Zach & Whitney 8: #ad, #sponsored & Whit Finds the Time!

[Johannah]

https://time.com/198/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
 

This article is almost 10 years old, but does an excellent job explaining the absurdity and arbitrary nature of medical fees in the US (set by something called the chargemaster in hospitals). It’s insane. And infuriating. And unlikely to change anytime soon. 

[monkeyrocks71]

When I was on vacation with my daughter in Croatia, she injured herself, and I was concerned that she might have broken a bone.  We were in a town where her coach's family lived, and I asked how much it would be to see a doctor.  His mom warned us that since we weren't citizens it might cost as much as (the equivalent of) $25. 

That's less than my co-pay as a person with "really good" insurance here in the US.

 

[indianabones]

I'm currently being sued for unpaid medical debts stemming from a broken wrist/ensuing surgery (I have insurance, but the practice I had to go to doesn't give any billing discounts and the lowest monthly payment was more than I could afford).

Gotta love being an American!

[JermajestyDuggar]

A movie based on a video game seems quite mainstream. I bet Zach wasn’t even allowed to play super Mario when he was their age. 

[Melissa1977]

On 4/17/2023 at 1:33 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

movie based on a video game seems quite mainstream. I bet Zach wasn’t even allowed to play super Mario when he was their age

This is not a film for Khloé and Layla age IMO.

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, Melissa1977 said:

This is not a film for Khloé and Layla age IMO.

I guess it depends on the kid. 3 seems like the age to first take kids to the movies. It’s PG so it’s probably not too bad. I haven’t seen it though. 

[Knight of Ni]

On 4/21/2023 at 10:06 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I guess it depends on the kid. 3 seems like the age to first take kids to the movies. It’s PG so it’s probably not too bad. I haven’t seen it though. 

If you attend Bob Jones University PG is the highest rating students are allowed to see. They are only allowed G and PG in homes and residence halls. And they are not allowed to go to a public theater for any semester when they're enrolled as a student.

[JermajestyDuggar]

17 minutes ago, Knight of Ni said:

If you attend Bob Jones University PG is the highest rating students are allowed to see. They are only allowed G and PG in homes and residence halls. And they are not allowed to go to a public theater for any semester when they're enrolled as a student.

I think back at my university experience and it’s the total opposite of fundie Bible colleges. There were some rules. But you could basically do what you want as long as it’s legal. 

[front hugs > duggs]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I think back at my university experience and it’s the total opposite of fundie Bible colleges. There were some rules. But you could basically do what you want as long as it’s legal. 

I lived in a coed dorm on a coed floor. I had a friend who attended a private Christian college near Boston and they had a set dinner time in the cafeteria and weren’t allowed to have any opposite sex in the dorms. 

[Gobsmacked]

On 2/6/2022 at 4:33 PM, Keys said:

My (Italian) family takes pictures of the graves as well. But to me it’s never seemed odd, because a lot of their family is in Italy/buried there, and visiting graves is a big part of paying respect. So I get wanting to have a picture since they can’t go in person. That being said, one time we were on a road trip and stayed overnight with a very elderly distant family member who had pictures of her deceased husband in his casket beside the beds - that was definitely a bit much for us, but I guess it was comforting for her?
 

My grandfather passed last summer, and I think we did take a couple pics of the floral arrangements because a lot were from out-of-town family members, and my grandmother wanted to show them how they looked. There’s also a video of the services because it was live-streamed due to covid restrictions on the number of people who could attend. But yeah, I’d personally think it’s odd to take out your camera and start filming at a funeral otherwise, and then to post it on social media I’d find even odder, I think. 

We had a family member die during covid. That was the first service I had seen live  steamed. Only ten people were allowed to attend in person. We are a largish family living in various parts of the world so live streaming meant we could all say our goodbyes. 

[CanadianMamam]

On 4/21/2023 at 10:06 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I guess it depends on the kid. 3 seems like the age to first take kids to the movies. It’s PG so it’s probably not too bad. I haven’t seen it though. 

I took my kids and my 6 year old was pretty scared at times. And she is a pretty tough kid but she found the sudden switch from bright backgrounds to spooky ones hard and she was not a fan of Bowser. 

