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• Monday, January 12, 2009 08:20 AM

  Oh, get off of it!

  Cut the kid some slack! Yes, yes, the letter is pretentious, but have you ever tried to explain your situation to a bunch of strangers in a letter? Write it all down, try to make it clear and concise, edit it a little too much, and before you know it you sound like some bizarre-o, sitcom version of yourself. That's why our problems make more sense with a good friend and several beers.

  Also, who out there sits down and thinks, "I'm totally below average intelligence." and tells everyone that? Judging from the parents I've met, every child out there is "exceptional" and gets told it all freakin' day! Is it any wonder most people think they are brighter than average? Yes, it is rude to say it out loud. Yes, she has been in grad school and read lots and lots of books and she can't help vomiting bits of them up all over the place. She'll get a job. It'll wear off. She'll suddenly get a grasp on the fact that there are huge piles of info she knows nothing about and be brought forcefully back down to earth. Don't worry about it.

  Just a note for those people who love jumping on these threads to rail against trust-funded grad students; it's a myth. I'm sure there are some out there somewhere, but every student my husband and I ever interacted with were there on their own steam. Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships (the joy of working 60 hour weeks while getting paid for 20), student loans and pretty harsh budgeting are how most people get through grad school. Yes, we were/are very lucky to have the opportunity, but it isn't the fairy tale some make it out to be. As for the fly-over states having some shiny, simplified idilic version of romance, why is it that the lowest divorce rates are found amongst the vilified New England states? What with all of their liberal-elite, educational hooey, shouldn't they be drowning in broken relationships?

  Now, let's all return to our normal thread of rancor, assumption and judgement.

  —micro ms. Read micro ms.'s other letters
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