# even sven, please give the poverty schtick a rest **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 29, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162 "2004-11-29T16:38:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/261 "2004-12-03T14:27:05Z")
It’s like talking to a brick wall. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/262 "2004-12-03T14:49:58Z")
After six pages of similar shite, I’ll give you my entirely unsolicited and unwanted advice. There is absolutely no damn point in having $20K in the bank while you’re in debt $15k. Use it to pay off the loan immediately, thus escaping interest and a monthly $200 burden, and the remaining $5K to relocate somewhere better for work, to get a better paid job. You might think this is a waste of your inheritance, but it isn’t. It will have paid for your education, and it’s an investment in your future. That’s a hell of a legacy. Then you can save that $20K back up again, and then go for your dreams. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/263 "2004-12-03T14:55:57Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > After six pages of similar shite, I’ll give you my entirely unsolicited and unwanted advice. > > There is absolutely no damn point in having $20K in the bank while you’re in debt $15k. Use it to pay off the loan immediately, thus escaping interest and a monthly $200 burden, and the remaining $5K to relocate somewhere better for work, to get a better paid job. > > You might think this is a waste of your inheritance, but it isn’t. It will have paid for your education, and it’s an investment in your future. That’s a hell of a legacy. Then you can save that $20K back up again, and then go for your dreams. [/quote] But . . . but . . . but . . .she’s POOR! She can’t save any money EVER because she’s POOR! She’ll never have any money ever again, and she’ll never get to make a movie or make any decisions about the direction of her life because she’s POOR! Pity her, people, because she’s a victim of fate who has been cruelly cheated out of a decent job because she’s POOR! Jesus, I get it already, **Even Sven**. You’re a victim, check, you’re POOR, check. You are too stupid to figure out the disadvantages of making minimum payments on a student loan, check. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/264 "2004-12-03T15:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve had to deal with the fact that most my friends have huge cash reserves, Hot-damn! You must have some RICH friends if they have “huge” cash reserves and you only have $20,000. Maybe one of them can float you a loan so you can eat. You can have papers drawn up and everything so you don’t feel like you’re mooching. You can even put up the $20K as collateral although that may cause your rich friends to wonder why you need a loan. But I’m sure all that can be carefully and logically explained, as has been done so in this thread. Your rich friends will understand perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/265 "2004-12-03T15:49:27Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > Did you guys miss the part where I owe the government FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS? Yeah, I’m lucky to be coming out of college without debt, but I’m not rolling the dough here. I have a choice between paying it all off now, or making the $200 a month payments and hoping to reap more money off investing it. Yeah, I’m lucky to be able to plan my debt like this (although if my family hadn’t assured me that they would pay off my loans after college- a promise they reneged- I would have never taken them all out), but fifteen thousand dollars is a helluva a lot of money to owe, especially for something whoes only tangible effect so far has been to render me “overqualified” for more than a few jobs I applied to. > > Anyway, I’m done here. I’m digging my own hole trying to defend my choices, and I’ve got my own real life battles to fight. Well, then the first thing I would do when up to my eyeballs in debt IS GO BACK TO FUCKING SCHOOL AND ACCUMULATE MORE DEBT. I’ve gone through all the threads in here and your self-pity is nauseating. And if Bricker hadn’t emphasized it enough, QUIT BITCHING ABOUT BEING POOR WHEN YOU GAVE UP THREE GODDAMNED MONTHS OF INCOME TO TRAVEL THE WORLD. Shit, I don’t get three months of vacation to just traipse the world, nor am I in a position that I can economically afford to not work for three months, regardless of the income level of the place I’m visiting. Fuck it, I’m looking forward to your thread next month about losing your hotel job because they only paid $1000 a week and that wasn’t enough to pay your government debt and they would not give you 7 weeks off to make your film with your inheritance while you live on soda crackers that you snag from restaurants. Not that I’m bitter. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/266 "2004-12-03T15:51:33Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > I did choose to go to India. If I hadn’t, I’d be a couple thousand dollars richer Wait, I thought you saved money by going to India. > [@even sven](#): > > Which still ended up being cheaper than the living expenses for three months in America. