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Oh boy story time! Guy and Guy's Wife are in their late 20s and got married last summer. Wife is in her eighth year of her PhD, in a humanities subject that is the least job-getting subject you can imagine. Part of the reason it's taking so long is because her thesis idea is so ridiculous nobody will fund it, but she refuses to change it. Guy nonchalantly tells me he expects she will take 15-16 years, Guy thinks this is totally normal and not weird at all. Salient points: 1) Humanities PhDs are generally the Worst Idea Ever. There are no jobs and very rarely do you get funding. You are essentially paying tens of thousands a year for the benefit of getting a completely useless degree. 2) If you are in your sixth year of your PhD and aren't defending, people start looking at you funny and your advisor sits you down to discuss when you're leaving. In your eighth year, people assume you're failing at life. More than that, and it is only acceptable if you're working full-time to support the Ph.D. and classes and research are done on the side. Guy's Wife is not working full time. What this comes out to is Guy's Wife has been living off of student loans for the past eight years, expects to live off of student loans for another eight years, and there will be no job at the end of it. Furthermore, Guy did not find out until a few months ago--over half a year into the marriage--that now that they're married he's responsible for his wife's student loan debt, and said debt cannot be discharged by bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Guy's job is working as a cashier in a supermarket. Oh yes, and they're constantly complaining about how poor they are and how they need help from their parents to pay bills, while at the same time somehow having enough money to buy Macbook Airs, iPhones, and all the newest video game systems.
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Jun 21, 2013 05:18
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:21 |
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Oh yes, the best part of my aforementioned Guy and Guy's Wife? They're on food stamps. (I assume) All that stuff they're purchasing is on credit and student loans.  For me this is the worst part because it only feeds the stereotype that people on food stamps are lazy and money-wasting. I was on food stamps and it made a huge difference in my life, and I lived extremely frugally. So hearing them talk about how poor and sad and food stamps their lives are and then tout around thousands of dollars in electronics, well, it makes steam come out of my ears.
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Jun 22, 2013 00:21
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