I’m not sure it’s as tough for the rich white kids from my area. The parents never talk about “if” they get in. It’s a given. Who knows. We’ve got a bunch of kids now going to St John Bosco— is that the same as Don Bosco? Anyway, it all sounds expensive and exhausting. I can barely handle my two carpools that only go…

I think the Hillbilly Elegy guy said quite a bit about that. His thesis was, to some degree, that everyone who has their shit together gets the hell out.

Really? The parents in my town who are planning to send their sons to Loyola are almost all golf shirt wearing, finance bro Trump voters. Hopefully it draws from elsewhere for some balance. Personally, I couldn’t part with the money and don’t want my kids on a bus at 6:30am when we have a fantastic school a mile away.…

Ugh, the trampolines. Everyone in our area has them because we have very small yards, so it’s like a way to maximize space and give the kids something to do. These people are insane, and even more insane allowing other people’s kids to go on them on their property. I wouldn’t be surprised if their homeowner’s…

There was a family in my son’s kindergarten who would take all three kids ATV riding. Or was it dirt bikes? I dunno, but they were definitely motorized and NOT some kiddie thing. Maybe kid sized, but they were full on motorcycle or ATV things. Quite proud of themselves— they put all the photos in the five year old’s…

I can absolutely see the benefits, particularly if your local district isn’t any good. Ours is spectacular, so the people who send their kids to private schools (at least the elite ones that are an hour away by bus in traffic) are a special breed. That I want nothing to do with. My husband does not speak fondly of his…

Nah, it’s Chandler in Pasadena— his kids aren’t even in HS yet, so he has years of this to go. My husband went to Harvard Westlake, so I’m somewhat familiar with the whole scene. I went to a public HS in the valley and I can see where it wasn’t quite as good. But I also see that our local public HS now, where our kids…

I don’t recall, but I know I insinuated that Trump would not really care that this guy and his kids are Indian and not Mooooslims. So it’s possible. This was Dec. 2015. We haven’t hung out much since.

I know one of them who literally told me the schools in the poor neighborhoods a few miles away from us SHOULD be bad because then those people will strive to make more money and come live in our area.

Very true. And it keeps the poors from competing for the jobs in finance (that apparently bankroll every fucking McMansion owner in my neighborhood).

The Reagan comparisons are depressing me. Nearly everyone I’ve ever met, aside from my extremely liberal parents, thinks he was the best president ever, full stop. Even other Democrats I know seem fairly oblivious to the well-known facts about his decline. This tells me that the Trumpers aren’t coming around anytime…

I wonder if that’s changed though. I feel like nearly everyone who’s not a raging liberal right now is like school choice! Vouchers are rad! Charter schools are better because unions!

Pretty much. The guy in the office next to me is a total Trump voter, and I know why. He spends like half his take home pay (not shitting you) on an uber fancy private school for his two kids in a very old money area of LA. The tuition is $30K per year, and they hit you up for major donations. He said most kids get…

I see this as such an emblematic right wing issue. People who do not give a single fuck about anyone else, or society as a whole. Because they’re getting a voucher or a tax break to send their kid to whatever Christian academy they like. Why should I have to pay for schools WE don’t even use? Those school suck anyway…

I got it— they need someone to play the ghost of Trump’s dad. He will lose his shit.

Yes, exactly. There will be some sort of attack, and then Trump will be like, see, I told you we should have had a Muslim ban (even if it’s an American born person of middle eastern descent who does it). And from there it’s a hop, skip and a jump to Muslim registries and god only knows what else.

This is definitely a type. My parents are pretty normal, but they don’t relate to their grandchildren well (or me really) and they act like their dog is their 7 year old child.

This was exactly what I thought someone in her orbit would say. Not surprising at all. Notably, I know more than a few rich moms like her.

Totally agree about the quality of the stores. They are stuck in the middle— not high end enough to draw luxury shoppers, but not discount enough to be attractive to most shoppers. All in a dated, aging building most of the time.

My theory is that none of his stuff really affects them— they have healthcare through work and probably think nothing will ever change with that, and they may even get a tiny tax cut (depending on how much they make— the people at my work like this stand to pay about $1-2K less a year, people in my neighborhood much…