Following on from the thread about snobbery, my partner of 2 years and I are considering our options. He's in the army, based further north, I work in London but have the kind of job that can find work just about anywhere.
We are planning a move out to the north as it's where he's based and also where I'm from originally.
Until we can buy somewhere, I suggested renting on the patch. He is vehemently against the idea.
My thoughts are it will mean we don't have to pay sky-high rental prices, it will save us hours of driving to see each other every weekend, we'd have much more space than we do now, and we're not at the mercy of landlords who could sell up / evict us. Partners role means little risk of him disappearing for months on end. He has two more years at this base and is likely to extend there until he leaves in 5 years. Living on the patch would be a temporary measure until we buy.
He says the patches are bitchy and horrible and I don't understand what they're like (frankly unless they're whipping eggs at the house or playing D&B at 3am, I don't care. I'm a very laid back person, but my partner is not). He says they tell on each other all the time, make up rumours, and the husbands / partners are up in front of COs to complain / explain.
There is a further complication which I hadn't thought of before, but following on from the snobbery thread I'm including here. My partner is working class. Joined at 16. Senior NCO. I'm the opposite. Come from family of officers, few titles scattered about (not on my side). Privately educated, university, "posh" career. It makes no difference to us, we're together because we have strong shared values and ambitions and because we make each other laugh til we can't breathe. But it sounds like this might cause an issue for other people on base, based on aforementioned thread.
So, am I completely bonkers to consider it? Is it really that bad? Or would it be worth putting up with for a short while?