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/267 "2004-12-03T16:07:20Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > Did you guys miss the part where I owe the government FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS? Yeah, I’m lucky to be coming out of college without debt, but I’m not rolling the dough here. I have a choice between paying it all off now, or making the $200 a month payments and hoping to reap more money off investing it. Yeah, I’m lucky to be able to plan my debt like this (although if my family hadn’t assured me that they would pay off my loans after college- a promise they reneged- I would have never taken them all out), but fifteen thousand dollars is a helluva a lot of money to owe, especially for something whoes only tangible effect so far has been to render me “overqualified” for more than a few jobs I applied to. > > Anyway, I’m done here. I’m digging my own hole trying to defend my choices, and I’ve got my own real life battles to fight. Oh, man. FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in Student Load Debt? Why, that’s just horrible. That G-D- government tricked you into going into debt at lower-than-shit interest rates to help you get a college degree! It’s probably just so you’ll get trapped into earning twice the lifetime wages of those lucky people who didn’t go to college, so you’ll end up paying more taxes! I only hope that others can learn from your situation and and not get trapped by these “Student Loan” things. P.S. (Circa 1982) If you get and overcome Hepatitis B, you can sell blood plasma twice a week, at $25 a unit. The trick is to have something interesting about your blood, so it’ll stand out from the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/268 "2004-12-03T16:14:10Z")
I suggest she spends a portion of the $20K to get the remaining portion of the $20K _bronzed_ so she can hang it in her rear-view mirror or plop it up on the mantle for all to gaze at. [Homer voice/on] "Mmmmmm…inheritance…in-heeeer-it-tance…[homer voice/off] ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/269 "2004-12-03T16:15:18Z")
You know, I’ve been nauseous all morning, and I was wondering if it was morning sickness. Now I see it’s just residual nausea from reading this thread last night and this morning. Jesus Christ, **sven** , grow the fuck up. Seriously. E. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/270 "2004-12-03T16:47:06Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think it’s my fault I was unemployed for six months, which really fucked things up for me. I applied to everything in town- from Taco Bell to law firms. I replied to every want ad I was vaguely qualified for. I posted my resume on Craig’s List for months straight. Nothing I did got me hired. Well, you did quit, voluntarily, two jobs, right? That probably had something do with with your being unemployed for 6 months. Yep, that one guy sounded like a bit of a nutter. That’s how the world works. He pays you to do what he doesn’t want to do himself and you do it. I have to cut out the front-page articles from the Wall Street Journal every day because my boss doesn’t like to flip through the paper. I freakin’ hate doing it and don’t see the goddamn point at all. But that’s what he pays me for. By the way, I make about six figures, so the shit work doesn’t stop at some “level.” There’s always going to be shit work no matter how much money you make, no matter what position you are, and if you keep waiting for jobs where there’s no shit work and where everything has a noble purpose, you’re going to die unemployed. Have you tried temping? You can obviously type and use a computer. You should be able to get some kind of even the lowest-level office temp job, and if you can be reliable and do decent work, you can build up your resume and possibly even get offered some permanent jobs. Every temp job I ever went on led to a permanent job offer. I also think that if you did a satiric short film on you as the privileged poor, you’d be a hit at Sundance. Kind of like how that Supersize Me guy made a film where he complained that eating a diet of 100% fattening food - when he could have made other McDonald’s food choices - made him fat. Your farcical take on it could be very Ionescu. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/271 "2004-12-03T16:48:34Z")
I meant Eugene Ionesco, not some Romanian despot. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/272 "2004-12-03T17:11:37Z")
As a financial advisor I feel compelled to point out that it may not be in her, or anyone’s, best interest to pay down the student loan. With interest rates as low as they are (student loans typically at 4-5%) it may not make sense from a purely financial standpoint to pay them down. With the tax break on student loan interest you pay an effective rate of less than 4%. It is reasonable to expect that you could use the funds, whether invested or used for other purposes, to achieve a greater return. I expected this thread to die long ago, and would have happily had it melt away to the quiet place where old threads go to die. Sven insists on doing the one thing which I had hoped she would not do, which is providing endless explanations. Let me be blunt. I don’t really care what path you choose to take, or whose advice you take. I don’t expect you to do anything different, or take any of the advice to be frank. Just please stop whining about it. The actual poor people here have taken enough umbrage at your pity posts to have adequate umbrage stores for the coming winter. I am pitting a specific behavior on this board. It is none of my business how you live your life. It is within the bounds of reason to ask you to stop whining about it here. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/273 "2004-12-03T17:35:33Z")
