what is your monthly income?

[Ima saver]

Originally Posted by sweeps

Yes, but $8232 was a lot of money back in the 1800's....

Just kidding!

Yes it was sweeps! But that was back in 1990!! Not 1890!!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by simpleyme

Disney steve since you seem pretty down to earth , do you find it a complement when people like syracusa glom onto you when they find out you are a Doctor?

I am not a Doctor or the like but have some level of success and reputation in my community and find it hard to make true friends do to this kind of attraction by others

Thank you for the compliment of being down to earth. What I don't like is when people treat me differently or think I must be a certain way or lead a certain lifestyle because I'm a doctor. You're just as likely to find me working out in the yard getting filthy as you are to find me attending some cultural event or museum. I'm certainly not above doing manual labor. In fact, after being stuck in an office all day, I quite enjoy it.

I also don't have Dr. stamped on my forehead. By that, I mean that I'm not quick to point out that I am a doctor. I never identify myself as Dr. Steve when I call anyone or introduce myself to anyone (when it isn't work related, I mean). As far as I'm concerned, Doctor is what I do. It isn't who I am. As a result, I don't find making friends to be that hard because I'll often know someone for a while before they find out that I'm a doctor. By then, they already know what I'm like so they don't stereotype me into their image of a doctor.

[LuxLiving]

This thread made me think of this story:

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Veterans Return Desks

[syracusa]

Originally Posted by simpleyme

Disney steve since you seem pretty down to earth , do you find it a complement when people like syracusa glom onto you when they find out you are a Doctor?

Cheap move, Mister. I found Disneysteve's posts decent/the type I could relate to waaay before he disclosed he is a doctor. He just sounded like a decent individual and for starters, his writing was at least not full of typos, bad grammar and all sorts of illiterate comments. I also thought that most of the arguments he brought made sense.
I do not care an inch about doctors per se (as a matter of fact you would be surprised to find out I do not have a great opinion about MOST of the ones practicing in this country). Besides, I have seen tons whose only preoccupations outside of profession reflect a downright brutish/uneducated way of life and of course, a passion for money...and trust me, I would not want zilch to do with them. So how about all you, self-proclaimed "Down-to-Earth" "egalitarian", non-discriminatory folk (yeah, right!) take it a notch down and see your own biases when you imply that anyone with a "simple" lifestyle, a pick-up-truck, a sports obsession and a big-screen TV is the epitomy of the "PERFECT AMERICAN FOLK". This "wonderful American folk", ironically, has everything going on for them, including "grace", "education", "character" and everything in between ...but without ever reading a thing beyond the sports page or going anywhere beyond the sports arena, right?.

I have had the less-than-great fortune to bump into enough such individuals in the past years and their spoilt, consumer-driven, parochial, excessive, brutish and yes, painfully uneducated mentalities do not do any favors to Humankind in my opinion. (And when I pick a neighborhood to live in, trust me, I will do it based on MY OPINION and not someone else's!!).
As a matter of fact, I find them as dangerous to humanity as it gets because of their nonchalant ignorance, obtuse indifference, limited horizons coupled with an eternal sense of entitlement. So for me to want to live in a neighborhood where most people look and act like the type I have had unpleasent personal experiences with - would be downright irrational.

I have also been lucky to befriend very intelligent Americans (in fact the most intelligent and refined people I have ever had the honor to befriend were either American or British; they were "fancy" in the mind and character, not the wallet; they were wise, not "simple" - and yes, I have felt humbled every time). But let me assure you that the Americans who left that kind of impression on me were NOT anywhere close to the "simple folk" type you are so desperately and defensively trying to extol. Such defensive attitudes are based on pure doctrine - the oh, so fashionable egalitarianism of today - and not on reality.

And for clarification, DisneySteve has also posted arguments that I did not have "the pleasure" to agree with at all - in case you read other posts. So much for me "glomming" onto doctors. What a cheap comment. Geeez...I wonder, how many Pick-Up Trucks or PhD-s does it take to understand nuanced English?...

