Keeping up with the Jones Syndrome (Charlotte: estate, houses, condo)

[MikeyKid]

I'm sorry I derailed... but thanks for the kind words! I do understand what you mean. My new motto is "it what it is". <3

In the spirit of the thread - Screw the Jones! Well, not literally - like the ones posting here are cool. heh

[raybourne]

I think I need to apologise for my 'doom and gloom' comment on the other thread. Sorry and I completely understand. I have been through some turmoil in life myself. Hope I can see through the Jonesness in people when I get there

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by raybourne

I think I need to apologise for my 'doom and gloom' comment on the other thread. Sorry and I completely understand. I have been through some turmoil in life myself. Hope I can see through the Jonesness in people when I get there

We all sometimes post things a little hastily, Ray.

And don't worry - you will see thru/ the superficial types . . . the main thing is - keep your focus on what is important to you . . . then noone can derail you w/ things that don't really matter.

[BarbJ]

It's so interesting how our parents' values are transferred to us without us even knowing it. I grew up having pretty much whatever I wanted; some would say I was spoiled rotten. But I never thought I deserved it, never thought it was my due, never thought I needed it. Somehow or other - without saying so - our parents let me and my sister know that we did not need everything that we had. When I got married, I never thought much about what my lifestyle would be - very naive I guess. My husband, a chemist, started working at a large chemical company in Greenwich, CT and I taught at a branch of UConn. We had plenty of money with month long vacations in Europe and Latin America. It was an easy life similar to what we'd always known. Then my husband's company wanted him to become a manager - sonething he had no desire for. So we decided to take a teaching job at a university in Turkey. We loved it but also saw how many other people in the world had nothing. My husband decided to lave industry and become a college prof. The difference in pay was substantial. He took a job at UNCC and we moved to Charlotte. Our lifestyle was so different fro what it had been in Connecticut. But strangely enough, we didn't mind. I attribute this to values that my parents passed onto me without my even knowing it - with out a lot of fanfare. We managed to raise our kids with the same values even though they went to one of the most expensive independent schools in Charlotte and God knows what wealth they saw there. A day that I remember well was when my nine year old daughter came home and said, "Mom, Cassie W_______ has eleven pairs of GUESS Jeans!" I was fully prepared for her to ask why she couldn't even have one pair. Instead she said, "Isn't that disgusting!" I could have kissed that child! To this day she shops at Target, TJMaxx. etc. Nor did my husband and I suffer. We drove ten to fifteen year old cars, have lived in an inexpensive neighbohood for ove thirty years and I still shop at the discount or resale stores. We're now seventy years old and look
back on it all with pleasure. We feel that we've contributed to society and have raised a healthy family with good values. We had dinner together every night, did homework together, played together on weekends, emphasized the value of learning, of helping to improve our world, and especially the of importance of loving and caring for one's family. It's been a good life - I hope our kids eventually pass the same values on to their kids.

[MikeyKid]

Originally Posted by raybourne

I think I need to apologise for my 'doom and gloom' comment on the other thread. Sorry and I completely understand. I have been through some turmoil in life myself. Hope I can see through the Jonesness in people when I get there

I think it's what is so hard about boards like this... it's very hard to get inflection off written words, which really makes it easy to misinterpret hidden meanings.

Freebird is playing in my head right now... it's kind of freaking me out!

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by MikeyKid

I think it's what is so hard about boards like this... it's very hard to get inflection off written words, which really makes it easy to misinterpret hidden meanings.

Freebird is playing in my head right now... it's kind of freaking me out!

<Pulls lighter out, flicks it, and holds it up> "Play Freebird! Play Freebird."

Let's all dig out our Lynyrd Skynyrd and sing along

[raybourne]

That song will always remind me of my favorite movie, Elizabethtown, I know the song well, but since watching that movie I have a lasting memory of the guy driving his car across the country and sorting out the stuff in his head and of course ending up back with the girl he never realised he was supposed to be with. Of course she knew all along.Dont' know why I shared this, but there it is.I'm sure its a chick flick but my other half enjoyed it just as much as I did (well almost) .

[BarbJ]

Mikey, Ani made a good suggestion. When she comes back for a visit, see if you can hook her up with some of the girls on this board - it would be great to have her attend a GNO. Let us know if this happens.

[BarbaraNJ]

Originally Posted by MikeyKid

It's not looking good... I just started looking at 1BR rentals since I won't have an option to relocate back for 4-6 months and she swears she's out and "will meet me back up north". ack - imagine going back... I keep hoping she'll see the light! Nothing I am doing is working, so I need to leave it alone and hope she comes around.



Cantor Fitzgerald was the company above us in tower 1 - they were major news since it nearly wiped out the whole firm. Out of about 300 people in my group, we lost 97 that day... fortunately we're the IT group and the majority never make it into work by 9am. Weird to say fortunate, but if that happened 30-45min later I would have been up there with more than half of the folks who survived. It's a creepy feeling. One you can never quite shake...

The TV images gave it almost a surreal, dramatic, and movie like atmosphere. Being there, it was the sounds and smells that really make me shake my head to this day - it was so crazy. I have very, very tame stories compared to so many others that day. What a couple of my co-workers went through to get out of the building will curl your toes.

Actually one of the men I knew did work for Cantor Fitzgerald. So very sad. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I'm sure those are memories you wish you could erase.

[wolfeyes]

lol I am the Jones too.