I could swear this was a Cosby episode many years ago, involving Theo and some Monopoly money. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/274 "2004-12-03T17:58:53Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > Well, you did quit, voluntarily, two jobs, right? That probably had something do with with your being unemployed for 6 months. Yep, that one guy sounded like a bit of a nutter. That’s how the world works. He pays you to do what he doesn’t want to do himself and you do it. I have to cut out the front-page articles from the Wall Street Journal every day because my boss doesn’t like to flip through the paper. I freakin’ hate doing it and don’t see the goddamn point at all. But that’s what he pays me for. By the way, I make about six figures, so the shit work doesn’t stop at some “level.” There’s always going to be shit work no matter how much money you make, no matter what position you are, and if you keep waiting for jobs where there’s no shit work and where everything has a noble purpose, you’re going to die unemployed. > > Have you tried temping? You can obviously type and use a computer. You should be able to get some kind of even the lowest-level office temp job, and if you can be reliable and do decent work, you can build up your resume and possibly even get offered some permanent jobs. Every temp job I ever went on led to a permanent job offer. > > I also think that if you did a satiric short film on you as the privileged poor, you’d be a hit at Sundance. Kind of like how that Supersize Me guy made a film where he complained that eating a diet of 100% fattening food - when he could have made other McDonald’s food choices - made him fat. Your farcical take on it could be very Ionescu. I’ve been temping for six years, and it’s the best money I’ve ever made. I will officially become a “regular employee” Monday, complete with real benefits! Yes, temping is a great way to earn money, either temporarily or permanently. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/275 "2004-12-03T18:03:12Z")
> [@fruitbat](#): > > As a financial advisor I feel compelled to point out that it may not be in her, or anyone’s, best interest to pay down the student loan. With interest rates as low as they are (student loans typically at 4-5%) it may not make sense from a purely financial standpoint to pay them down. With the tax break on student loan interest you pay an effective rate of less than 4%. It is reasonable to expect that you could use the funds, whether invested or used for other purposes, to achieve a greater return. True. Providing she actually DID something with the money besides wipe her ‘woe is me’ tears with it. Unfortunately, her funds are being held firmly under her miserly little thumb, never to reach their full potential. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/276 "2004-12-03T18:25:33Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > Yep, that one [_former employer -BoD._] sounded like a bit of a nutter. That’s how the world works. He pays you to do what he doesn’t want to do himself and you do it. I have to cut out the front-page articles from the Wall Street Journal every day because my boss doesn’t like to flip through the paper. I freakin’ hate doing it and don’t see the goddamn point at all. But that’s what he pays me for. Interesting how the “stop whining” contingent tend to say things that make a whiner MORE likely to keep whining. The more you chew ass, the more you stomp them down into their little rut. Remember, you’re dealing with a depressive personality here. If I were **sven** and you were talking to me like that, I’d hear: “OK, every possible job over my lifetime is likely to be from hell. Maybe I’ll just sit here and become even more profundly bummed out rather than take positive action, invest my inheritance in my future, or even buy decent grub. Looking on the bright side, maybe I’ll starve myself before age 30.” It’s a codependent relationship, fercrissake. The stop-whiners get a righteous kick out of turning the hose on the whiner, giving the whiner even more to whine about. My point being, it’s obviously no longer about **sven** , it’s about the righteous indignation of the deserving poor towards **sven**. Or perhaps you believe - on some metaphysical level that transcends economics - that work is somehow _about_ doing things you freakin’ hate and can’t see the goddamn point of. A karmic exercise without which one cannot go on to a higher state of humanity. (On second thought, you probably don’t think any such thing. The school of hard knocks tends to flunk metaphysics majors.) :dubious: **sven** , I know you didn’t ask for this, but if I were you, I’d stop feeling so accountable to the ppl on this board. Besides the fact that your “endless explanations” only make them want to fling more poo your way…the thing is: _you don’t actually owe them any explanations._ Yes, I do think you were clueless telling your desire to save your inheritance to people who rarely even see $20k in one place. If repeated application of the ClueX4 hasn’t brought on cerebral edema by now, perhaps you’ll come out with some sense of your good fortune. But again, if I were you, I’d put at least some of that $20k towards your near-term well-being. There have been many good suggestions up the thread as to how you might do so. And one more time: _you don’t owe them any explanations._ They won’t ever tell you you don’t owe them any explanations, they’ll just keep slapping you around every time you give them. Because they feel righteous doing it. It’s got nothing to do with you except how you make them feel. Fuck 'em! Spend your time, energy and resources on _you_. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/277 "2004-12-03T18:27:03Z")