This is a really nice site for financial advice, frugal tips and the like. But I certainly have to start taking it for what it has to offer and not for its social commentary or "debating" qualities.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by syracusa

And for clarification, DisneySteve has also posted arguments that I did not have "the pleasure" to agree with at all - in case you read other posts. So much for me "glomming" onto doctors.

Just for the record, I didn't feel "glommed". Is that even a word?

[scfr]

What was the question???

Oh nevermind ... Anyway ...

Glad to see some folks (sweeps, Ima saver, disneysteve) still have a sense of humor.

[scfr]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

You're just as likely to find me working out in the yard getting filthy

Don't you mean killing the grass?

[simpleyme]

sure glommed is when people stick you thinking they will catch what you are ;-)

[syracusa]

Originally Posted by simpleyme

=
syracus your posts seem to be very unrefined ,I

I am sure our definitions of "refinement" are pretty different.

[simpleyme]

LOL too funny ;-)

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by scfr

Don't you mean killing the grass?

No. I stopped massacring the lawn a few years ago. I mowed it myself for the first 10 years we lived here. I never liked doing it and didn't do it very well. When I finished repaying my student loans, my present to myself was hiring someone else to mow the lawn. Best $50/month I spend.

What I was referring to was pruning bushes and trees, cleaning up fallen tree branches, cleaning the gutters, clearing weeds, etc.

[InDebtInDC]

Nothing useful to be had here.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

This forum isn't America's house. This is the internet, not any one place on earth.

I'm glad to know, InDebtinDC, that you came from another country. I'm glad to know that of syracusa. I think tripod, too, said s/he is from another country. Good. I have had no experiences in international living, but my interest is piqued when "the world" nonetheless comes to me, whether in people I meet in real life, or on the internet. Between these savingadvice.com forums and the blogs, there are quite a few non-USAers. So, of course, we will get to hear of the experience and interpretations of all sorts of people, even if many of them do currently live in the US.

[jIM_Ohio]

The last two pages of posts in this thread have nothing useful... shouldn't the thread be closed or retitled?

[simpleyme]

I do not really find the"offending posts " offensive, they crack me up

there is a song by Brad Paisley " I am so much taller online"

post that spend so much time trying to convince us they are rich ,refined and just full of nuance ,you just know are made by some middle age unemployed guy sitting in his mom basement

but I realize this has very little to do with personal finance as as fun as it is I will also quit feeding the tro..........

[Snave]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

The last two pages of posts in this thread have nothing useful... shouldn't the thread be closed or retitled?

Agreed. I pop in to it every now an again to see if it is back on track. It started out pretty good and then just deviated course.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It's more amusing. Besides the posts by some people have the same tone throughout every post.

I have to remember that word Glommed for later. Hmm...Maybe I can use it in sentence.

[InDebtInDC]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

The last two pages of posts in this thread have nothing useful... shouldn't the thread be closed or retitled?

Agreed. Redacted all of my comments.

[LuxLiving]

InDebtInDC, I wanted to personally thank you for taking so much time to investigate your new homeland. It was far more in-depth than many of us native-born do!

Joan-of-the-Arch, Well-said!

[Scanner]

I didn't read all of the exchanges here but I am not insulted if someone needs a "high society" type for stimulating conversation.

My DW wants exactly what Syracusa describes - a neighborhood of professional friends. I feel for her because we can't afford it. . .so she goes without friends. I really do feel bad about that.

I just point out to her though that I am a country doctor. . .and we'd be sitting around at finely decorated table and like the Planters All-Fruit commercial, I'd say,

"Can ya' pleeze pass da' jelly?"



Syracusa: lighten up a bit.
LivingLarge: you lighten up too. It's okay if someone doesn't want to hang with you because you talk about the Philadelphia Eagles too much and how they are the best football team.