Because the DMV is a hellmouth full of the kind of tiresome people who think they and their kids are in some kind of gladiatorial deathmatch toward an arbitrary version of success that they've seen on TV, or heard about from the country club their boss let them visit once--or dreamed about before they or their parents came to America, or the east coast from Iowa, or Appalachia, or Antigua--whatever.

You know all those people in high school who thought student government was interesting? Who ratted you out for running in the hallway? Who would never dare to wear black? They're all here. Every last one of them. And they all have Extremely Important Jobs. They'd tell you more but they're in a hurry. Extremely Important, remember? That's why they drive around you when waiting to make a left turn to make one themselves, that's why they honk the millisecond the light turns green, that's why they look like they got dressed using the Preppy Handbook c. 1983 and a Talbot's catalogue as their style guide.

I respect the idea that college should be a training ground for future employment--hard to disagree with that. But the narrow version of success these people outline is deeply conformist, uncreative, aesthetically terrible, and, in most cases, bound to turn their kids into neurotic, miserable people who constantly chase a brass ring that most will never reach... those that do will spend the next few decades talking to their therapist about having imposter syndrome.

Tin pot admins who whine about their 2.5 million dollar houses. No, seriously I'm not jealous. You people have the worst taste.

I don’t know why but it’s incredibly annoying. I would never post my child’s college choice on here because it would get ripped to shreds, it’s a regional school, not T100 (gasp). And he’s happy and so are we!

Anonymous wrote:If you want your kids to be affluent, tell them to go to a state university and become a regional business owner. That is who makes up rich in this country.

For some reason this Harvard/Stanford graduate was shocked at this information (didn't even know what a beverage distributor was) when he found out but it is common info for anyone who has spent any time at all in normal America.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/opinion/sunday/rich-happiness-big-data.html

Beverage distributors are the ultimate rent seekers. I say this as someone whose family has made a lot of money off of a distributorship- they should not exist. I'm not surprised that people who thought about it didn't realize that laws required beer to be sold though a middleman with exclusive territorial rights

Anonymous wrote:If you want your kids to be affluent, tell them to go to a state university and become a regional business owner. That is who makes up rich in this country.

For some reason this Harvard/Stanford graduate was shocked at this information (didn't even know what a beverage distributor was) when he found out but it is common info for anyone who has spent any time at all in normal America.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/opinion/sunday/rich-happiness-big-data.html

Totally agree that the rich are small business owners: car dealers, car wash operators, manufacturers, franchise operators, etc. Also, successful professional service providers, like attorney offices, surgical centers, tax/wealth practices, apartment complexes.

Where do you live OP?

Also, are you new here? We call them forums, not sub-forums.

Read the Tweens & Teens or Travel forums regularly and you’ll get a sense of the extent to which DCUM kids have been lavished with stuff and experiences. I think there’s a lot of anxiety when parents realize
their kids have come to expect a lifestyle that they might not have the work ethic nor opportunity to continue for themselves.

If you want your kids to be affluent, tell them to go to a state university and become a regional business owner. That is who makes up rich in this country.

For some reason this Harvard/Stanford graduate was shocked at this information (didn't even know what a beverage distributor was) when he found out but it is common info for anyone who has spent any time at all in normal America.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/opinion/sunday/rich-happiness-big-data.html

Anonymous wrote:Because people want better lives? There’s no golden ticket in life but it probably doesn’t hurt to send a kid to HPSM, Caltech, Duke, Yale, Penn, etc. and give them a good floor at the very least. And there’s a high correlation between money and quality of life.

It doesn't hurt to send your kid to those schools, but it can hurt very much to lead them to believe that they need to attend one of them in order to have a happy and successful life. So much of the anxiety for DC area kids comes from genuinely believing that they have less likelihood of reaching their full potential if they attend Virginia Tech instead of MIT or Boston U instead of Harvard.

And according to research the correlation between money and quality of life only exists up to around $125k a year. Sorry, I don't remember the study I read about that so can't provide a link.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s kinda about money, but more about prestige. A quirky 22-year old Yale graduate who works in a bookstore gets a totally different response compared to the same employee who attended George Mason. Why? Because, you imagine that the Yale grad just loves books, is interesting/curious, probably soon going to a prestigious graduate school or writing a novel, and is carving an idiosyncratic, but exciting path. Unfortunately, you imagine that the GM student is working for money until they can find something better. They are a cog in the wheel of life hoping to find somewhere to fit. May not be true, but so it goes.