Honey, go to [daveramsey.com](http://daveramsey.com) or [bankrate.com](http://bankrate.com) or somewhere, and check out the savings calculators. If you use some of your money to help you get on your feet and get a decent job (and I’d guess that, in order to secure a good job, you’re going to need more than one pair of pants and three stained sweaters), you could pay off your student loans in payments and STILL save $20K over the next few years with no problem. Your main concern right now should be getting on your feet in order to support yourself so that you can save the money you need to finance your film. If you don’t make that your number one priority, then you are doing yourself and your talent a huge disservice. $20,000 in a chunk, sitting in your account, seems like such a huge amount of money that you can’t imagine ever being able to make or save that much again. But in reality, you CAN, because if you save $100 or $200 a month, you can have that same amount right back in your account in a few years. Money is a renewable resource. Your health and your youth, and the sympathy of others, is not. Grow up, take responsibility, and do what you need to do RIGHT NOW to get on your feet and off the dole of your friends, bosses, and the government (or whoever else you might rely on for support.) There is no excuse for your poverty. On the other hand, if you insist on remaining in the situation you’re in: embrace it, live with it, and respect yourself for getting by on next to nothing. There’s nothing wrong with austerity, as long as you accept it and don’t expect the world to support you in it. You deserve better than you are allowing yourself. Best, karol ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/278 "2004-12-03T18:30:46Z")
Don’t they have paper carriers in your area? I’m serious. Check it out. Here, I make pretty darn good money in a couple of hours a day, and I have the rest of the day to spend on whatever I wish. It beats minimum wage by about 125%. And no nutsy employers, either. Worth mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/279 "2004-12-03T18:56:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Or perhaps you believe - on some metaphysical level that transcends economics - that work is somehow about doing things you freakin’ hate and can’t see the goddamn point of. A karmic exercise without which one cannot go on to a higher state of humanity. I’ll leave your 5 cent philosophy out of it, but yes, work is often about doing things you hate and can’t see the point of. If you are unaware of this or have never experienced it, I congratulate you and will let you know I am quite envious. I don’t know anyone and have never met anyone who gets pure unadulterated joy from EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of his job. If you have one like that, you are one lucky guy. Most people will never know that luxury and should accept the fact that people with no experience are going to have to start at the bottom and do things they may not enjoy 100% of the time. And realize that as they grow in their careers, there will be less crappy work but no job is without some duty that is unpleasant. That’s why they are called “jobs” and people have to be _paid_ to do them. Grown-ups should realize this. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162/280 "2004-12-03T19:15:03Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > Interesting how the “stop whining” contingent tend to say things that make a whiner MORE likely to keep whining. The more you chew ass, the more you stomp them down into their little rut. > > Remember, you’re dealing with a depressive personality here. If I were **sven** and you were talking to me like that, I’d hear: > “OK, every possible job over my lifetime is likely to be from hell. Maybe I’ll just sit here and become even more profundly bummed out rather than take positive action, invest my inheritance in my future, or even buy decent grub. Looking on the bright side, maybe I’ll starve myself before age 30.” > > It’s a codependent relationship, fercrissake. The stop-whiners get a righteous kick out of turning the hose on the whiner, giving the whiner even more to whine about. > > My point being, it’s obviously no longer about **sven** , it’s about the righteous indignation of the deserving poor towards **sven**. > > Or perhaps you believe - on some metaphysical level that transcends economics - that work is somehow _about_ doing things you freakin’ hate and can’t see the goddamn point of. A karmic exercise without which one cannot go on to a higher state of humanity. > > (On second thought, you probably don’t think any such thing. The school of hard knocks tends to flunk metaphysics majors.) :dubious: > > **sven** , I know you didn’t ask for this, but if I were you, I’d stop feeling so accountable to the ppl on this board. Besides the fact that your “endless explanations” only make them want to fling more poo your way…the thing is: _you don’t actually owe them any explanations._ > > Yes, I do think you were clueless telling your desire to save your inheritance to people who rarely even see $20k in one place. If repeated application of the ClueX4 hasn’t brought on cerebral edema by now, perhaps you’ll come out with some sense of your good fortune. But again, if I were you, I’d put at least some of that $20k towards your near-term well-being. There have been many good suggestions up the thread as to how you might do so. > > And one more time: _you don’t owe them any explanations._ They won’t ever tell you you don’t owe them any explanations, they’ll just keep slapping you around every time you give them. Because they feel righteous doing it. It’s got nothing to do with you except how you make them feel. Fuck 'em! Spend your time, energy and resources on _you_. Well _you_, **BoD** deserve kudos for your flawless coding. Pretty impressive skills for a brand new poster with just a couple days at the SDMB. I’d ditch the “ppl” though. There’s a certain metaphysical satisfaction gained in spelling out the entire word “people”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-sven-please-give-the-poverty-schtick-a-rest/277162.md?page=15)