quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

i have seen segways in teh czech republic

where i do not live, and that is no coincidence

the easy-to-collapse one, send him to silicon valley and get more $$$$

― enbba champions (omar little), Thursday, July 9, 2009 7:42 PM (26 seconds ago) Bookmark

my parenting book: the foldable child

will he fit in the overhead compartments of planes?

and/or storage compartments of overpriced strollers?

I've only seen police and tourists (you can rent them here) on Segways.

― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, July 9, 2009 3:37 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

Why would anyone want to rent a tourist?

Reverse exploitation obv.

why are police on segways?

why are they on horses?

why didnt they make the cl with a clutch?

parenting/mommy blogs are great for schadenfreude for the childless.

― incomprehensible Kool-Aid swallower (sarahel), Thursday, July 9, 2009 2:59 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

^^^^^

As a non-parent, it just amazes me to see the Urban Assault Vehicles people are pushing their kids around in. I mean, I'm pretty sure I was pushed in something that looks a lot like this:

http://www.prammuseum.com/images/tukhandle1.gif

_somebody_ has to buy strollers new from the store,

I wonder how many fancy strollers were purchased by parents and how many were shower gifts.

yea i feel like the doting grandparent also is a hueg portion

there's a segway rider in my neighbourhood in provincial england. idk what his deal is.

― FREE DOM AND ETHAN (special guest stars mark bronson), Thursday, July 9, 2009 8:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

cambridge?

when we bought our fancy stroller (not that fancy!), the saleslady was sure to let us know that jon stewart had bought the same one the week before...

(and it worked, because here i am repeating it.)

did she say why he returned it?

ar ar.

i will stop talking about strollers now. there are few things dorkier than talking about strollers.

mypokemansletmeshowuthem.jpg

there's a segway rider in my neighbourhood in provincial england. idk what his deal is.

― FREE DOM AND ETHAN (special guest stars mark bronson), Thursday, July 9, 2009 8:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

cambridge?

― caek, Friday, July 10, 2009 5:30 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

y

That's hardly "provincial"!

it's mroe bedford than bed-stuy

that's also exactly where i'd expect to see a segway in the uk. dork central.

my old neighborhood had a segway store right next to the dog bakery

that's also exactly where i'd expect to see a segway in the uk. dork central.

― caek, Friday, July 10, 2009 12:20 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

loooool

right next to the dog bakery

How cruel!

Oh please.

And there was a follow-up.

I think that's a pretty good article actually, for what it is

what didnt you like abt it ned?

i wonder if their letters editor would describe this thread as "populist backlash"? i mean seriously, they must know, right?

It is -- refreshing amount of unrestrained skepticism and does an excellent job of letting the people hang themselves with their own rope.

(xpost)

Less disliking the article than some of the...shall we say 'characters' involved, and the assumptions on the part of their clientele. However two to one says that the skeptical tone of this article exists only because the economic crunch -- a year ago this would have been nothing but glowing profiles. Agonies of the ruling class indeed.

"Hey wait we can't really afford this any more...you think they might have been lying to us?"

was hoping for more college interview fashion advice tbh

“It’s annoying when people complain about the money,” the Vermont-based counselor, Michele Hernandez, said. “I’m at the top of my field. Do people economize when they have a brain tumor and are looking for a neurosurgeon? If you want to go with someone cheaper, or chance it, don’t hire me.”

When people say stuff like this, you don't really have to write anything.

x-post -- Seersuckers, Elmo, never forget the seersuckers.

You're probably right Ned that it's just a sign-o-the-times, but I'm still really pleased to see an article about this sort of thing that doesn't take the "Some people say... but others say..." pussyfootin approach.

"applying volumizing mascara to underarm hair is the biggest grooming trend for smith college applicants this year"

a year ago this would have been nothing but glowing profiles. Agonies of the ruling class indeed.

well, maybe, maybe not. i think this thread is entertaining and a lot of the stories cited are juicy targets, but in the interests of fairness this kind of story is hardly the only thing the nyt does. you could do a whole alternative thread about all of its coverage of poverty, health care, immigrants, the housing crisis and the general economics of the working- and middle-classes -- all of which make up a much bigger chunk of its coverage than the rich-people fluff. (without even getting into all the foreign coverage.)

so, you know, capn-save-a-gray-lady and all, but ... babies, bathwater, etc.

should really be "a rolling new york times STYLE SECTION thread"

style section is the most disgusting savage imo

RE section can be pretty savage but in a more subtle way. Definitely corrupt.

yeah it's mostly a style phenomenon, with occasional assist from the magazine and real estate.

1 - the NY Times coverage of health care is a joke.
2 - its coverage of poverty is mainly confined to the Metro section, whose greatness has scarcely dimmed over the eyars
3 - there is some OK-to-good stuff on immigration, though a weird lack of follow-up
4 - housing crisis involves gigantic pools of money + homebuyer angst = ding ding ding ding
5 - general economics of working and middle classes: again this is almost exclusively a metro section phenomenon

perhaps i am a little harsh but i don't think it's by much

What's the deal with all of these "cruel story of (NYTimes-staff) youth" articles that have been populating the Sunday magazine?. First, we get David Carr and his crack addiction, then Daphne Merkin's journey through darkness, now it's Frank Bruni and his childhood adventures with bulimia. I can't wait to find out who received electro-shock therapy at Bellevue for chronic masturbation.

aging journalists jumping ship from the quickly-sinking newspaper industry and writing harrowing hopeful-bestseller memoirs aided by prominent placement in the nyt mag?

I think you're right, and I think I'd better get on the dependency-bandwagon right quick, if I really want a viable Plan B!

“It’s annoying when people complain about the money,” the Vermont-based counselor, Michele Hernandez, said. “I’m at the top of my field. Do people economize when they have a brain tumor and are looking for a neurosurgeon? If you want to go with someone cheaper, or chance it, don’t hire me.”

I kinda have sympathy for this, actually? Given that anyone who's prepared to spend thousands of dollars on college-entry counseling is presumably not exactly in a position to be super-exploited about it, and is making that decision competitively, and probably has the funds to send their child to a pretty decent school even without the edge of counseling? I'd care a lot more about the rates and quality of the people giving advice to those who really need it, like those who are the first in their families to even apply to college, low-income people for whom the process is more foreign and opaque, etc.

I think I might agree with you, nabisco, though the idea that such bourgeois counselors exist is still totally shocking, and in some ways disgusting, to me. But if someone wants to be all rich and disgusting, then whatever, they're gonna do it anyway.