No one respects the Yale grad who works at a book store... if they're not producing, they've wasted their potential.

A 22-year old Yale kid has not written their story. You seem uptight. You sound like someone who thinks a VT degree in CS and a FANG job is the epitome of doing well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree it’s illogical. Objectively many technical blue collar jobs would earn more than many ba college grads with free or much cheaper training. Year they are shunned by the striver class. It is a perception only.

Can you name any blue collar job that makes more than an engineer and 1) doesn't destroy your body and 2) has any upward mobility? The great thing about blue collar jobs is that the trade offs between health and salary are very clear. You can earn 200k as an underwater welder, but you will be lucky to do it for a decade let alone a career. A long haul trucker makes great money, but they are away from home most of their lives.

NP here. I knew a guy who didn’t go to college and had a very successful HVAC business. I also had a friend whose dad was a plumber and had a plumbing business and they lived very very well. While I don’t know exactly how much they earned, they definitely earned way more than a typical engineer. Both guys I mentioned had beautiful homes in NY.

Sure that can work for one guy, but usually because they've managed to get HVAC guys or plumbers working for them at depressed wages. BIL is an electrician and it suits him, but there are plenty of money worries.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree it’s illogical. Objectively many technical blue collar jobs would earn more than many ba college grads with free or much cheaper training. Year they are shunned by the striver class. It is a perception only.

Can you name any blue collar job that makes more than an engineer and 1) doesn't destroy your body and 2) has any upward mobility? The great thing about blue collar jobs is that the trade offs between health and salary are very clear. You can earn 200k as an underwater welder, but you will be lucky to do it for a decade let alone a career. A long haul trucker makes great money, but they are away from home most of their lives.

NP here. I knew a guy who didn’t go to college and had a very successful HVAC business. I also had a friend whose dad was a plumber and had a plumbing business and they lived very very well. While I don’t know exactly how much they earned, they definitely earned way more than a typical engineer. Both guys I mentioned had beautiful homes in NY.

Have you talked to them? My next door neighbor has a great plumbing business. He will not allow his kids to be plumbers until they go to college. He stopped actively working relatively young and still has more back and knee issues than anyone I know. The success stories are all people who are entrepreneurial enough to open businesses. Those who aren't just work until they can't anymore

Anonymous wrote:Because people want better lives? There’s no golden ticket in life but it probably doesn’t hurt to send a kid to HPSM, Caltech, Duke, Yale, Penn, etc. and give them a good floor at the very least. And there’s a high correlation between money and quality of life.

These degrees are only impressive if people do something worthwhile with them. Otherwise they could've saved the high school hassle and stress.

Anonymous wrote:It’s kinda about money, but more about prestige. A quirky 22-year old Yale graduate who works in a bookstore gets a totally different response compared to the same employee who attended George Mason. Why? Because, you imagine that the Yale grad just loves books, is interesting/curious, probably soon going to a prestigious graduate school or writing a novel, and is carving an idiosyncratic, but exciting path. Unfortunately, you imagine that the GM student is working for money until they can find something better. They are a cog in the wheel of life hoping to find somewhere to fit. May not be true, but so it goes.

No one respects the Yale grad who works at a book store... if they're not producing, they've wasted their potential.

It’s kinda about money, but more about prestige. A quirky 22-year old Yale graduate who works in a bookstore gets a totally different response compared to the same employee who attended George Mason. Why? Because, you imagine that the Yale grad just loves books, is interesting/curious, probably soon going to a prestigious graduate school or writing a novel, and is carving an idiosyncratic, but exciting path. Unfortunately, you imagine that the GM student is working for money until they can find something better. They are a cog in the wheel of life hoping to find somewhere to fit. May not be true, but so it goes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree it’s illogical. Objectively many technical blue collar jobs would earn more than many ba college grads with free or much cheaper training. Year they are shunned by the striver class. It is a perception only.

Can you name any blue collar job that makes more than an engineer and 1) doesn't destroy your body and 2) has any upward mobility? The great thing about blue collar jobs is that the trade offs between health and salary are very clear. You can earn 200k as an underwater welder, but you will be lucky to do it for a decade let alone a career. A long haul trucker makes great money, but they are away from home most of their lives.

NP here. I knew a guy who didn’t go to college and had a very successful HVAC business. I also had a friend whose dad was a plumber and had a plumbing business and they lived very very well. While I don’t know exactly how much they earned, they definitely earned way more than a typical engineer. Both guys I mentioned had beautiful homes in NY.