“Change that Channel your not allowed to watch….”

While the younger kids watching a seperate TV seemed oblivious to the fact the mute button is to be used during commercials. I finally took away the remote. Drove me mad.

But it was amazing how quickly my standards adapted. My version of “normal” might not have changed much, but my idea of “nice” did. Suddenly a “nice” dinner out cost $50 per person, a “nice” department store was Neimen Marcus, a “splurge” at the mall was an item of clothing over $200, a “nice” car cost $50,000+.

You may rationally know what “normal” really is, but your surroundings totally determine your standards of what is acceptable to YOU. Once you’ve gotten used to designer clothes, fancy meals, or a luxury car (either by having it yourself, constantly seeing ‘regular ppl’ on TV who have it, or being surrounded by other people who have it), it’s hard to accept anything less.

I watched a show on HGTV the other day where a family was looking for a house. The median home price for the area they were looking in was $1 MILLION!

My question is, are we to assume that the median income in this town is $400K (and if so, can I move there and expect to make that much?) or is it just that they are all up to their eyeballs in debt?

I live in an area like this and may be able to give you something of an answer. First off, the median income is $119,669 according to the 2000 census. So unless you are highly skilled, at a very marketable job, I wouldn’t assume you would make very much more than that.

Our home has just about tripled in value in 13 years. If we were just starting out now, we would not be able to afford to buy here. We aren’t alone, a recent local newspaper article said that 90% of the people who live here wouldn’t be able to afford to if they didn’t already own their homes.

I’ve also managed to tape some kids’ movies off of Starz that are commercial free. My boy’s favorite right now is “Babe”, with a showing of “March of the Penguins” a close second.

That said, all the shows on HGTV are pretty much the same. Take a house, add granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and hardwood/pergo floors, and it magically is worth another 50k over what was spent. Well, at least according to their real estate “experts”, anyway….

They act like spoiled brats, talk disrespectfully to their parents and are generally obnoxious. Their parents buy them expensive cars, designer dresses, throw a huge party and sometimes hire celebrities to appear at the parties. Upwards of a million dollars is spent on this spoiled CHILD.

It hurts me to know that there are people in this world who are so selfish that they would spend this kind of money for one birthday when there is so much good they could do with this money.

My question is, are we to assume that the median income in this town is $400K (and if so, can I move there and expect to make that much?) or is it just that they are all up to their eyeballs in debt?

We’re looking for our first house ourselves at the moment, so I know how much of a draw home-ownership can be, but seriously, how do people sleep at night with mortgage payments that big?

We’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage that’s twice as big as what we’re hoping to be paying, and I still don’t see how the bank expects us to actually pay that amount every month given our income and current expenses.

I was about to make the SAME comment about Extreme Makeover Home Edition but you beat me to it. It’s great to help people, but is building them a mansion really helping? Can these families afford the utilities and upkeep on a home that’s WAY beyond their means??

As a side note, Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma is a must read for anyone that eats.

If it is already acceptable why spend so much money and natural resources for fabulous? I’ve lived in a neighborhood of small houses for the last 13 years. When we moved here a lot of the houses were owned by people who had been her for 20 or more years before us. For the first 10 years we lived here everything was fine. Unfortunately, 3 years ago the Jones’ers started moving in and people are rebuilding like crazy around here. They see it as improvement. I, and some other neighbors, see it as wasteful, self-aggrandizement.

My next door neighbors are tearing down and doubling the size of their home. They are including a formal living room and dining room that one of the owners admitted that they would probably only use twice a year.
What a waste!

1. Overbuilding — creating a palace that is far in excess of actual needs and even reasonable luxuries, and that often sticks out in the surrounding neighborhood.

2. For the children especially, building their own rooms around their fads and whims of the moment, which may change in the next year or two when they get interested in something else, and then are stuck with the artifacts of an outgrown interest. Children should be encouraged to develop wide interests, and a neutral room with space for collections of bird feathers or sports equipment or dance slippers or any other kind of gear will give them that flexibility.

There’s a balance between satisfying needs in a pleasurable way, and going over the top. This show does not strike that balance.

As far as media literacy, I was a video editor in advertising for 6 years before I got into writing. What goes on behind closed doors with clients is eye opening. They know exactly what they’re doing in terms of marketing, how far they can push the envelope, and what they can get away with. Listerine got sued a few years back for saying it was the same as flossing.

For you all you know that could have been Pedialyte, or Gatorade. Be careful not to jump too quickly to conclusions.

Trent…I agree with you. We’ve tried our best to feed our daughter healthy foods. So much so that she ASKS for fruits and veggies.

Actually, you should get in the habit of checking the label before you place stuff in your grocery cart. If you don’t have it at home, the temptation to eat it is removed.

But when we limit media’s power over us by being a savvy consumer of it (or by shutting it off as completely as possible), only then can we start to correctly understand the actual norms. Media literacy should be a required course for every human exposed to it. But then again, the ignorance of how influential the media actually is helps keep the great unwashed masses in it’s thrall. Go, lemmings, go!