[blkchr91]

I guess I can be as intolerant as anyone else.

In my area (Central to Northern Virginia and DC included), it seems like everyone here is formerly poor. No problem with that at all. It just seems that everyone is in some sort of material competition here.

"I" "I" "I" have alot of land. "I" "I" "I" have a nice blackberry. "I" "I" "I" have a huge boat, a great job, and lots of vacation time.

These folks have all of this fancy stuff but lack manners e.g. simple covering your mouth when you cough, saying excuse me when you bump into someone with your bag etc.

I think it's great that everyone is progressing but I am so sick of hearing about the material garbage all the time.

I come from a pretty low class background myself and I don't feel the need to rave all the time!

ok I got that off my chest...

What gives?

[VickiesPath]

WOW!!!!! NOW I know where all these people here in Phoenix come from when they are tired of the snow!!! Thanks for the info!

[blkchr91]

Omg hahaahahahahahaahahah!!!!

[Elysium]

Land...Blackberries...Boats...Vacation time....?

I'm not so sure I would call that progress. I would call it Capitalism at it's best.

Those who die with the most toys and the biggest IRA...still die.

I like my Iphone just as much as the next person...but these are merely things that make the trip more enjoyable. And just because you have a lot of stuff on the outside...doesn't mean you have much to show for yourself on the inside.

If only we could see inside the souls of those who seem as though they should have nothing to complain about. I think we'd be shocked!!

[blkchr91]

So very true indeed!

I wondered whatever happened to "class" when I first watched Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in "The Simple Life." Their foul language, their slutty ways of dressing, their yelling out and flipping off passing cars... They acted like any pair of undisciplined public-school 12-year-olds. They aren't "high class." They're just rich, that's all. Class does not equal income.

I am sick to death of "At the time of his death, Mr. So-and-so was worth X billion dollars." No, he wasn't. He *had* X billion dollars. He was *worth* the same as any other human being, no more and no less. But it's the way society talks. I have no idea why.

I am sick to death of expressions such as "trailer trash." You can live in a mobile home and not be trash. You can live in a mansion and be totally trash. I, for one, live in a mobile home. I moved here from an inner city slum. But neither living situation determines my "class." Or my "worth."

[bluesylady]

Great topic blkchr91. This bothers me also. I really wish ppl would focus more on getting to know others for their own uniqueness and qualities rather than having designer handbags and where they go for vacations and what kind of car they drive, ect. Kind of sad to see that some ppl feel their self worth depends on what they own or how much money they make or even what they look like. Maybe someday our society will evolve enough for people to finally realize we're all in this together and what affects one eventually will affect us all in one way or another.

[VickiesPath]

I'm probably going to get some flack from some other Arizonans out there for posting this but here goes.

In northern Scottsdale, there is a shopping/business area known as Kierland Commons. In the center, there is a shopping district with a lot of middle to high end shops built around a little seating area with a live fountain where children can run in and out of the water (weather permitting).

The one thing I noticed about the people there is that almost without exception, most of them drive high-end, upperclass cars, have very dark suntans, if they are young, they are dressed in the finest and most fashionable clothing, if they are older, they are pencil-thin and very wrinkled from their suntans, but the most defining feature is the look of complete and utter boredom on their faces. It's as if they have nothing more meaningful in their lives to do than to walk up and down those sidewalks, hoping something, ANYTHING, will catch their eye and they will have something to spend their money on.

Now, across the street, there is a posh resort so I'm sure a lot of the resort patrons do shop there as well. But they are distinctively different from the people I described above. The people I'm talking about seem to have nothing else to do or nowhere else to go.

I guess I just don't get it. Perhaps I never will.

[Hippie]

In Columbus Ohio there is a mall with valet parking. Am not making this up. There is a good size parking lot but people driving high end cars do not park; they go through a very public display of handing over the keys to a valet.

I come from a place where a lot of children went to school hungry, wore short sleeves in winter because that's what they had.

Somewhere there's a middle-class in there.

[VickiesPath]

Originally Posted by Hippie

In Columbus Ohio there is a mall with valet parking. Am not making this up. There is a good size parking lot but people driving high end cars do not park; they go through a very public display of handing over the keys to a valet.

I come from a place where a lot of children went to school hungry, wore short sleeves in winter because that's what they had.

Somewhere there's a middle-class in there.

The place in Scottsdale is AFTER they've already had valet parking. Most places in Scottsdale DO have valet parking and there are people who won't go anyplace that doesn't.

Hey, maybe I was middle class. We did have oatmeal (porridge) to eat but we simply had to wear sweaters over those short sleeve shirts because we couldn't afford both kinds of shirts.

[Psyched]

In 20 years, these people won't have anything, b/c they & the society in which we live that promotes such narcissism will be the downfall of the USA. I hope they stock up on their designer perfumes now, since they won't be able to shower when there's no more water left in the not-so-distant future. I really believe that materialism & the media are intentionally used to distract us from what's really going on so the masses won't demand action from those in charge.

[pachyderm]

"Bank executives are grappling with a question that exasperates, even infuriates, many recession-weary Americans: Just how big should their paydays be? Despite calls for restraint from Washington and a chafed public, resurgent banks are preparing to pay out bonuses that rival those of the boom years. The haul, in cash and stock, will run into many billions of dollars."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/bu.../10pay.html?hp

[paddym22]

Pachyderm It is the same situation with the banks in europe, isnt it horrendous.

On thing I would like to say is that you cant buy class or style, it is a lot to do with nurture and personal circumstance. Self respect and respect of others is what is important to me, honesty, fidelity and charity are also high up on my list of who I really try and want to be.

Not some multi credit card flashing owner swanning around shopping malls so bored out of my skull that shopping is the only past time that has meaning in my life.