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To be irritated about her thinking I'm on benefits, or am I being a snob?

54 replies

JaneS · 18/07/2010 08:37

Not quite sure why this irritates me, but I had a really odd conversation with a friend's girlfriend yesterday. I don't know her well and she was asking how come I was usually home during the day. I told her I usually study at home (I'm a postgraduate student), and she replied, 'oh, you're on benefits' - in a non-questioning way. So I said no, I got a grant from the government to study, and she repeated, 'yes - you're on benefits'.

Am I being a snob to let this irritate me? I don't see anything wrong with being on benefits, but I suspect from the way she said it that she thinks I'm scrounging. Or would you also come to that assumption if someone said they got money for studying?

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 19/07/2010 23:27

Sorry, I don't see it as a luxury....I just couldn't justify studying for any longer......I wish I could have achieved more qualifications to enable a better standard of living ultimately.....I had to take the job and miss out on the study.......maybe I can do it another time....did my degree 20+ years ago....maybe it is time now!

Don't take any crap from people who are jealous of your intellect and capacity to learn

valiumSingleton · 19/07/2010 23:29

I think it's rude. I really AM on benefits but if somebody said it to me TWICE just to take me down a peg or something, I'd think they were an asshole. Is she by any chance just an asshole?

JaneS · 19/07/2010 23:36

Sorry scurry, I felt guilty after I posted that. I am taking this waaaay too seriously! We do different things and end up with different regrets/thoughts about what might've been.

I'll try to stop being such a wet blanket now.

valium (I love your name so much) - yeah, DP saw her tonight and came to the conclusion she's a twat. She was being snooty to him about him not getting married in an Oxford college chapel (they're pretty, apparently), but he just found it funny, so that's ok I reckon!

The thing is if I were on benefits, I could have said something nice and rude back about how benefits are important for a society with pretensions to caring about people, but as I'm not - I couldn't! Ah well ...

OP posts:
CapitalText · 19/07/2010 23:37

You don't have to answer other people's nosy questions about money. It's none of their business.

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