What's the Most Obnoxious Thing You've Heard a Parent Say at Your DC's Private School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The US gave over $300 billion last year, about of third of that was giving to religious institutions.


It was ranked #1 as the most charitable nation in the world.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16638810/

As pointed out above, this is only in absolute terms. Other countries are equally or more generous on a per capita basis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_charitable_countries.

In 2006, the per capita giving in the US was $75; in Canada it was $110.

That's a tricky metric though. I don't know this for a fact, but I bet that the U.S. has a much larger underclass than Canada. So if you are going to look at a per capita basis, shouldn't we look at the group of of people in each country who have the capacity to give?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are conservatives so much more mean spirited and less generous than liberals?

Can't speak to any mean-spiritedness that you may have encountered, but when it comes to generosity, the opposite has been shown to be true: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/opinion/21kristof.html?_r=1&em.

And I love the comment about the "help" from the Sidwell tour guide. Reminds of when my best friend began to learn Spanish (prior to some travel), and another woman in her class announced that the only reason she was there was so she could give clearer instructions to her housekeeper and nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question, PP. How do you know that the child is on full FA?

Anonymous wrote:At a parents' dinner, a parent of a student who receives full FA said that her child detests the food in the dining hall. I thught her comment was offensive in the way that looking a gift horse in the mouth is.

Everyone knows her child is on full FA because she tells everyone so. To respond to the negative comments some of you have posted: First, I think it is impolite for anyone who is receiving a gift to criticize it. Second, I think it is also impolite to comment negatively on the food that eveyone at table is sharing, especially, as in this case, when the negative comment is made in response to someone else's praise of the food. Therefore, I would have found her comment annoying even if her son had not been receiving the food by the largesse of the school.

The fact that you connected her complaint and the fact that her child is striking. It seems pretty clear that when she complained, you thought "and she's on FA."

That says it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question, PP. How do you know that the child is on full FA?

Anonymous wrote:At a parents' dinner, a parent of a student who receives full FA said that her child detests the food in the dining hall. I thught her comment was offensive in the way that looking a gift horse in the mouth is.

Everyone knows her child is on full FA because she tells everyone so. To respond to the negative comments some of you have posted: First, I think it is impolite for anyone who is receiving a gift to criticize it. Second, I think it is also impolite to comment negatively on the food that eveyone at table is sharing, especially, as in this case, when the negative comment is made in response to someone else's praise of the food. Therefore, I would have found her comment annoying even if her son had not been receiving the food by the largesse of the school.

The fact that you connected her complaint and the fact that her child is striking. It seems pretty clear that when she complained, you thought "and she's on FA."

That says it all.

[Anonymous]

One mother showed up drunk with her thong hanging out of her skinny jeans, she's pushing max density, at a movie date and proceeded to get into a fight with a college student
over seats. The college student, hardly intimidated, called her out for being a fat, over-privileged slob. Anytime we see her she's much more polite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Financial aid is a gift and recipients should be grateful. The sense of entitlement among FA recipients, as shown in some of the posts in this thread, is most offensive. No one is entitled to a private-school education.

Go get laid!!

Ironic response...I believe the person who wrote the first quote is expressing that they are getting f*&k*&!

[Anonymous]

Actually, that was the first time I had ever posted about this issue. Apparently more than one person doesn't agree with you! If I were "anti-financial aid," my husband and I would not contribute as generously as we do to our school's annual fund. Some of us who contribute to charity are actually glad to do it. And by the way, contributions to churches (at least ours) don't just go to the people who "work" there, but they also go to support many fine charitable causes that help those in need much more efficiently and effectively than our bloated government bureaucracy, as studies have also shown. I am simply objecting to your rather obtuse refusal to recognize a gift as a gift. It is a typical and not very effective move to try to use nomenclature to change the debate (think "choice," "diversity" instead of "abortion" and "racial/gender-based preferences").

My guess is that you are okay with the dad's nomenclature regarding the squirrel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At a parents' dinner, a parent of a student who receives full FA said that her child detests the food in the dining hall. I thught her comment was offensive in the way that looking a gift horse in the mouth is.

NOTE: That's right. The food is inedible and everyone hates it. BUT YOU WILL EAT IT AND LIKE IT BECAUSE IT IS FREE (for you). Just like the movie Mother with Al Brooks --- your Depression era parent sure taught you how to be a cheapskate. Would certainly not want the school to IMPROVE the food. My goodness, perhaps even better candidates might go there then and there would be more money for financial aid. What a concept!

NP here. Along these lines, it struck me that the key thing is that I would be grateful that someone said out loud that the food sucked. If it sucks for someone on FA, I imagine it sucks for people paying full price. The key thing is to say something about it and improve it, regardless of whether you're receiving FA or not. Good call, pp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah I didn't get the Brooks Brothers thing either.

Translation: JC Penney's does not cut it, you need to buy your suits at Brooks Brothers.

Interesting. My dh is quite into fashion and he would not touch Brooks Brothers with a 10 foot pole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah I didn't get the Brooks Brothers thing either.

Translation: JC Penney's does not cut it, you need to buy your suits at Brooks Brothers.

Interesting. My dh is quite into fashion and he would not touch Brooks Brothers with a 10 foot pole.

I'm just the translator. I think BB tends to run boring, but probably works for guys who don't want to put much thought into their wardrobe in AM.

[Anonymous]

Many executives have thier suits made or getting better brands than BB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many executives have thier suits made or getting better brands than BB.

That's for the nouveau riche. Brooks Brothers is for the old school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many executives have thier suits made or getting better brands than BB.

That's for the nouveau riche. Brooks Brothers is for the old school.

I thought Brioni was old school, non?

[Anonymous]

It is not nouveau riche to have suits made -- it's called high class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many executives have thier suits made or getting better brands than BB.

That's for the nouveau riche. Brooks Brothers is for the old school.

I thought Brioni was old school, non?

Brioni is a favorite of Donald Trump. That says it all.