19 Things I Hate About You: How the Duggars Infuriate

[SomePity1066]

That bugs me to no end. All those people, and doing the dishes can't be someone's "jurisdiction?" Think of all the garbage generated from decades of 20 people using styrofoam at every meal. I feel guilty breaking out paper plates for a big cookout, which is the only time I ever do. Speaking of which, they throw glass and metal cans right into the trash, which I admit I used to do, also living in a rural area without town pickup, but landfills now do have recycling centers. It would be nice if they'd set a good example by using them.

 

I think the biggest problem in the Home Theater parents dinner night episode was that Jessa's jurisdiction was never cooking. She didn't like it and her responsibilities were SOTDRT, organizing and laundry. So that's why she butchered the meat and the whole meal so badly. They eat plenty of processed crap but we know they do eat fresh meat.

Oh my gosh, I know !!! I'm not sure about the Duggars' assertion that the world's population would fit in Jacksonville, FL, but I'm sure they'd have no trouble covering it from border to border with all of that damnable styrofoam !!!

 

I don't understand the no-recycling - it's so easy, just a no-effort activity. I recycle EVERYTHING, right down to the thin paper that comes on drinking straws. As a single woman I may only be making a small dent, but the Duggars have a HUGE carbon footprint (especially with all the giant vehicles and the epic Stinky Bus !) so if they made any effort at all it would be worth something...

 

As for Jessa not knowing how to cook, I'm actually on the fence. On one hand, I didn't learn to cook until I was in my 40s, but I could change a tire and rewire a lamp when I was 13, so I'm not an adherent to traditional gender roles. On the other hand, in THIS family, aren't they all about women being the queen of all things domestic, the "helpmeet" to the patriarchal Head of the Household ? Doesn't that mean Michelle failed in raising a proper future wife ? They preach and preach about who does what and why, so how did Jessa slip through the cracks ? 

 

In reality I'm pleased as punch ! Let Ben do the cooking ! Jessa can change the oil in the car, and they can do laundry together. Even if she is pregnant right out of the gate I feel like Jessa now has the room to be a bit more, do I dare say it - independent ? Rebellious, even ?

 

If I could only hope for maternity pants. I think I ask too much...

[Crazycatlady]

Am I the only one still hung up over those ugly as hell headbands with the fake hair Jozzzie was forced to wear? I feel so bad for her, If she ever looks back she's going to be even more embarrassed. Poor child. Also, they never blur out her skin when she went for check ups and they aired it. they blurred out Jill's belly during the birthing special, Im glad they think a one year old baby can't defraud me.

[Quilt Fairy]

The path the family is on is unsustainable........

This says it the most for me. This is not a family that lives off the grid and knows how to provide for themselves. They live off the work of others. You cannot keep procreating for procreation's sake and not bring something to the game. If the country filled up with Duggars we'd eventually have no doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, craftsmen, artists, farmers, etc.; all the skills and talents and effort we need not just to be civilized, but to survive.

 

And yes, no books. No books? My God, how small and bleak their world must be.

[Joe Jitsu913]

I feel so sad that the little girls can't take dance lessons, or read fairy tales or go trick-or-treating. Things that Michelle got to do as a kid.

[GEML]

But the thing is, we aren't going to fill up a world with the Duggars. They are a countercultural family, and they aren't recruiting. Even if JB has 200 grandchildren, thins pretty much half of what he himself had. And he will have fewer still (percentage wise) the following generation as that's how it tends to work.

[Darknight]

If J'chelle thinks they're taking over anything they're delusional. Even with 19 kids, how the hell can you do anything with no education.? Republicans might be ignorant as hell but they aren't stupid. Which is why I don't understand why the Duggars hang out with Huckabee and other conservatives.

[GEML]

The Duggars are just popular enough that conservatives like Huckabee and Santorum and those running on a hard core family values platform can't ignore them completely. But the events with them are always surprisingly small and highly controlled. Outside of the studio with retakes and scripted lines, JB becomes almost incoherent, and Michelle (who is actually decent at speaking off the cuff) doesn't seem to be allowed to say much for fear she will show up JB or something.

