Poor Man's Son

[Mark Arbour]

In college, driving up to my parents place in Northstar (North Lake Tahoe), I wondered every time what it must have been like crossing those mountains on horseback and with wagons and I always thought of the Donner Party.

 

No kidding. I used to think about that every time I went over I-80 to Reno, or HWY 50 to Tahoe. If it were me, I'd rather brave the waves in a clipper ship, although my ancestors did the wagon thing.

[methodwriter85]

No, but Oregon Trail would have been popular during Darius's childhood. It was popular long enough to reach the early '90's. Most people in Darius's age range(currenly late 20s/early 30's) would remember Oregon Trail, I think. It'd be kinda like making a reference to Where In the World Is Carmen San Diego to people Will and JJ's age- they'd get it, especially because there used to be a live-action game show and a cartoon devoted to it during the early/mid-90's.

 

Childhood references in the story are pretty cool, like when Brad remembers how he used to wear pucca shell necklaces with an afro comb, and when Will remembers the movie My Girl.

 

Speaking of which, I wonder if Brad is laughing his ass off at the pucca shell necklace resurgence going on now, in 2000. It'd be funny if he kept on to his old pucca shell necklaces and just started wearing them again. LOL.

Edited August 18, 2011 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

Speaking of which, I wonder if Brad is laughing his ass off at the pucca shell necklace resurgence going on now, in 2000. It'd be funny if he kept on to his old pucca shell necklaces and just started wearing them again. LOL.

 

"Puka" shells. Puka is Hawaiian for "hole". There is no "c" in the written Hawaiian language, in fact there are only 12 letters in entire Hawaiian alphabet.

[Matthew k]

From the review section.

 

Jeremy said: Darius probably has the most freedom out of all of his siblings, not just him being 18 but because he doesn't have the target on his back that Will has as a consequence of being Brad's favorite child. There's something awesome about being a freshman in college- the amount of boundless freedom and possibility you have.

Darius is going to a Jesuit university. It isn't like public school or even Notre Dame or Holy Cross, the Jesuits are decidely more serious.

[Canuk]

From the review section.

 

 

 

Darius is going to a Jesuit university. It isn't like public school or even Notre Dame or Holy Cross, the Jesuits are decidely more serious.

 

and if the Jesuits there are anything like the Jesuits here, if (IMHO) he can escape the religious aspect, he'll get a bloody good education.

[methodwriter85]

I mean, if he really hates Santa Clara, he can transfer, but it's not exactly like Darius will have to live like a monk at SCU:

 

 

Yeah. I don't think SCU is quite as restrictive as places like BYU and the like. Not if frats can get away with throwing parties like that.

 

Although I don't think Mark is going the happy frat boy route with Darius. If he was, it would have made more sense to send Darius off to USC.

[Canuk]

could you enlighten an Australian by expanding on "happy frat boy" - would I like one???

[Mark Arbour]

I mean, if he really hates Santa Clara, he can transfer, but it's not exactly like Darius will have to live like a monk at SCU:

 

 

Yeah. I don't think SCU is quite as restrictive as places like BYU and the like. Not if frats can get away with throwing parties like that.

 

Although I don't think Mark is going the happy frat boy route with Darius. If he was, it would have made more sense to send Darius off to USC.

 

SCU is not a Catholic Brigham Young. None of my friends who went there were religious zealots, or religious at all, for that matter.

 

could you enlighten an Australian by expanding on "happy frat boy" - would I like one???

 

Enlightening Australians is one of my favorite things to do. Oh, you meant "enlightening" in the standard context?

 

"Happy Frat Boy" isn't a term I'm familiar with, but a frat boy is a guy who's in a fraternity. The stereotypical frat boy would be your "boy next door" guy who lives in a house with a bunch of other "boy next door" guys and parties like a rock star. It's a gay fantasy, but most times it's just that: a fantasy.

 

My favorite frat story is John Walsh's Fraternity Memoirs.

[methodwriter85]

I was just using "happy" as an adjective for the phrase frat boy. I went to a LOT of frat parties my freshman year of college; I observed them well. My grad school has a huge frat scene there; my undergrad, University of Delaware, had more of a GDI(Goddamned Independent) party scene as opposed to having a party scene focused on frats.

 

And I'm with you on that Mark- there's no way that school would allow those kinds of parties to happen if they were that obsessed with sticking to ascetic Jesuit living.

 

I'm thinking Darius was the best candidate to become a frat boy, but he might wind up in the ROTC instead. Will would never in a million years join a frat. Will SCREAMS GDI. John Hobart might, but if he plays varsity lacrosse for an NCAA school, then that'll be his frat instead. Same principle with Gathan and Zach(who will start college in '03.) JJ will only be at college part-time if he goes at all, and I can't see him doing the frat thing in any event.

