Mylanta
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posted on October 25, 2001 06:57:47 AM new
It seems that some people will go to extraordinary lengths just to "keep up appearances".
We've all heard of the folks who run up enormous debts on their credit cards just to have the latest or flashiest gizmo's, clothes or whatever.
Some of the crazier things I've heard of was the guy who scavenged empty wine bottles from restaurant dumpsters, just so that he could thow them out in his own garbage to impress the neighbours.
Or the woman who had cupboards and refrigerators full to the brim with all kinds of fancy foods. The trouble was they were all empty boxes and jars!
Someone else I heard of went to the trouble of buying postcards from exotic places, making them out to friends and then sending them to various hotels abroad and asking the hotel to post them for her. All just to give her neighbours the illusion that that was where she was holidaying instead of just having a local holiday.
There must be a squillion other ridiculous things that you have heard of people doing just to be "one up" on everyone else.
Love to hear about them.
[ edited by Mylanta on Oct 25, 2001 07:02 AM ]
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Femme
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posted on October 25, 2001 07:23:38 AM new
How bizarre!!
Re the guy with the wine bottles...
His neighbors aren't talking about his sophisticated taste in wines, but that he is obviously an alcoholic. 
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gravid
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posted on October 25, 2001 08:47:54 AM new
Heard this one when cell phones were the latest and greatest.
Smith comes home - parks in rhe driveway and next door Jones pulls in and parks, but he does not get out - he sits talking on his shiny new cell phone. Finally he gets out and gives a friendly wave to Smith. Consumed with envy Smith runs over and gets his number and looks at the new toy.
Next day Smith as usual is first to the driveway and sits waiting. As soon as he sees Jones coming down the street he punches the number in his new cell phone. Jones rolls in stops and picks up the phone looking over at Smith.
"Will you hold a second Smith?" He says - " My other phone is ringing."
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gravid
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posted on October 25, 2001 08:57:27 AM new
Years ago when we got married my wife's Grandmother had a notice put in her small town newspaper about our wedding and made up a whole fantasy world about us. I had a plumbing business but she made up something about me being an Engineer working for some big company and included what school I had graduated from. Same for her Granddaughter she made up a lie about the having gone to the University and working in design for advertising.
When confronted with this she just said "Well you have to pretty it up a little bit."
I was furious - It ruined any chance of us getting along that we were not good enough for her. Stuck up old liar.
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jt-2007
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posted on October 25, 2001 09:37:45 AM new
Here's one.
The parents drop the kids off at grandma and grandpa's house for a visit. Then one of the grandparents has to go to the mall alone to buy the kids new clothes so they can dress the kids to go walk around the mall to window shop.
I could come up with a hundred of these.
Great thread!
~spelling paranoid
[ edited by jt on Oct 25, 2001 09:41 AM ]
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kraftdinner
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posted on October 25, 2001 09:51:45 AM new
One day, I actually thought of tearing up the lawn and putting in carpet, I was so sick of cutting it! It never happened of course, but we all had a good laugh thinking about what the neighbours would think. 
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chococake
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posted on October 25, 2001 10:15:21 AM new
I like the show on PBS by that name. Pretty funny what she goes though to keep up appearances.
I heard Absolutely Fabulous is coming back with new shows. I can't wait, I love that show. Wonder if it will be as good as before?
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figmente
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posted on October 25, 2001 10:24:10 AM new
Back when cell phones were expensive there were fake ones marketed for those who wanted to look like they had one.
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RainyBear
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posted on October 25, 2001 10:45:52 AM new
My husband won't use a credit card at the grocery store because he thinks it makes us look poor. Does that count?
He also hates it when I reveal to someone that I've bought the (shirt or skirt or whatever) I'm wearing at (Value Village or Goodwill or wherever).
Yet he doesn't mind leaving heaps of beer bottles out by the curb on recycling day, which embarrasses the hell out of me.
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Shadowcat
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posted on October 25, 2001 01:02:03 PM new
Many moons ago, we lived next door to a family whom I shall fondly call the Psychos.
One day, Mrs. Psycho came over to the house. Seemed that she had bought a couple pairs of pedal-pushers(AKA "capri" pants)and they didn't fit and would I like them? I politely declined because A)I'm 5'3" tall with short legs and those pants make me look even shorter; B)Mrs. Psycho had crappy taste in clothes(even worse than me) and those pants were downright ugly; and C)Mrs. Psycho weighed at least 300 pounds. While I am no supermodel, those pants had to be at least a half dozen sizes larger than what I wore.
Mrs. Psycho insisted. I insisted she return the pants and get her money back. Oh no, she said, it would be too much trouble. She would rather have them go to someone who could use them.
I finally relented mainly because I couldn't believe she was willing to go to all the trouble and expense to not only make it look as though she were unbelievably generous but to insult me to shore up her personal image that she was slim and svelte(she honestly believed that fantasy).
She wasn't called Psycho for nuttin'.
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