Barnes & Noble is criminal

Damn it!

Update: Actually, it looks like if you use their AllTunes program (which oddly does not seem to be available for download anymore) you can still refill your balance by purchasing a PIN code

This is their new Music For the Masses program, which I haven't tried: http://music.allofmp3.com/info/musicformasses.shtml

 

Hondo, quick question for you. How much did your first home cost? I'm guessing the percentage increase of the cost of the house has gone up a hell of a lot more than the percentage increase in salary from the job you had at that time.

 

Dead to me! B&N is barely a cut above Waldenbooks. I think Borders has like triple the books in the sections I primarily browse (sports, history) than B&N.

And you'd know that too, BYH, if you weren't such a young whippersnapper with no perspective and a no-consequences attitude! You young kids today -- all that matters is what underage myspace chick you're texting, what you're putting your dick into and spending yourselves into debt! I'll bet if hookers took credit cards, you'd rack that up too.

I've got at least three months on you, BYH, you'll never know as much about the world as I will!

I gotta go, Hondo and I have to have a grizzled old man contest.

 

That doesn't matter to him, babe. We didn't have to build our first houses from scratch using only our bare hands and some nails. :

 

By the way, how old are you, Hondo?

You make Spnited appear as if he just sprung his first pubic hair, and I'm pretty sure that happened during the Cleveland administration -- the first one.

 

He's old enough to think he can tell people in their mid-30s that they're spoiled brats who still depend on mommy and daddy for support. Jackass!

 

Hey Hondo, can I borrow 10 bucks? Your wife won't take my student American Express.

 

I think we're overlooking the obvious here: You suck, Pringle.

 

Wow, apparently where I live in Texas there are not a lot of non-big business coffee shops, bookstores or movie theaters. In fact, according to that site there are none. Of course, I actually know of a few, but still.

 

I would take this a step further and say it has everything to do with being told that you need an education, and the more the better. A Master's is the new Bachelor's, remember? Baby Boomers will settle for nothing less than a pricey (usually private) education for their precious offspring.

A fabulous book on this subject is "Bait and Switch" by Barbara Ehrenreich, the same author who did "Nickel and Dimed".

 

An addendum to the above: the "Helicopter Parents" have indeed made their children an extension of their own egos. We see it every day in youth/prep sports. It's no different in academics.

Parents want to be able to say "my child goes to Notre Dame" or "my child is getting a Master's from Stanford" instead of "my child saved thousands of dollars by doing her first two years at Local Community College and then transferring to State U."

I once interviewed a high school "college counselor" who told me that the stakes have been raised: State U. may have been good enough for mom and dad to attend, but it's not good enough for their kids. And don't even bring up the concept of community college.

When kids are raised in this environment, raised to believe these things, are they really going to think twice about racking up the school debt? Of course not. Especially because nobody tells them that one year of school is going to cost more than what they'll make in their first year on the job. The glossy admissions brochures don't exactly highlight that part.

 

I agree with some of that, but I went to a private college and it had nothing to do with "I was too good to go to local community college" it just had to do with that was the education I wanted and it was my church school.
Granted, it is not as expensive as some private schools, but I was dropping a good $17k a year, so needless to say I have some pretty healthy student loan debt.
But I actually vaguely agree with Hondo here, key word vaguely.
I have no problem with people my age going into debt for student loans or house loans, it is when they buy frivolous things such as brand new cars or stereos or ipods or whatever, then yes that does make my friends who do that dumb.
But where Hondo went wrong was lumping everyone under the age of 35 as being frivolous spenders.