Plan B Forum

http://gu.com/p/4fdv3/sbl

I hope the link works - not too good at this computer stuff...

I read this article and got royally pissed off. Here is a woman who started life in a "poor" family but somehow managed to get a "full ride" at a private college, basically wasted it on a near-worthless degree, has made poor decisions ever since college, and blames her current housing plight on RACISM!

Jesus Fucking Christ.

While I recognize that I cannot "empathize" with a Black woman, whose world I can never hope to inhabit, this woman needs to have a couple conversations with normal working class White people, most of whom do not get bags full of money from their parents when attending college or buying their first house. Believe it or not, some people actually move to places where jobs are more plentiful and low-cost housing is available. Lord knows an articulate degreed Black woman is a "commodity" that many, many private companies and government agencies would love to have. Manhattan is not The World.

Is my reaction out of line? Many of the commenters agreed with my take on this, and I see that they shut down comments fairly quickly after the piece was published.

Two words
boo hooo

Maybe she should have gotten in on the ground floor when the slums of Brooklyn were starting to turn over. My cousin did and for the first bunch of years her neighborhood was "not good", but she stuck it out and now she owns one of those refurbished brownstones that commands millions.

Maybe she should move out of the city to the 'burbs. Although houses out here are expensive, it's really the property taxes that will get you.

My daughter paid off her loans on her own ($26k worth) and saved enough for a 20% down payment on a house. The only help she got from us was the "rent" she paid us while she was living here the last four years after she graduated from college. She paid a paltry $100 a month rent andto us and we put it in an account that we gave back to her when she purchased her house.

My son realised LI was/is too expensive and moved to Las Vegas. There he has a good job and is saving up for a house. We have his "rent account" waiting for him when he buys a house.

I taught my kids as I was taught. Scrimp, save, for-go instant gratification. Look for bargains, do without, make do all in the name of saving money.