So I get the impression that the candidates involved aren't always thrilled with their appearances. They want their endorsement, but not their "help" so to speak.

(I think Josh is the exception. I think they probably like Josh fine.)

[SomePity1066]

If J'chelle thinks they're taking over anything they're delusional. Even with 19 kids, how the hell can you do anything with no education.? Republicans might be ignorant as hell but they aren't stupid. Which is why I don't understand why the Duggars hang out with Huckabee and other conservatives.

Darknight - Bingo ! On the one platform alone, which would ostensibly be closing ALL Planned Parenthoods and effectively ending birth control on-demand, the Duggars are just so out-of-touch, batshit crazy not even the most conservative Republican with any hope of actually winning would be cozying up to JB and Michelle. Most Republicans, even the heavy-hitter family values ones, are not Fundies, and do not have (nor want) as many children as God will bless them with. 

 

In the end I find the Duggars political associations, while creepily heartfelt on their part, wholly ineffective. The people going to their Gothard rallies are already drinking the Kool-Aid, but I doubt they're changing any minds at a Santorum or Huckabee functions. You don't see women throwing their birth control pills or diaphragms into the air at these conventions and renouncing wearing pants ! 

 

Republicans, just like Democrats, want their kids to do well, go to college, own a home, cut the apron-ties, be self-sufficient. The Duggars are NONE of those things. JB runs a small but effective fiefdom that has a few fervent adherents but most of the country, on the whole political spectrum, finds them to be anything from totally irrelevant to a creepy, misogynistic cult of personality surrounded by maybe-shady financial dealings with their TLC payments, multiple implications of pet abuse and abandonment (certainly a HUGE touchpoint in this country !), horrifyingly inadequate home schooling that does NOT reflect parents who are truly dedicated to teaching their children, and bordering-on-Kardahian fame-whoriness in the name of the almighty dollar, and NOT the Almighty. 

And yes, no books. No books? My God, how small and bleak their world

QuiltFairy - Yes, the no-books thing is a very particular, personal hell for me. Oh, how much beauty they don't know ! I'm not talking Lady Chatterly's Lover here, or anything that could be seen as sexual, if that's your thing to avoid, but for Heaven's sake, the lilting, lyrical, magical, melting words of Poe's The Raven ?! Or the disjointed, haunting, forlorn wandering of T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ? 

 

The things the Duggar kids have been denied are just criminal. I'm just fine if they don't know MTV (waste of time nowadays anyway !) or the Real Housewives of Whatever, but to deny them books, and art, and music (other than the occasional rendition of The Blood of the Lamb Will Eat your Brains) just makes me stabby ! Ignorance is one thing, often not anyone's fault, but deliberate, willful ignorance, is just evil to me. Selfish, narcissistic, weirdly defensive, and evil.

 

​JB and Michelle should be ashamed. 

[becca3891]

 

Outside of the studio with retakes and scripted lines, JB becomes almost incoherent

He sure does, and this is an absolutely priceless example of it. This interview was in my neck of the woods and I'm happy to report that Terry McAuliffe, the evil liberal candidate Boob was trying and failing to name, won the election. This is pure comedy gold -- it makes me laugh every time, and Mullet's reaction is priceless too.

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/23711857/duggars-campaign-for-cuccinelli-in-woodbridge-have-tough-time-remembering-mcauliffes-name

[Catlyn]

As a DC resident, it annoys me when they say Josh and Anna moved to DC. Josh and Anna live in Maryland. Period.

 

You generally live in "the District" but work "in DC." That's how I find most of us who have been around the area can tell who actually lives there vs the commuters. (I've been both.)

