Totally Annoyed By...

a commercial I keep seeing while watching the Detroit Tigers online.

There are lots of commercials I hate. This one isn't immoral or disgusting. I've seen worse.

But it annoys me.

Let me describe it.  The first scene is of a phone call between 2 men, one at a desk, one on a college campus.  The man at the desk asks, "So how did the college visit go?"

Scene changes to show the man on campus strolling through a leafy quadrangle with his beautiful teen daughter.

Father says (to man at desk): "Unfortunately, this one is on the short list."

Man behind desk says, "Don't worry, this is what we've been planning for."

Father says, "Thanks."

End of commercial.  It is an Edward Jones commercial, an investment company.

So obviously it is a college visit, and daughter likes college, and dad is stressed because it is expensive.  Edward Jones representative is assuring dad that there is no need to worry, because they've been investing and saving for his daughter's college expenses so everything will be fine.

The whole commercial would be fine except for ONE word, and this is "unfortunately."

The basic idea behind the commercial is one that drives me MAD, and that is that a father is OBLIGATED to pay for the "school of her dreams", regardless of the cost.

I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE that message!

To be clear, there is nothing in the world wrong with parents choosing to pay for an expensive college.  My concern is that dad sounds unhappy at the cost and yet obviously feels he has no say in whether his daughter chooses that college or not.

Seriously?  Seriously??  

With college being as expensive as it is, and parents expected to pony up a lot of the money, parents have EVERY right to step in and say "no" to a dream school that is too costly.  I would even say that if there is little expectation of significant financial aid, parents can even say no a college visit to a super expensive school.  Why raise expectations that will almost certainly lead to disappointment?

I realize different parents come to different conclusions on this one.  But I'm a big believer in parents doing what is right for themselves and their families.  Kevin and I are thinking hard about school expenses and we should be able to help with costs, but we're not capable of paying for an expensive place.

Ok, rant for the day.  Done :-).