Actually, OP, I think I would respect your husband MORE after finding out how well he had done for himself/his family, without having a college degree. Really impressive. Give him a high five from me!

Anonymous wrote:Lose respect is not the right way to describe it. Rather, I think s/he must come from a lower socio-economic background where either 1.) education for its own sake was not stressed by his/her parents or 2.) his/her family could not afford it.

And what are your conclusions from this assumption?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at all, especially if they can carry on a reasonably intelligent conversation. I do lose respect for people who don't vote.

You know your vote really doesn't count right?

Of course, my vote doesn't "count" (especially probably not in the world of Diebold owned machines!) but with, what average turnout of 30-40% of eligible voters votes do matter.

Anonymous wrote:Lose respect is not the right way to describe it. Rather, I think s/he must come from a lower socio-economic background where either 1.) education for its own sake was not stressed by his/her parents or 2.) his/her family could not afford it.

College isn't for everyone, even those whose parents could afford it or who stressed the importance of education. It doesn't make these people weak or stupid, it's just not the way they thrive and succeed.

Lose respect is not the right way to describe it. Rather, I think s/he must come from a lower socio-economic background where either 1.) education for its own sake was not stressed by his/her parents or 2.) his/her family could not afford it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, but I do lose respect for people when they misuse lose/loose.

PP, you are a jerk. OP, there are a lot of educated fools around, the above PP being one of them. Your DH sounds like a wondetful person and who has integrity and is honest. A college degree does not confer character with w a diploma.

And even less respect for those that double post or don't know how to use the quote function. It's not rocket science here, people.

For the record, it's those WHO double post.... but no one is grading grammar here, right, PP?

OP here - thanks to all for your comments, encouragement, and insights. It's heartening to hear that others aren't so judgmental (except, apparently, for those who can't get over that I made a simple typo with loose/lose - sheesh). This isn't something that I realized weighed on DH until a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about our DDs going to college. He said it simply and matter of factly, and my heart kind of broke for him. DH is adamant that our kids go to college, it's one of those non-negotiable things in his mind (and to some extent, I agree). I thought it was interesting for someone who didn't finish school and part of his reasoning was that he felt that people lost respect for him once they found out he didn't have a degree, no matter what he accomplished in business or elsewhere.

FWIW, DH is one of the most intelligent, intellectually curious people that I've ever met. He loves to travel and read, loves to explore the world around him, taught himself Spanish and French and can speak both proficiently, so he certainly isn't a closed-minded person or proud to be ignorant. Quite the opposite. He loves to learn. Anyway, thanks again for your comments.

I was surprised to find out that half of employers in small business did not have a college degree. About 1/4 are high school educated and about 1/4 did not finish a degree.

Anonymous wrote:Not at all, especially if they can carry on a reasonably intelligent conversation. I do lose respect for people who don't vote.

You know your vote really doesn't count right?

i lose respect for those who cannot spell "lose".

Not at all, especially if they can carry on a reasonably intelligent conversation. I do lose respect for people who don't vote.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bill Gates didn't have a college degree. Neither did Steve Jobs. Or Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle. Or Michael Dell. Or Ted Turner or Kirk Kerkorian or Ralph Lauren or Roman Abramovich.

All of them are billionaires.

Therefore I believe there is more than one way to demonstrate intelligence, creativity, ambition, and dedication. Making it through four years of drinking/semi studying for B minuses pales in comparison to the accomplishments of these guys.

Abramovich? He just grabbed some former government-owned property that was up for grabs, for cheap, and the only reason he was able to do that is that someone in the government let him. So spare me the Abramovich tale.

And I am totally sick of seeing Bill Gates as an anti-college example. Yes, he is a genuis, but most college drop-outs aren't. People with college degrees, at least, have some sort of profession going for them, even if most of them aren't billionaires.

Wow I didn't know there was a billionaire hater out there.

1. "Spare me???" I didn't say I liked Abramovich. It would be hard to deny that he is ambitious.
2. "totally sick of" Gates' story? Okaaayy, I never said that all college dropouts are smart.

The fact that most college dropouts aren't geniuses does not mean that I should prejudge the OP's husband, who is clearly not any old dropout but a successful businessman. Since that was the point of the thread, I'll assume you are one of those people who is too heavily invested in the status conferred by her degree.

Pretty much all college degrees are bullshit and on the job is when you learn the most. Memorization of theories that are mostly outdated, bogus regurgitation of crap that was previous taught is overrated.

Your husband should consider it an a$$hole filter.

And no, I don't lose respect for people without degrees. I lose respect for people who reveal themselves to be a$$holes.

No, my respect for someone is based on qualities such as kindness, decency, hard work, honesty. I don't care if they went or didn't go to college.