I usually told people I was from DC, while I only worked in the District and lived in Northern VIrginia.  When you are there you understand what's meant by The Beltway and covered by the Greater Washington Area, but people who haven't sat in that traffic or priced that housing certainly don't get the geography

 

It depends on whom I'm talking with whether or not I say I'm from DC or Maryland. Sometimes it's just easier to say DC when you work in the District and live elsewhere. Especially when you're giving someone some point of reference.

[GEML]

There is also the weird problem that most of Virginia doesn't consider half of the people living in Northern Virginia to be Virginians, and Maryland is at least four different states, so all of this definition gets pretty confusing after awhile.

And I'm not so sure how much Josh and Anna really live in Maryland. We've seen them at National Harbor a few times. But we see them far more often across the river in Old Town Alexandria or in DC.

[Literata]

I feel so sad that the little girls can't take dance lessons

 

I'm really hoping that as the big girls leave the nest (please, please let Jana be next, although I'm not holding my breath) and Boob and MEchelle grow older, things are going to loosen up a bit for the younger kids. I'm also wondering, now that Gothard has stepped down, if things on the cult front will become a little more relaxed as well, and some of the more insane restrictions might be forgotten. That's my hope, anyway.

[SunnyBeBe]

It bothers me that the kids' home school education is always glossed over.  Aren't there any state requirements in Arkansas?

 

 I seem to recall the older daughters talking about how difficult their online college courses were, right after they finished high school.  It seemed they were ill prepared for them.  I wonder if that might have been a sign to re-evaluate the home school idea at that point....I guess they didn't think of that.  

 

Oh, it also bothers me that Michelle has tried to pretend she is in charge of the home schooling.  Her attempts to do that were embarrassing.  At least, she should have been embarrassed.  

 

It bothers me when the kids talk about how much their mother loves them.  Normally, this is a beautiful thing, but when I look at Michelle and her kids, all I can wonder is why she can't put her kids first instead of her own selfish desires.  To me that's what a mother does.  You put your kids first.

[zenme]

I bet there are actual days that go by where either parent hasn't spoken to one or more of those kids directly, much less hugged, or kissed, or told they are loved by a parent.  I know many many people who have said they were brought up in homes where their parents didn't say they loved them, but they knew they were loved.  I just think it's a completely different scenario when on top of the lack of displays or words of affection, there is not even acknowledgement.  It's especially sad where the smaller ones are concerned--not to include Josie.

[Wellfleet]

He sure does, and this is an absolutely priceless example of it. This interview was in my neck of the woods and I'm happy to report that Terry McAuliffe, the evil liberal candidate Boob was trying and failing to name, won the election. This is pure comedy gold -- it makes me laugh every time, and Mullet's reaction is priceless too.

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/23711857/duggars-campaign-for-cuccinelli-in-woodbridge-have-tough-time-remembering-mcauliffes-name

 

OMG - after seeing this dismally-pathetic display, it's even more incredible that Boob managed to get himself elected to the Arkansas State Senate, or whatever. Maybe he was unopposed? Maybe his opponent was a possum or something?

[JoanArc]

OMG - after seeing this dismally-pathetic display, it's even more incredible that Boob managed to get himself elected to the Arkansas State Senate, or whatever. Maybe he was unopposed? Maybe his opponent was a possum or something?

Good Lord, whoever edits the show must hate Boob. Maybe that's why every appearance is the same stump speech, he can't do any variation.

 

I'm pretty sure gerrymandering is what got Jim Bob elected. All it takes is enough money for a campaign, and the party to give you an ® after your name. I'm also not surprised he died a quick political death once he faced big boys. Josh is a much better speaker, but not much of an off script thinker thanks to SOTDRT. He'll make a 'legitimate rape' style faux pas at some point in a campaign and that'll be that.

 

Edit: I didn't know that's how you made a copyright symbol! I was going for a R, but since the Duggars are such sellouts that copyright actually works better.

Edited May 18, 2015 by JoanArc

[GEML]

I think Michelle does love them, and expresses it as fully as she is able to. And of course they love her tremendously - the child to parent bond is intense, and they have very little to which to compare that their lives aren't wonderful. Yes, we can think of mothers in their world who are warmer and more nurturing, but I would put easy money that they know of mothers who scream and beat the living day lights out of their children. They know mothers who refuse to get out of bed. They know mothers who cry all the time and take out their frustrations and misery on their children.

