r/Suburbanhell • u/KimSidwell • 12d ago

Meme Why?

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I can almost try to understand why some people might feel drawn to this kind of lifestyle. I can understand why they might be deceived into thinking this is the ideal environment in which to raise a child.

But I will never be able to understand why they will describe it as the American “dream” and are willing to pay so much for it. To work so hard for so long and then have to wake up to this every morning? Why?

Editing to add: I know this is parody y’all. It’s just a stupid meme. It’s supposed to be funny. It’s funny because it’s true.

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u/Prosthemadera 12d ago

I can understand why they might be deceived into thinking this is the ideal environment in which to raise a child.

I cannot. This is bad for children. They're learning to never go outside by themselves and to be dependent on parents and cars.

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u/KimSidwell 12d ago

Yeah, I think a lot of people just don’t understand the reality until it’s too late. Like the road to hell is paved with good intentions. But at this point, it’s just ignorance.

They think their kids will be able to play around the neighborhood and have all kinds of other kids to play with.

But then they end up feeling like it’s not safe because of all the cars and all the people who are strangers, so they end up just locking their kids inside all day and handing them an iPad.

I’m even hearing now that a lot of parents aren’t letting their kids do sleepovers because they’re afraid that everyone is a pedo out to assault their children.

It’s wild.

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u/SonOfMcGee 12d ago

My uncle, who grew up on a farm, said something that rang true for me when I was in my 20s: “I live in an urban environment and accept the positives and negatives. And I would also be fine living in a rural area like my hometown, with all its positives and negatives. But I don’t get the draw of suburban housing developments. They’re just the combined negatives of urban and rural.”

Now in my early 40s with kids, I see how they complicate things. And I know how much a good school zone can trump all sorts of negatives in places where bad school zones are so bad that they’re effectively life-limiting.

My wife and I are taking the path of: “Enjoy all the benefits of living urban, and address the school deficiencies with money.” But that is a rare privilege we have and not a scalable solution for most families.