Edited August 19, 2011 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

No, but Oregon Trail would have been popular during Darius's childhood. It was popular long enough to reach the early '90's. Most people in Darius's age range(currenly late 20s/early 30's) would remember Oregon Trail, I think.

 

Not a scientific sample, but Oregan Trail came up in passing several times while I was at college, and no one ever had to explain what it was. It's possible they were pretending, but I doubt it. It is probable all three boys played it at school.

 

And, also, these are California kids. The Donner Party and Gold road stories feature pretty prominanently in our public school history lessons, disproportionate to the number of people that can actually trace their ancestry to that era (most California families do not predate 1950, for all that there were big migrations in the 1850s and 1930s).

[PrivateTim]

I mean, if he really hates Santa Clara, he can transfer, but it's not exactly like Darius will have to live like a monk at SCU:

 

 

Yeah. I don't think SCU is quite as restrictive as places like BYU and the like. Not if frats can get away with throwing parties like that.

 

Although I don't think Mark is going the happy frat boy route with Darius. If he was, it would have made more sense to send Darius off to USC.

 

Santa Clara does not have fraternities or sororities. They had some when Darius would have matriculated, but they would have been officially gone by his senior year.

 

National and local social fraternities and sororities, specifically those organizations affiliated with the North-American Interfraternity Conference (formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference), and National Panhellenic Conference are not permitted at Santa Clara University. Santa Clara University is not affiliated with, nor does the University recognize, such organizations even if Santa Clara University students are members of those organizations.

Statement Regarding Fraternities and Sororities

[methodwriter85]

Right. They may not be officially recognized, but obviously, going by the footage here, people still have crazy parties and the like by either people off-campus or in unrecognized frats. It was a plot point in Fraternity Memoirs that the frat was not officially recognized on campus, and thus they were able to get away with stuff that normal frats couldn't. The event seems to get even bigger as time went on and recongized frats were a distant memory on campus.

 

You and Matthew are acting like Darius will be expected to live like a monk when that very video I posted the link to would completely contradict that idea, as well as Mark's own personal experience with people who attended the college.

[PrivateTim]

Right. They may not be officially recognized, but obviously, going by the footage here, people still have crazy parties and the like by either people off-campus or in unrecognized frats. It was a plot point in Fraternity Memoirs that the frat was not officially recognized on campus, and thus they were able to get away with stuff that normal frats couldn't. The event seems to get even bigger as time went on and recongized frats were a distant memory on campus.

 

You and Matthew are acting like Darius will be expected to live like a monk when that very video I posted the link to would completely contradict that idea, as well as Mark's own personal experience with people who attended the college.

 

You forget Matt and I went to school in the Bay Area and Matt would have been in school still when Darius started at Santa Clara. We had our share of friends there too, not to mention Davis, Santa Cruz, Humboldt, SF State, UNR, USF, St. Mary's and SJSU. I knew most of the Santa Clara polo players pretty well and they were more subdued than most of the guys I knew in college and the drinking and drug usage was pretty much non-existent on campus, especially for the underclassmen. A very different experience than mine at Berkeley.

[methodwriter85]

Still, like I said, if Darius wants to find a party during his college years, he won't have a problem doing so. But Mark doesn't seem like he's setting Darius up as a party frat kid. Could be wrong.

 

It would be interesting if Darius wound up transferring out. We've never had characters do that, right? Or anyone doing a 5th year? That's becoming increasingly common. My money would be on JJ doing a 5th year, or maybe a 6th, because he'll take either a whole year off or a semester off to deal with the Olympics. Or JJ might just forego college entirely while he's still competing. I don't think Brad and Robbie would be happy with that, but Jeanine would probably get them to see that while college will always be there for Jeremy James, his prime figure skating years are his late teens to mid-20's, and that's a pretty damn short window.

 

By nature of the smaller time jumps, we're going to have to see more of this generation's college years than we did with Brad and Robbie, unless Mark intends on skipping from 2004 to 2008, which I can't see happening. Too much happened in 2005 and 2006 to skip over them, and '07 had Virginia Tech, which would frighten the hell out of the parents and grandparents while Marie/Will/John/possibly JJ are away at their various colleges.

 

Not a scientific sample, but Oregan Trail came up in passing several times while I was at college, and no one ever had to explain what it was. It's possible they were pretending, but I doubt it. It is probable all three boys played it at school.

I agree. They would have played it on the school computers during downtime, and on the family computer at home as well. I do think that they would have waited until Darius was about 10 in 1992 to get him his first personal computer, and Will and JJ would have gotten theirs somewhere around 1996. Back in the 90's little kids generally didn't get personal computers. You had to wait until you were at least in your double-digits. Nowadays 7-year olds get cell phones and Ipods. Man.

