Anybody watch "Moving Up?"

besserheimerphat · 04-07-2007, 08:09 PM

It's a show on TLC, where they follow a chain of people as they move and redecorate the new house. Then the previous owners are invited to walk through the redecorated house and make comments. My wife was watching it tonight and called my attention to one of the couples who was spending a large amount of the show wearing an Iowa Hawkeyes t-shirt. Apparently the guy had gone to grad school at U of I and was in a long distance relationship with his girlfriend, and now he was graduated and they were moving as they were recently engaged. Turns out the chick is the only one who has a job. The guy got a graduate degree in English and was having a tough time getting a job. So what does he decide to do with his prestigious University of Iowa Graduate Degree in English while a TV crew is following him? He walks around the neighborhood, offering to write people a limerick using their name for the price of $1.00. Naturally he's doing this while wearing his beloved hawkeye t-shirt. I laughed for about 5 minutes watching this guy walk around - "Excuse me, would you like me to write you a limerick for a dollar? No? Oh, okay." Followed by this quote, "Well, I made six dollars today. Not too bad, but I may have to get a real job."

vanillathrilla · 04-07-2007, 08:34 PM

Thats funny, but I would say it has more to do with a worthless degree than a worthless school.

matt8879 · 04-07-2007, 09:32 PM

Yeah, the English degree isn't much without the teaching certificate to go with it....Although it does seem Iowa has more worthless degrees than most

Wesley · 04-07-2007, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by matt8879

Yeah, the English degree isn't much without the teaching certificate to go with it....Although it does seem Iowa has more worthless degrees than most

I personally know of another EIU English major who wanted to write novels, lives in Chiocago as his wife makes $200k a year, and he babysits their 3 year old. He has written couople ESPN zone articles and a teenahge girl love novel. Pretty hard to go the English route in soiciety

ripvdub · 04-07-2007, 10:41 PM

My wife said that episode is on again at 10pm tonight. She acts like it her job to watch TLC, DIY, and any other home improvement show every waking minute during the weekend.

besserheimerphat · 04-07-2007, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by ripvdub

My wife said that episode is on again at 10pm tonight. She acts like it her job to watch TLC, DIY, and any other home improvement show every waking minute during the weekend.

Same here - that's how I ended up seeing this in the first place. Just to be clear, I very much enjoy literature and believe that it is a very worthwhile profession. However, there are better things that a guy can do just to make some cash than try to get complete strangers to give you a buck for putting their name into a short, dirty poem.