It is a great movie. But there were definitely some menacing parts and I am not sure I would take a child younger than 5. 

[HeartsAFundie]

20 hours ago, front hugs > duggs said:

I lived in a coed dorm on a coed floor. I had a friend who attended a private Christian college near Boston and they had a set dinner time in the cafeteria and weren’t allowed to have any opposite sex in the dorms. 

That sounds like Gordon College in Wenham MA.  A former co-worker of mine's daughter attended there. The younger daughter went to Liberty. 

They were fundie converts.  Very Catholic (both daughters went to Catholic school) who turned born-again Christian.  Her husband's mom apparently left Catholicism for born-again Christianity well beforehand and I guess the next generation for whatever reason decided to follow suit.   The daughters transferred to public school and the family began attending a non-denominational church twice a week that required tithing.  I was always curious as to what spurred them to leave Catholicism because they seemed rather happy and content with it but I never dared ask.  

They haven't gotten marinated in the fundie Kool-Aid in a physical sense because both daughters wear pants, ripped jeans, low-cut dresses/tops, and crop tops and the very fashion-forward mom and at least the eldest daughter both got tattoos after joining up.   However, the mom does post quite a bit about Jesus, pro-life and Trump on social media.  And I do remember a conversation we had in which she said she admired Sarah Palin and loved the Duggars.   They are interesting, to say the least.   

Edited April 25, 2023 by HeartsAFundie

[OHFL2009]

My Catholic university had single-sex dorms, but the only rules about the opposite sex were that they couldn't be in the private areas of the dorm after midnight on weekdays or 2 am on weekends. They could still be in common areas like study lounges, TV lounges, the kitchen, etc. And while premarital sex was technically grounds for dismissal, it was certainly happening all the time and I don't remember ever hearing of someone who got expelled for it, 

[IrishCarrie]

21 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

If you attend Bob Jones University PG is the highest rating students are allowed to see. They are only allowed G and PG in homes and residence halls. And they are not allowed to go to a public theater for any semester when they're enrolled as a student.

I mean...what the EVERLASTING fu.... 

How insecure does a university have to be to ban their students from going to the cinema???!!! That's some seriously shallow faith right there, dude... 🤪

[front hugs > duggs]

3 hours ago, HeartsAFundie said:

That sounds like Gordon College in Wenham MA.  A former co-worker of mine's daughter attended there. The younger daughter went to Liberty. 

They were fundie converts.  Very Catholic (both daughters went to Catholic school) who turned born-again Christian.  Her husband's mom apparently left Catholicism for born-again Christianity well beforehand and I guess the next generation for whatever reason decided to follow suit.   The daughters transferred to public school and the family began attending a non-denominational church twice a week that required tithing.  I was always curious as to what spurred them to leave Catholicism because they seemed rather happy and content with it but I never dared ask.  

They haven't gotten marinated in the fundie Kool-Aid in a physical sense because both daughters wear pants, ripped jeans, low-cut dresses/tops, and crop tops and the very fashion-forward mom and at least the eldest daughter both got tattoos after joining up.   However, the mom does post quite a bit about Jesus, pro-life and Trump on social media.  And I do remember a conversation we had in which she said she admired Sarah Palin and loved the Duggars.   They are interesting, to say the least.   

That's the place. My friend seemed to have found a "party crowd" of people there before leaving the school. I'm not saying they were going absolutely wild, but she definitely did not have a sober life there, but I don't know the details of how she got around it. One of her classmates did get pregnant with her boyfriend. I'm not sure if they were kicked out or not, I know she at least left the school to raise the baby and they did get married.

It was always interesting hearing her stories, we were much closer at the time. It seemed like the school was kind of split into students that were fully into the koolaid and students that went there to please their parents. It's one of the only Christian schools that I'm aware of in the Northern part of the US, I wonder if that contributes to any cultural differences compared to places like Liberty, Crown, Bob Jones, etc.