Edited August 20, 2011 by methodwriter85

[Mark Arbour]

Not a scientific sample, but Oregan Trail came up in passing several times while I was at college, and no one ever had to explain what it was. It's possible they were pretending, but I doubt it. It is probable all three boys played it at school.

 

And, also, these are California kids. The Donner Party and Gold road stories feature pretty prominanently in our public school history lessons, disproportionate to the number of people that can actually trace their ancestry to that era (most California families do not predate 1950, for all that there were big migrations in the 1850s and 1930s).

 

Actually, what I remember hearing the most about in school was the Missions. It seemed like every other year we were doing a unit on the California Missions. We built missions out of f**king toothpicks, and legos, etc. We wrote report after report: Pick a mission and tell us about it. I invariably did San Juan Capistrano.

[mmike1969]

Wow, Gathan blowing through $70k already? Sure $20k for some jewelry but that's still $50k in a short time.

 

Matt an arrogant prick?? Yeah I can see that

[Canuk]

Wow, Gathan blowing through $70k already? Sure $20k for some jewelry but that's still $50k in a short time.

 

Matt an arrogant prick?? Yeah I can see that

 

MMike1969....the rich are different to you and I......

[B1ue]

Damn it Gathan. I expected better of you.

[Mark Arbour]

You guys have never spent time around the nouveau riche?

[PrivateTim]

Actually, what I remember hearing the most about in school was the Missions. It seemed like every other year we were doing a unit on the California Missions. We built missions out of f**king toothpicks, and legos, etc. We wrote report after report: Pick a mission and tell us about it. I invariably did San Juan Capistrano.

 

Yeah, we didn't care about no stinking Oregon Trail either. We made Missions out of sugar cubes and talked about how the Donners ate each other

 

Damn it Gathan. I expected better of you.

 

I didn't.... see previous comments on his immaturity

[Mark Arbour]

Yeah, we didn't care about no stinking Oregon Trail either. We made Missions out of sugar cubes and talked about how the Donners ate each other

 

 

 

I didn't.... see previous comments on his immaturity

 

I forgot all about the sugar cubes. And of course, the Papier-mâché ones. That was tough with the pillars.

You guys expect an awful lot from an 18 year old guy.

 

[B1ue]

You guys have never spent time around the nouveau riche?

 

I know better than to spend outside my means. I knew that at 18. I also have the basic lack of trust in my circumstances to wonder always where my next meal is coming from, though I've long since left behind the days where I had to skip meals to pay for things I needed. I assummed Gathan would be similar, and clearly was wrong.

 

A lot of my friends did not, of course. Mine was the first of the overprotected generations, and many of my peers had no clue how to function without their parents making very basic decisions and functions for them. The second week of college, I trooped half my floor down to the laundry room and taught them how to operate a coin-machine and the importance of using cold water with dark clothing. There were follow up lessons in cooking, cleaning, and crafting a budget.

 

So yes, I do expect quite a bit out of an eighteen-year-old. I know even the hopeless ones are not.

[methodwriter85]

Some thoughts:

 

1. Will is, as Tommy put it, way too big for his 13-year old britches. I can't believe Brad spilled the whole story to him. Well, actually, I can, but it's like Brad doesn't have any kind of backbone against his 13-year old son, and it makes me lose respect for him that he can be manipulated into talking about things he shouldn't have shared with Will. There's trust and then there's putting Will into the big leagues with stuff no child should know about. He's way in over his head. I hope Will gets a reality check and soon.

 

2. The dynamic between Matt and Gathan is interesting. Matt is a blue-blood, at least by breeding, and Gathan is nouveau-riche. It'll be cool to see what will happen when the team starts having practice.

 

3. I know that it's realistic, but GOD it is annoying to listen to teenagers whine over romantic love interests they dated for like five minutes. Will, it's a summer fling. Get over it. Ugh.

 

4. I'm glad JJ is not allowed to have a social life so I'm spared reading about yet another teenager whine about a romantic love interest. LOL. If JJ doesn't date until he's eighteen or so, hopefully he'll be a little less whiny about dating than Will is. Or maybe, just maybe, JJ will be a guy who likes to have fun hookups and doesn't lose his head over a romantic interest because the focus is always on his career, which would be realistic.

 

5. I liked the Vegas plot, because it allowed me to use "Big Pimping" by Jay-Z. And I liked Gathan 'effing up big time.

 

6. If Gathan wants to be an effective town mayor someday, he's really going to have to learn how to budget. He should take some accounting classes while at Stanford.

