Things that are unintentional status symbols.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An immaculately kept 15-plus-year-old Mercedes or Audi. One buys nice things, but treats them well so they last a long time. If it doesn't have a CD player (let alone iPod/bluetooth connection), one must deal with it.

Going back to more mainstream unintentional status symbols:

... Genuine Hunter wellies (olive green, not leopard print or Georgetown Cupcake pink)
... Monogrammed cardstock stationery, and if you use it to thank a neighbor who handed down some old baby clothes to you
... If you google yourself and one of your first hits is your wedding announcement in the New York Times (no other paper counts)
... Ski or boat rack on your car roof
... High school ring not manufactured by Josten's (i.e., no large fake gem in the middle)

Yeah well, my sister's ring from Cathedral came from Josten's and my Sidwell ring (with an onyx stone) also came from Josten's so you know nothing.

Again the difference between "intentional" status symbol vs. "unintentional" status symbol. You went to Sidwell, they did not cover "new vs. old money" … sad, you should sue for your money back.

What are you even talking about…I don't think 1st PP knew that signet rings from elite schools do come from Josten's…whatever, you sound like a very small minded, barely have any meaningful values sort of garden variety grotesque, so, carry on.

This poster is the definition of doesn't get it.

PP, congratulations, you're ruining the thread with your idiotic comebacks. You are wrong; go away, stfu, etc.

If we didn't have to keep explaining the ops question over and over again

[Anonymous]

Whit Stillman depicts the old money low profile status types well in his movies. Well read, well educated, had ballroom dancing lessons, casual male/female beauty, lovely tailored clothes in subtle solid of stripes, very discreet with naughty behavior, knowledge of so and so's cousin from summers spent in some elite, low key hamlet, working unpaid positions at elite firms, etc. There are many nouveau riche types that seek to emulate this in some way, but it tends to play out as inflated and gauche in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the obsession with "old money" is so weird. Many people on this forum speak about it as though these people are morally superior to others with less money or, even worse, new money. Which is funny considering the number of a$$holes that I know who would be considered "old money."

.... and spending your life trying to act like old money is so ridiculous. You are born old money. No other way. New money -- be glad and be yourself.

[Anonymous]

What is the difference between old money and trust fund babies?

[Anonymous]

Go back far enough and old money was new money. Even the Queen of England has parvenus for ancestors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the difference between old money and trust fund babies?

Nothing if the trust was established by your mayflower relatives. Nowadays, third world immigrants who came to this county with nothing and clawed their way into their own hard earned wealth can set up trusts for their first generation American kids. Personally, neither is that admirable as far as the trust fund babies who didn't earn anything, but I'm much more impressed with the rags to riches new money folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the difference between old money and trust fund babies?

Usually go hand-in-hand and trust funds are not set up by one's parents, next PP, they are set up by one's grandparents or greatgrandparents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the difference between old money and trust fund babies?

Usually go hand-in-hand and trust funds are not set up by one's parents, next PP, they are set up by one's grandparents or greatgrandparents.

Trust fund babies are a subset of old money; as a PP noted, not everyone with old money doesn't work at a regular job. When I was a summer associate at a white shoe Boston law firm, there were a number of partners who didn't "need" to work. Some of them were absolute sticks, but there were a couple who were just adorable and lots of fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess we know now what DCUMs really care about.

[phone] Really? Is this what you think about? If you have that much time on your hands then I wish the answer was "volunteering in a soup kitchen, women's shelter, .." Too hopeful?

Oh, please, get off your high horse. I'm a weekly volunteer at a soup kitchen, and I still think this thread has been a hoot.

[Anonymous]

You don't actually pay to go on vacation anywhere. Anywhere you go, a friend/family member "has a place."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eating a "paleo" diet.
Running marathons.
Doing yoga more than once/week.
These to me are the biggest show of people who have way too much damn time on their hands.

I do yoga 3-5 times a week - I have two under three years old and work full time. I don't have tons of free time - yoga is just important to me. Other people are into treadmills and/or stairmasters; I'm into yoga.

You're right. PP is wrong. Yoga 3-5 times a week is excellent for your health and your mental health. Don't listen to PP.

There's a ton of resentment on this thread for people who do more than sit on their ass and watch TV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having chickens in your yard.

Wrong status. Says poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having chickens in your yard.

Wrong status. Says poverty.

Not if you live in Upper NW and also have your own tennis court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cars.

Rich people drive Mercedes Benz.

Poor people don't.

They drive Kias.

Or Hyundais.

Or Honda Odysseys.

Ridiculous. We have millions and drive a Prius and a Honda.

[Anonymous]

A spot-on description of old money by Jeffrey Eugenides, from "The Marriage Plot":

The Hannas' house was a hundred-year-old Tudor, fronted by London plane trees and dying hemlocks. Inside, everything was tasteful and half falling apart. The Oriental carpets had stains. The brick-red kitchen linoleum was thirty years old. When Mitchell used the powder room, he saw that the toilet paper dispenser had been repaired with Scotch tape. So had the peeling wallpaper in the kitchen. Mitchell had encountered shabby gentility before, but here was Wasp thrift in its purest form. The plaster ceilings sagged alarmingly. Vestigial burglar alarms sprouted from the walls. The knob-and-tube wiring sent flames out of the lighting sockets when you unplugged anything.