Michelle may not have a "heart for children" but the Duggar children have led far better lives than many, many of their Fundy counterparts.

[neural-plasticity]

I'm really hoping that as the big girls leave the nest (please, please let Jana be next, although I'm not holding my breath) and Boob and MEchelle grow older, things are going to loosen up a bit for the younger kids. I'm also wondering, now that Gothard has stepped down, if things on the cult front will become a little more relaxed as well, and some of the more insane restrictions might be forgotten. That's my hope, anyway.

 

Same here. It's sad, because Michelle at least had the opportunity to live a normal life. She chose this life, and good for her to do that. However, it shouldn't be forced onto their kids to live that same life without a choice. It's like the Amish - they let their teenagers live a little bit of freedom and give them the choice to stay Amish or not (sure, they get shunned if they don't choose the Amish life, but at least they have a choice and have experienced both sides of life). These kids get no other option than the life they're living. I'm sure some, if not most, would choose to continue to drink the Kool-aid, and that's fine too. But they don't get the option.

 

Also, along the same lines. I keep seeing the commercials for this week's upcoming finale - the clip where JB and Michelle discuss kissing multiple times before marriage, then JB throws in the fact that Michelle used to mow the lawn in her bathing suit (cue a close up of Anna laughing when JB says that... how disgusting of my mother-in-law!!!). First, just because you guys kissed and feel guilty about it, doesn't mean your guilt should affect what your kids do or don't do in a coursthip. However, the biggest thing that gets me during this clip, is that JB just throws his wife under the bus like he does. If I was Michelle and I had the super conservative ideas that she has, and a super conservative husband like she has, that would just mortify me... he brings this up whenever he gets the opportunity to. If Michelle wants to talk about it, then let her. But it's none of your business to make fun of what your wife used to do on national television. In a "normal" relationship, that would be like the husband throwing out the fact that his wife had sex with someone else before they were married - and that's no one else's business to disclose but the wife! And with Anna laughing (as well as everyone else), ugh. It just really irks me for some reason.

[Wellfleet]

Same here. It's sad, because Michelle at least had the opportunity to live a normal life. She chose this life, and good for her to do that. However, it shouldn't be forced onto their kids to live that same life without a choice. It's like the Amish - they let their teenagers live a little bit of freedom and give them the choice to stay Amish or not (sure, they get shunned if they don't choose the Amish life, but at least they have a choice and have experienced both sides of life). These kids get no other option than the life they're living. I'm sure some, if not most, would choose to continue to drink the Kool-aid, and that's fine too. But they don't get the option.

 

Also, along the same lines. I keep seeing the commercials for this week's upcoming finale - the clip where JB and Michelle discuss kissing multiple times before marriage, then JB throws in the fact that Michelle used to mow the lawn in her bathing suit (cue a close up of Anna laughing when JB says that... how disgusting of my mother-in-law!!!). First, just because you guys kissed and feel guilty about it, doesn't mean your guilt should affect what your kids do or don't do in a coursthip. However, the biggest thing that gets me during this clip, is that JB just throws his wife under the bus like he does. If I was Michelle and I had the super conservative ideas that she has, and a super conservative husband like she has, that would just mortify me... he brings this up whenever he gets the opportunity to. If Michelle wants to talk about it, then let her. But it's none of your business to make fun of what your wife used to do on national television. In a "normal" relationship, that would be like the husband throwing out the fact that his wife had sex with someone else before they were married - and that's no one else's business to disclose but the wife! And with Anna laughing (as well as everyone else), ugh. It just really irks me for some reason.

