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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am sitting in downtown Bethesda on a Sunday afternoon, sipping my $5.50 iced coffee. I am looking around me at these three blocks of fancy chain stores, that are just like the fancy chain stores in the analagous parts of other upscale suburbs, and watching people pop in and out like automatons. It seems so pointless and empty. Is this what it's all for? Strive to live in a HCOL area and make a big enough salary to live there so you can go disburse your dollars among certain branded storefronts as if you are robot operating on preprogrammed instructions thinking that you "belong"?

As I got my coffee I witnessed a middle aged UMC (white) woman haranguing the (black) barista for ten minutes about how dishonest they and the business are for putting too much ice in her iced juice drink & how they are defrauding customers by putting in too much ice and not enough juice. Seriously? Work all your life for the privilege of raising your kids around people like this?[/quote]

How old are you, OP? Ballpark.[/quote]

Why do you ask?[/quote]

Not the PP, but maybe mid-life crisis?[/quote]

I was going to say teenager.[/quote]

OP here. I am 50. Why would you think teenager?[/quote]

Because you are just seeing this NOW?[/quote]

I am actually not from around here and thinking of moving here. I have the money. I am just looking around and wondering about the value and purpose.[/quote]

It's a bragging rights thing. The public school clusters there are like private schools. I decided against that area because of the entitlement behavior that the store patrons use leads to assumed contention from the store employees. That friction makes it difficult to do chores or errands without confrontation like what you described. I strongly dislike getting lumped in with people like that but it happens all the time when I shop there. I just don't like the NIMBYism even though I look like a NIMBY.

And yes, Bethesda residents, I can afford to buy a house there. The realtor I worked with for a while was floored when I said this to him as one of the reasons for not buying there. I will admit that the houses I can afford there are not as new and nice as the houses where I ended up buying, but that's only part of the reason I decided against that area.

For people that aren't bothered by this dynamic, it's very nice. It's also not something that you deal with in every transaction. It just doesn't take much distance from that zip code to avoid that dynamic entirely.[/quote]

Yes, the public elementary school that has 28 kids per class with one teacher, and trailers in the back to house the overflow, and has an "art cart" because there are too many kids to fit in the art classroom ... just like a private school. Same with once a week PE for 30 minutes and lunch eaten at 10:30 am because of scheduling.

Give me a break. I actually went to a private school and my kids at Bethesda Elementary are doing fine but a private school it is not.[/quote]

All the Bethesda elementary schools are run by lunatic principals. Well, Bethesda Elementary, Chevy Chase (not North Chevy Chase) and Bradly Hills anyway. Truly crazy ladies.[/quote]

Also Rock Creek Forrest.[/quote]

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