Monday's Most Active Threads

Memorial Day is a traditionally slow day on DCUM but, perhaps due to yesterday's bad weather in the DC area, traffic was a bit higher than might have been expected. How did DCUMers spend the holiday? Mostly talking about the Max (nee HBO Max, nee HBO) series "Succession". That thread received over three times the number of posts as the next most active thread. But, since I've already discussed that thread, I'll start with the runner up. That thread was titled, "Most beautiful place on earth you've seen, if you're a regular person?" and posted in the "Travel Discussion" forum. The original poster asks what is the most beautiful thing others have seen while traveling as a "normal person", by which she means those not being sent as part of a job and not "professional" adventurers. I always struggle to summarize threads of this sort that consist mostly of one or more suggestions per post. Without going through and making a tally of the locations, I'm not sure that I can draw many conclusions. But, nominations ranged from Burke Lake to Phuket, Thailand and the Fjords of Norway. I did notice that one of my personal favorites, Lake Louise, was repeatedly mentioned. Bodies of water in general were popular. Some posters appear to have had trouble narrowing it down and provided fairly long lists. One wonders if there wasn't a bit of bragging going on. One poster proposed Nelson Mandala’s prison cell on Robben Island. I can imagine that being interesting, historic, and perhaps even moving, but I have a hard time thinking of it as "beautiful". This would be a good thread for those seeking inspiration for a future trip and is also good for provoking memories of places you've been fortunate enough to visit.

The next most active thread yesterday was posted in the "Private & Independent Schools" forum. Titled, "Percentage of Students on Financial Aid at Major Privates is Depressing", the original poster provides a list of the percentage of students receiving financial aid at five top area private schools. These numbers range from 21 to 29 percent. Responses include those arguing that kindergarten through 12th grade schools generally don't have large endowments, posts that agree with the original poster that the percentages are disappointingly low, and several expressing the opinion that the numbers are higher than expected. Some posters argue that it is not the number of students receiving aid that is important, but rather the size of the award. I didn't have to read very many posts in this thread before I encountered the contradictions that often arise in discussions of the cost of private schools. While a considerable number of these schools are proudly liberal, promoting and honoring diversity and attracting families with similar values, exclusivity is one of their major selling points. A commonly-held view appears to be that those of lower socio-economic standing are encumbered by problematic baggage. One poster plainly asks whether private school parents really want the "significant needs that many lower socioeconomic students come to school with?" While some posters say they do welcome such students, that is clearly not the prevailing view. A surprisingly high number of those responding oppose aid altogether, clearly relishing an environment free of those less financially advantaged. Even among those supportive of assistance, there is considerable debate about who is most deserving of such aid. Is it the truly poor, who many posters doubt are prepared to succeed at these schools, the middle class or upper middle class who may have stronger academic foundations, or students with special talents such such as athletes or those who are especially strong academically? Much of the thread is devoted to comparing area schools to those in other parts of the country or even abroad, against whom many feel the local schools don't measure up well.

The next thread that I'll discuss was titled, "Ultra high net worth and how much to leave to kids" and posted in the "Money and Finances" forum. DCUM has always had fairly prosperous users. Back in 2017, the MarketWatch website identified DCUM as having the third wealthiest audience and since then the percentage of high-income users has increased (according to Quantcast data). Recently, Ramit Sethi — an author and provider of financial advice — mentioned our forum as one of his favorites, though he seemed to be mostly interested in it for laughs. This thread represents the interests of those wealthier users. The original poster explains that she and her husband, who are in their 40s, have a net worth of nearly $40 million. They have three children currently in middle school and are debating how much inheritance to leave for each child. They don't believe in generational wealth and plan to donate the bulk of their money. Their current thinking ranges from leaving $1 million to each child to leaving the maximum before estate taxes kick in. Many posters believe the poster is a troll, not believing that anyone with such wealth would ask an anonymous forum for advice. But, the original poster points out that any other party from whom she would seek advice would have inherent biases. Several posters offer pithy responses that aren't of much real value. Opinions about how much to leave are all over the place with some posters favoring next to nothing and others proposing that everthing be left to the children. Between those two extremes, there are many interesting ideas that the original poster might consider. On the other hand, one poster responds with the classic advice about a dog to someone asking about a cat, declaring that her family does believe in generational wealth and describing their strategy. Good to know but wrong thread. Eventually the thread transitioned into addressing complex financial issues that made it clear why I will never have $40 million to worry about. I can't understand the discussion sufficiently to summarize it.

The final thread at which I'll look today was posted in the "Family Relationships" forum. Titled, "Tackfully tell family member to stop bringing lousy food to potlucks", the original poster is upset with a family member who routinely brings food to potlucks that she has just acquired from the grocery store or a restaurant while everyone else brings home-made food. The original poster appears to be particularly bothered by the packaging and cheap serving dishes and utensils. Before reading a single reply I thought I knew how most, if not all, of the responses would go. It turned out that I was correct. There is little to no sympathy for the original poster. I don't think anyone expressed concern about the serving dishes or utensils. Many thought the food brought by the family member sounded delicious. One poster suggested that the original poster tell her relative to come to that poster's potluck instead. Also, the original poster's typo in the title did not go unnoticed. Posters explain that food at potlucks is meant to be eaten, not rewarded for the effort of preparing it. It later turns out that those at the potluck had spurned the original poster's mother's cooking in favor of the restaurant-provided food brought by the family member. Those responding predictably latched on to that as the "real reason" that the original poster was upset. Many posters felt that the primary issue was having a potluck in the first place, suggesting that was a lazy way of hosting a party. They advised the original poster to take responsibility for providing the food and, thereby, assure that the family member would not be making her "lousy" contributions. A number of posters found this thread to be humorous and several of the responses were clearly tongue-in-cheek. Quite a few posters claimed that the original poster is a troll. Reporters have an expression about stories being "too good to confirm". Similarly, this thread is too good to troll check.