 

Boob brings up Me-chelle's "scandalous" past every chance he gets - it's just one more way for him to feel better about himself. He mentions it up under the guise of teaching a lesson or providing an example of what not to do, but it also conveniently makes him feel superior to Me-chelle. Maybe if he'd been attractive to girls in any way, he'd have a few high school stories of his own to tell. But there don't seem to be any ex-Boob girlfriend stories to be told. If there were, you know we'd be hearing them...

Edited May 18, 2015 by Wellfleet

[GEML]

Not all Amish groups practice rumspringa, and many keep their teenagers (especially the girls) on a very tight rein even during that time. So it isn't quite true that they get their chance to make a full decision.

There are several really excellent documentaries out there on Amish leaving, or trying to leave. It's incredibly hard - far more difficult than anything the Duggars would face. (My "godfather" - although we didn't use the term, left the old order Amish.)

[JoanArc]

 

Boob brings up Me-chelle's "scandalous" past every chance he gets - it's just one more way for him to feel better about himself.

I'd love for Michelle to say "You got erections before we met." and watch Jim Bob's face fall.

[GEML]

I'd love for Michelle to say "You got erections before we met." and watch Jim Bob's face fall.

Ok, this made me laugh. Because I do think listing Michelle's "shocking" past is JB's controlling mechanism. He definitely has her (and their children) convinced that Michelle was practically a prostitute until he came into her life. And even if it were true, he enjoys it just a little too much. THAT's what makes it icky.

[Literata]

JB just throws his wife under the bus

 

Neural-Plasticity, glad you were bothered by this, too. When I was 17, my family went on a cruise. I was a cute girl in those days, and I got attention from a lot of guys my age, and from some crew members as well. And I enjoyed the attention and had a lot of (innocent) fun. But for years, when we reminisced about the cruise, my grandma would recount about me to anyone who would listen, "...and she was with EVERY MAN ON THAT SHIP!"  Every time she said it, I was mortified, and I imagine MEchelle feels much the same way when Boob waxes on about her heathen days.

 

Come on, Boob. You're just being mean. Because she was out of your league as a teen and married you anyway, are you still trying to build your own self-esteem by making us think you "saved" her? Get over it; she was a normal teen, and you and she should be giving your girls the opportunity to function as normal teens as well.

[NikSac]

OMG - after seeing this dismally-pathetic display, it's even more incredible that Boob managed to get himself elected to the Arkansas State Senate, or whatever. Maybe he was unopposed? Maybe his opponent was a possum or something?

 

I would've voted for the possum.

[becca3891]

I thought it was interesting too that they only rent the house in Oxon Hill, MD. Considering their debt free beliefs, that's a big monthly payment with nothing to show for it. You'd think, having lived rent free in Grandma's house for several years, they'd have saved enough for a down payment and mortgage.

[JoanArc]

 

I would've voted for the possum.

 

"One of these candidates is vermin with a sneering grin, the other is a possum...."

 

But seriously, I'm kind of surprised a narcissist like Michelle lets her husband put her down. She must put up with it because letting Jim Bob think he's in control lets her actually be the one calling the shots. There's no way she could tolerate it otherwise.

[bigskygirl]

Please do not post links to addresses or housing information about the Duggars. Yes, this is public information, but the safety and privacy of the Duggars especially in a house with young children needs to be considered. Any posts with these types of links will be deleted in the future. Thank you.

[Happyfatchick]

However, it shouldn't be forced onto their kids to live that same life without a choice. It's like the Amish - they let their teenagers live a little bit of freedom and give them the choice to stay Amish or not (sure, they get shunned if they don't choose the Amish life, but at least they have a choice and have experienced both sides of life). These kids get no other option than the life they're living. I'm sure some, if not most, would choose to continue to drink the Kool-aid, and that's fine too. But they don't get the option.