 

7. I really liked the Batman reference. Batman was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, in 1989/1990 when I lived in Spain. I used to have Batman velcro sneakers. Ah, the '90's. Can Will reference Home Alone next? For years I would only eat plain pizzas because Kevin didn't like toppings on his pizza. And I used to pretend to set up booby traps to catch the bad guys. It was fun.

 

I know better than to spend outside my means. I knew that at 18. I also have the basic lack of trust in my circumstances to wonder always where my next meal is coming from, though I've long since left behind the days where I had to skip meals to pay for things I needed. I assummed Gathan would be similar, and clearly was wrong.

You do have a damn good point about Gathan, Blue. He wasn't some overprotected kid, and you'd think he'd actually have a harder time with spending money because of the way he grew up and never knowing where the next meal would be, like the Great Depression Generation. His immaturity and impulsive spending doesn't really jibe with the background of someone who essentially had to raise his sister by himself before Wally and Clara took them in.

 

He's 18, but he's an 18-year old with a background that forced him to be the adult as a little kid, and that wasn't really reflected here.

Edited August 20, 2011 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

Some thoughts:

 

1. Will is, as Tommy put it, way too big for his 13-year old britches. I can't believe Brad spilled the whole story to him. Well, actually, I can, but it's like Brad doesn't have any kind of backbone against his 13-year old son, and it makes me lose respect for him that he can be manipulated into talking about things he shouldn't have shared with Will. There's trust and then there's putting Will into the big leagues with stuff no child should know about. He's way in over his head. I hope Will gets a reality check and soon.

 

2. The dynamic between Matt and Gathan is interesting. Matt is a blue-blood, at least by breeding, and Gathan is nouveau-riche. It'll be cool to see what will happen when the team starts having practice.

 

3. I know that it's realistic, but GOD it is annoying to listen to teenagers whine over romantic love interests they dated for like five minutes. Will, it's a summer fling. Get over it. Ugh.

 

4. I'm glad JJ is not allowed to have a social life so I'm spared reading about yet another teenager whine about a romantic love interest. LOL. If JJ doesn't date until he's eighteen or so, hopefully he'll be a little less whiny about dating than Will is. Or maybe, just maybe, JJ will be a guy who likes to have fun hookups and doesn't lose his head over a romantic interest because the focus is always on his career, which would be realistic.

 

5. I'm not shocked that Gathan went crazy in Vegas. I liked that plot, because it allowed me to use "Big Pimping" by Jay-Z. And I liked Gathan 'effing up big time.

 

6. If Gathan wants to be an effective town mayor someday, he's really going to have to learn how to budget. He should take some accounting classes while at Stanford.

 

7. I really liked the Batman reference. Batman was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, in 1989/1990 when I lived in Spain. I used to have Batman velcro sneakers. Ah, the '90's. Can Will reference Home Alone next? For years I would only eat plain pizzas because Kevin didn't like toppings on his pizza. And I used to pretend to set up booby traps to catch the bad guys. It was fun.

 

2. I guess I forgot that Matt and Gathan had even met. That should be interesting.

 

3. I agree, but I thought JP had a good perspective. I remember my first love at 14 who didn't love me back. I was crushed. Never did get over him.

 

5. I'm surprised Kristen didn't read him the riot act (or maybe that is yet to come). She is supposed to be the reasonable one.

 

6. If Gathan is going to be an effective anything in life he needs to learn to control his emotions, impulses and temper.

[PrivateTim]

I know better than to spend outside my means. I knew that at 18. I also have the basic lack of trust in my circumstances to wonder always where my next meal is coming from, though I've long since left behind the days where I had to skip meals to pay for things I needed. I assummed Gathan would be similar, and clearly was wrong.

 

A lot of my friends did not, of course. Mine was the first of the overprotected generations, and many of my peers had no clue how to function without their parents making very basic decisions and functions for them. The second week of college, I trooped half my floor down to the laundry room and taught them how to operate a coin-machine and the importance of using cold water with dark clothing. There were follow up lessons in cooking, cleaning, and crafting a budget.

 

So yes, I do expect quite a bit out of an eighteen-year-old. I know even the hopeless ones are not.

 

My Scots roots run deep, we are "tight wi' the brass". I was taught from about age five about savings, interest and compounding. I didn't spend money needlessly.

 

I also had to make my bed like a midshipman at Annapolis from about age 9 on, keep my room "ship shape" and was taught how to do my laundry and iron by my freshman year of high school. My mother still did 90% of my laundry and ironing until I left for college, but learning how to do it was important part of "Life 101" at home.

 

But I know exactly what you mean. I was shocked at how unworldly so many of my college friends were.