's nothing like a sweet cashier at the grocery store either. I learned that being friendly and polite is so important to keeping everyone's day running well.

This.

The young lady who cleans out the trash from the offices where I work is so kind and professional. Much more than some of my staff who likely makes 3x her salary.

I'm not so well off myself but I crave to be in the midst of money to just benefit from things like schools and healthy lifestyle choices.

In the not so distant future the concierge, doorman, secretary and janitor will be far more degreed than those they serve. The gap between the have and have nots is widening. Be afraid, be very afraid for the chaos this will bring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Manners! In almost every job I've had, my day has been made so much nicer by the friendly greeting of the concierge, doorman, secretary, or janitor. There's nothing like a sweet cashier at the grocery store either. I learned that being friendly and polite is so important to keeping everyone's day running well.

I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say you've never worked in a law firm in DC.