 

In the Amish world, children are NOT shunned from the family if they don't choose to stay Amish.  It's a popular misconception.  Rumspringa is the accepted (not loved by the parents, but accepted) time for freedom.  And most of them with any exposure to what they call "English" will cut loose and have a big time.  At the end of this grace period, they have to make a decision.  Stay or go.  Most often if they "stay", they can remain in the house until married.  Generally the girls stay within the house until they are midlife and established, and then they can rent a small trailer or some suitable dwelling within their means.  Early on, it's decided which one will be the one to maintain the household when the mother is no longer able, and she stays forever.  Until she dies.  ("Decided" isn't like a family conference, it just sort of falls into place and sticks).

 

They DO practice shunning, as a religion.  Shunning happens when an Amish young person decides to stay Amish - and is BAPTISED into the church as acceptance, and then turns tail.  My father went through the practice of Baptism into the church and then left.  He was shunned for 60 years.  A bishop eventually lifted the ban, and then the family was free to fellowship freely with him.  Until the ban was lifted, when we all ate together, the rest of the family was welcomed at the "big" table because we were doomed to begin with - there was no hope for us.  My father, however, was always placed at a small card table and served away from everyone else.  His plate was served and placed, and he sat there without ever being told.  He didn't ask for more of anything because he couldn't be served from anything on the table once dinner had begun.  Totally separate.  My father, after leaving Amish, was a deacon.  The most wholeheartedly dedicated Christian soul I've ever known.  And totally shunned by his family.  They guarded every single word they ever said to him, because any conversation with him had to be reported to the Bishop.

 

I'm sorry for addressing this here, I expect a mod to slash and burn.  I just found it interesting and wanted to correct the shunning practice.  And I'll say this:  it will be MOST interesting to see what JB and Michelle would do with one of theirs who departs Duggarland.  I have HUGE issues with the older ones just plodding along and being part of the original core.  WHEN do they step out and become grown-ups???  And what's the threat?  How does this family maintain it's dynamic structure?  I do not understand.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Happyfatchick

[JenCarroll]

Michelle has brought up her defrauding lawn-mowing herself, so I don't know if it's really an issue between them or just their agreed upon anecdote. I'm eternally bored with it, personally. Please think of something else to say, Boob!

[Crazycatlady]

I would love to see someone tell any of the married kids their marriage certificate wasn't filed and they actually weren't worried. Look at all of the sins they've committed!

I still can't get over all of the girls giving marriage and dating advice when they've never held a guys hand. There's a reason a lot of people don't marry their first partners or get married after 3 months of dating, especially at 18. I wish the girls got to experience actually dating someone, half the rush for them to marry is to be able to actually hug their future spouse. So sad.

[JoanArc]

 

There's a reason a lot of people don't marry their first partners or get married after 3 months of dating, especially at 18.

True love waits, but no longer than 3 months, or you might develop an adult view of relationships.

[NikSac]

Michelle has brought up her defrauding lawn-mowing herself, so I don't know if it's really an issue between them or just their agreed upon anecdote. I'm eternally bored with it, personally. Please think of something else to say, Boob!

 

I know. I kinda feel defrauded every time she brings it up, frankly. I picture JB's goofy grin and can practically see his mind going "bikini... I got the cheerleader in the bikini and I get to screw her whenever I want."  Yuuuuuuuuuuck.

[Happyfatchick]

I always kind of get the vibe Michelle actually likes that bikini thing being brought up. She hasn't seen bikini days for awhile and I rather think she gets a kick out of remembering those days.

[becca3891]

For all its patriarchy, their belief system actually reduces men to quite simple creatures, ones who are apparently willing to throw away solid marriages at the sight of a teenager in a bikini. I know that men in particular are known to be visual creatures with strong sex drives, although we women absolutely still have sex drives and can be visually stimulated. But don't we all probably look at someone every day and think, "Wow, he/she is hot"? They act like that means the world is coming to an end. If only they'd do the healthy thing and accept that as humans, we all have natural attractions and all the cries of "Nike" aren't going to change that. They need to learn to just look, appreciate and move on with regular life like the rest of us do and channel all that energy they waste on their modesty obsession and put it to better use.

Edited May 19, 2015 by becca3891

[kandinski]

The only reason I ever laid eyes on this show is because my partner watches,he is so naive and still thinks this is a lovely close knit family.