[GuineaPigCourtship]

I had two friends who went to Gordon.  One was borderline fundy Catholic at the time and she couldn't find a Catholic school she considered religious enough.  She was on the "as many children as God gives us train" for a while, too, and ended up with 5.  She and her husband (who she met there, also Catholic) seemed to start deconstructing a bit.  They're now pretty progressive/liberal Catholics who adore their kids and put their actions where their mouths are.  We were close in high school and aren't now, but I probably would like her more now.  I thought everything she told me about her school was nuts.

[JDuggs]

6 hours ago, front hugs > duggs said:

 It's one of the only Christian schools that I'm aware of in the Northern part of the US, I wonder if that contributes to any cultural differences compared to places like Liberty, Crown, Bob Jones, etc.

In Chicago, we have Moody Bible Institute which Ben Seewald attended online and Wheaton College in the suburbs, alma mater of Billy Graham and Bill Gothard.

[GreenBeans]

12 hours ago, HeartsAFundie said:

They haven't gotten marinated in the fundie Kool-Aid in a physical sense because both daughters wear pants, ripped jeans, low-cut dresses/tops, and crop tops

This evoked an image in my mind of fundies literally lying in a bowl of Kool-Aid to be marinated. 😂 Then I read on.

[Knight of Ni]

21 hours ago, IrishCarrie said:

I mean...what the EVERLASTING fu.... 

How insecure does a university have to be to ban their students from going to the cinema???!!! That's some seriously shallow faith right there, dude... 🤪

It used to be worse. Several years ago the students were only allowed to watch PG movies if a student leader was present so they could discuss any objectionable content. 

I also see that females are allowed to wear pants now. 

[just_ordinary]

I find those insights quite fascinating …. and equally disturbing. I don’t think any university here does think about the life of their students outside of class. Where you live. With whom you live (most students life in privately rented houses/flats with other students anyway). If you drink/do drugs/stay out late/sex/where you work…… we are talking about legal adults after all. I don’t think even the specifically religious universities would dare to try that. In my experience the theology students were partying just as hard as anyone else. 
for people with Instagram- that’s quite a nice example of university life outside university at one of the German universities….. not saying that’s exactly how it’s everywhere and definitely not everyday but the general direction isn’t wrong. Most do have to work a side job though. And the I think most have pulled an all nighter at the library to finish a paper. It’s not all party 😉

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoUO5yxARHo/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
 

[Cupcake79]

Zac and Whitney just bought a brand new car, some big suv. I don’t understand how they can afford such an expensive car. They’ve just renovated a house, they have almost five kids. Is the boutique a goldmine? Did they win the lottery? I know Whitney shill stuff on IG, but does it really pay that good? They don’t have a YouTube channel, or did I miss something. I want a brand new car too…

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, Cupcake79 said:

Zac and Whitney just bought a brand new car, some big suv. I don’t understand how they can afford such an expensive car. They’ve just renovated a house, they have almost five kids. Is the boutique a goldmine? Did they win the lottery? I know Whitney shill stuff on IG, but does it really pay that good? They don’t have a YouTube channel, or did I miss something. I want a brand new car too…

I think some social media influencers make their lives seem so much more lavish than they actually are. They could be just leasing the SUV. 

[llucie]

37 minutes ago, Cupcake79 said:

Zac and Whitney just bought a brand new car, some big suv. I don’t understand how they can afford such an expensive car. They’ve just renovated a house, they have almost five kids. Is the boutique a goldmine? Did they win the lottery? I know Whitney shill stuff on IG, but does it really pay that good? They don’t have a YouTube channel, or did I miss something. I want a brand new car too…

Her father just died and she is an only child, maybe she inherited some money?

[EmiSue]

33 minutes ago, llucie said:

Her father just died and she is an only child, maybe she inherited some money?

Probably his money just stayed with Whit's mom. She'll likely get whatever is left when her mom dies.

[JDuggs]

Wow the Denali Ultimate SUV starts at $96,000. Whit said that this is the first  new vehicle that they’ve bought (she said bought, not leased). I doubt she got any huge inheritance from her father. I was never under the impression that her parents had money, although some people with money do live very unassuming lives. I think I don’t really understand how profitable the BSB and their social media influencing is. They come off as “aw shucks, thanks for supporting our little family business” but something is bringing in a very decent income stream.

Edited June 4, 2023 by JDuggs
Typos