What's the most privileged/off the mark post/response you've read?

[waywardways]

I've name changed for this, just in case anyone does an AS and accuses me of getting DM fodder.

Me and the DC had to flee our home several years ago and we were moved into a tiny 2 bed flat temporarily. I made a thread at the time, saying me and 3dc had had a traumatic move and were very overcrowded and asked for advice on how to store our daily stuff in an efficient way.
Several posters replied helpfully, linking shelving units/freestanding storage, but one poster replied along the lines of:

"Your DH must be high up in the army and you have to rough it in officers housing until your 5 bed detached home is ready".

Another poster quoted the above with "This was my immediate thought too! It's so hard OP, but we've all been there".

I found this both amusing and perplexing because a) I would never have assumed the above and b) it was so far off the mark.

There was another thread very recently about food guidelines where the lack of awareness and privilege was quite frightening!

Another covid thing that happened frequently was parents of SEN children, or babies, or toddlers were struggling being cooped up in the house all the time with no access to support, every single time someone dived onto the thread to tell them they should be grateful because they hadn't seen their grandchild in 2 months. It made me rage.

It was a thread about dating.

One poster wrote (I paraphrase) that if you are over 40 years old and do not own your home, then you should not date at all, because you will be a burden to the person you date.

People who think raising a child on less than the average wage is 'severe neglect'. This was a comment I saw on YouTube the other day, although I see twats on here arguing that poor people shouldn't have kids.

Some gems here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/5481691-what-do-you-think-classes-as-a-high-earner

Can I join you if I bring some cider? 😁 (You can keep the spliff, I just like hanging around graveyards.)

Another baby-related one: if someone posts about lack of sleep, there are always some ‘helpful’ suggestions about giving them a warm bath or making sure the room is dark. IRL I had this with my SIL who was baffled that I couldn’t just put DD1 in bed and get on with my evening. Some kids… just don’t sleep. If you get one who does, it might be because of your brilliant routine, or you might just be lucky.

@WhoDecidedImAnAdultImNotQualified

There are no words. I'm horrified that you received such responses.

IRL

my friend was trying to argue with me that M and S is as cheap for food as Aldi. I was internally incensed by her arrogance and inability to see outside her own circumstance.

she apparently only spends £40 a week (single person household) but for my house of 3 that would be £120 and frankly I just don’t believe her and actually think she buys her lunch at work daily etc! I spend far less that £120 a week at Aldi for 3 people

it was the way she said it that hurt and was on top of other comments that linked to her frowning on ‘poor people’ ugh who would want to go to Aldi and giggling

People who assume you can get family to help. Some of us don’t have family for support. Between work and childcare some don’t get time to form any sort of support group. ‘The village’ doesn’t exist for some.

Cider? Must be the quality stuff, you know the one. White Lightning.

I'm laughing to myself.

My uni boyfriend used to tell me how his parents had sacrificed holidays abroad in order to send him to a private school and how I couldn't possibly understand.

His dad was a doctor with a big multinational company; my dad was a coal miner.

This place was a veritable treasure trove of unacknowledged privilege during covid. I think my favourite were all the posts telling people you are only being asked to stay at home, as though that didn't make some people inherently unsafe.

Honourable mention for the ones decreeing that it's no big deal to wear a mask in a shop, after all it's only for a few minutes. Obviously no thought given to the possibility that the people who work in the shops might be allowed on MN.

Oh, most definitely. 😉🤣

Which, of course, is readily available/s.

I love the ones who claim that they can afford private school fees simply by "prioritising education", as if everyone else just sends their DC down a mine instead. Hopefully when I start prioritising education £20k per annum will land in my account.

My DS's breakfast is nearly always Weetabix/shreddies (own brand versions) and a banana. It's the only way to get milk into him as he won't drink it. Sometimes I do porridge or scrambled eggs and toast, but cereal is quicker. (And he loves bananas.)

Or come over to style and beauty and tell us off for caring about make up/clothes/anything frivolous. I started a thread about lipstick a few years ago and someone came on to tell us she never wears it.

The only private schools which have charitable status are the ones that provide educational resources/facilities for the wider public. Our school is a registered charity and fulfils our charitable obligations by letting local state schools use our fields for sports days and matches, have concerts and plays in our theatre, come along to the author visits we organise and host, come along to special events run by outside companies that we pay for. Basically wherever we can include them without it costing us too much money or impacting on our own pupils we offer to do so. Bursaries were never the only charitable thing that private schools did.

Schools that are run like profit making businesses and don’t do these type of things for the wider community do not have charitable status.

Shit like:

“I’d never send my children to state school”

A thread not long ago a woman was complaining that a dog sitter was charging too much for an overnight stay because there was no work involved just “cuddling” the dogs.

I love the self-pitying “…and by the time we’ve paid the bills and put a load into savings, I only have £1000 a month fun money left for trips out with the DC, and get my hair done”

Where are you taking your kids that costs a grand a month? Disney?

There’s always one “why don’t you just extend”
comment on posts about needing more bedroom space

I also saw one comment referring to “a poxy £40k salary”

Also the many many “just get an uber” comments - uber does not exist in my area.

Also one about free breakfast clubs where people were complaining about such horrors as rice crispies, white toast and juice being served to children - yes it’s not the best breakfast but it’s FREE!

Or the mum who posted about not being able to do jury duty because her childcare fell through, “ask a neighbour” was suggested a few times. Like who has a neighbour willing to look after a toddler for a week? What sane parent would consider that as an option 😂

It’s the same when posters assume everyone has a massive dining kitchen for entertaining. I once posted about not liking guests to come into my kitchen uninvited, and someone replied “but how do you serve drinks to your guests?” I use my living room.

Oh God the breakfast madness. I always see eggs suggested for overweight kids, to fill them up, ignoring the fact that they only get to eat at lunchtime anyway and only get the school dinner available, so it makes bugger all difference to what they eat at lunch.

I just don't have the time or headspace to worry about weekday cereal.

They're the same people who think people are faking disability to get free parking, because that's what they'd do.

Oh yy to prioritising education. It's simply a matter of reframing your priorities and hey presto, that battered old Volvo and expensive education can be yours! 🙄