 

I pretty much hate watch the entire show.Id love to see what they are like when the cameras turn off,I bet MEchelle isnt so simpering then.

 

As a mother she is an empty vessel,how do they all not despise her for ruining every chance or opportunity they could have taken?

Edited May 19, 2015 by kandinski

[JenCarroll]

 Interesting point about Jana being the only one without an official hobby or occupation. Isn't that really true for Jessa too, though? She never got into photography or midwifery, unless I'm forgetting something. I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that she is now married and pregnant and has never set foot in a workplace in her life. I think working in retail is something every teenager should have to do.

(Reconsidering my response to this.)

[bybrandy]

They don't hate their parents for ruining every chance and opportunity they had because within their community they have so many more chances and opportunities than the other girls that they know.   Within their community they are pretty big fish.  And they've only seen the real world from behind the glass at the aquarium.  From where they stand they have been given so much more than everybody they know.  I suspect one or two will get out into the real world and their ideas will evolve but for most of them looking at what they have vs what a family with 18 kids and no show has?   Well, they have to think their parents did alright.

[parisprincess]

I think Michelle does love them, and expresses it as fully as she is able to. And of course they love her tremendously - the child to parent bond is intense, and they have very little to which to compare that their lives aren't wonderful. Yes, we can think of mothers in their world who are warmer and more nurturing, but I would put easy money that they know of mothers who scream and beat the living day lights out of their children. They know mothers who refuse to get out of bed. They know mothers who cry all the time and take out their frustrations and misery on their children.

 

Since the Duggar kids spend 99% of their time with their own family in their own little bubble, I doubt they know much of anything about the kind of mothers mentioned above.  Their interactions with people outside their very small group of friends/acquaintances is practically nonexistent. 

[SoSueMe]

Michelle has brought up her defrauding lawn-mowing herself, so I don't know if it's really an issue between them or just their agreed upon anecdote. I'm eternally bored with it, personally. Please think of something else to say, Boob!

I saw that segment tonight (bikini lawn mowing) and to tell you the truth in my opinion Michelle didn't seem all that shamed or mortified to me. More like it was part of her resume and claim to family fame and history. It kills me that she thinks she had all that much impact on her neighbor, healthy self-esteem there, imo.

[McManda]

I would love to see someone tell any of the married kids their marriage certificate wasn't filed and they actually weren't worried. Look at all of the sins they've committed!

 

Would that even matter to them? I mean, their marriage wouldn't be legal if the paperwork wasn't filed with the state, but as long as they had the church ceremony would that be enough? A "married in the eyes of God" kind of thing, so that way the weren't actually committing any sins?

[GEML]

Fundy families may be sheltered, but gossip runs through them like wildfire. Always has, even long before the Internet. It's called "the prayer chain" and "testimonies" and in both of them you will hear more personal details about people's lives (some offered freely, some told "to help and know how to pray".)

Those kids know more than you think.

[IntoTheMystic]

It would take me a good year or two to write down everything that annoys me about these folks ... 

 

Instead I'll just mention the main thing that has been bugging the crap out me since Derick Dillard arrived on the scene. When Jill and Derick are sitting side by side or standing side by side and she is facing the camera ... he stares down and the side/top of her head with this very odd look on his face. He does it ALL. THE. TIME. He can't see her face so he just glares at her hair like it's a home for wayward and captivating spiders. 

I don't know why it's bothersome but oh oh oh how it is.

[charmed1]

I live and work in DC. Other than some distant relatives, my entire family lives in DC, MD, or Virginia. One of my grandfathers lived in DC right on the border and my aunt lived no less than 100 yards across the street in Maryland. She never said she lived in DC. My mom grew up in Alexandria, VA. She never has and never will say she's from DC. And when my family would go out of town, if people would ask where we were from, we'd name our respective states (or non-state grrr) and people had no problem grasping the basic geography of it all.

