rant · moment 10 of 23
Racquetball Class at 28 and the Hopelessness of Long Island
from Underground Economy · #34
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
3 minTim describes going back to community college at 28, taking a sad racquetball class because bowling and sailing filled up, and riffs on the specific, resilient stupidity bred by Long Island.
- 22:39The hopelessness of Long Island in your mid-twenties when you haven't done the right thing.
- 22:55Tim argues it's not geography keeping people down—it's just not doing the right thing, not systemic oppression.
- 23:14Nassau Community College graduates become waiters at the Cheesecake Factory, and that's the goal.
- 23:36Tim would write journalism assignments two hours before class and still get good grades by winging it.
- 23:55Stony Brook's campus had an Asian fusion buffet and pizza, and getting stoned to eat there was the college experience.
- 24:18You have to be very motivated to get out of there; it's a nightmarish environment.
- 24:53Community college students were just burnouts and fuck-ups; the place filtered for failure.
- 25:07Teachers walked in looking disgusted, and 90% of students didn't care—they just wanted jobs at Two Brothers Scrap Metal.
- 25:41Tim left for the mortgage industry, came back when his mom pushed him to finish, then realized an associate's degree is worse than no degree.
Long IslandNassau Community CollegeCheesecake FactoryStony BrookSuffolk