What bothers me so, is that before gentrification and DC becoming hipster haven, telling someone you lived in DC, particularly if you were a young African-American, came with a stigma attached to it. When my mom and I lived in MD, we had several relatives use our address on their resumes and applications because they didn't want to list their DC addresses for fear of not being considered for employment. That's why there are groups on social media that proudly proclaim, "When I say I'm from DC, I mean I'm from DC." Because there was a time when being from DC wasn't considered to be so cool, hip or convenient.

Edited May 20, 2015 by charmed1

[SoSueMe]

He sure does, and this is an absolutely priceless example of it. This interview was in my neck of the woods and I'm happy to report that Terry McAuliffe, the evil liberal candidate Boob was trying and failing to name, won the election. This is pure comedy gold -- it makes me laugh every time, and Mullet's reaction is priceless too.

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/23711857/duggars-campaign-for-cuccinelli-in-woodbridge-have-tough-time-remembering-mcauliffes-name

Hilarious. Maybe it would have helped if Michelle had spoken to him in her sweet baby voice, lol.

[Happyfatchick]

We live about 30 miles south of Atlanta, but when I'm away from home and someone asks us where we live, we always say Atlanta. It's just a convenient reference. Almost 100% of the time, the person I've just said that to will ask me (if they care in the least, or have relatives here) "really? How far are you from Atlanta?" As if I didn't just say Atlanta. Pretty much everybody commutes into Atlanta, it's a suburb town. I guess everybody gets that - or else they think everybody in Georgia has geographic maladjustment? I think it's fairly common to give the name of the nearest recognizable place. I don't care that the Smugs represent themselves as living in DC at all. I "get" they might not mean literally within the city gates. They're seeing themselves as part of the bigger DC area. I don't think it's deceitful on their part.

It's also very true that in Georgia, if the waitress offers you "Coke" as a drink choice, she doesn't literally mean "coka-Cola". She means they have Coke products and you need to choose one. Where I live, everything that fizzes is a Coke. Absolutely true story.

[Micks Picks]

I'm from California and I appreciate it when people give me a "west of Sacramento" or "in the central valley" or "near Disneyland" response.  Even given a county name can be confusing.  California is a huge state, with the sea, valleys, mountains, deserts and a lot of places nobody has ever heard of.  Then with the big place name out of the way, you can get down to the nitty gritty of where they are from if you are at all familiar with the area.  Otherwise, the information you get is useless.

[Wellfleet]

Fundy families may be sheltered, but gossip runs through them like wildfire. Always has, even long before the Internet. It's called "the prayer chain" and "testimonies" and in both of them you will hear more personal details about people's lives (some offered freely, some told "to help and know how to pray".)

Those kids know more than you think.

 

In that respect then, fundie families are just like everyone else. Gossip is rife in every culture - and an integral part of social bonding. People, from birth, are observing everything about the individuals who surround them. For an eye-opening experience, watch some Fours and Fives play house sometime. You will learn more about the home life of those children in 30 minutes of play than by talking to their parents directly for an entire afternoon. :>)

[GEML]

I've already earned my husband that teachers know EVERYTHING in a family life when you have a chatterbug child. Our first was quiet and very private. Our second is, well, NOT. :)

But Fundy's like gossip as much as anyone. They've simply created different ways to legitimize it.

[Ljohnson1987]

I hate how the Duggars call courting dating with a purpose. Isn't the purpose of dating someone to get to know them? Courting is basically dating minus the physical stuff.

[SoSueMe]

Small potatoes I guess, but it really gets on my nerves (and grosses me out) to see all the kissing between the married couples at the dinner table, between forkfuls of food. Also the open mouth approaches to the kiss, we know that there's no tongue involved but I can see potential tooth collisions.

Small potatoes I guess, but it really gets on my nerves (and grosses me out) to see all the kissing between the married couples at the dinner table, between forkfuls of food. Also the open mouth approaches to the kiss, we know that there's no tongue involved but I can see potential tooth collisions.