[Chopper]

I certainly do not agree the author's views; however, I thought it might of interest to some of the TOTV members.

http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/re...q8.html?page=1

[Cassie325]

Originally Posted by HowardSims

I certainly do not agree the author's views; however, I thought it might of interest to some of the TOTV members.

http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/re...q8.html?page=1

Obviously this reporter did not do her homework. Apparently she does not know about the Charter schools....the family villages and all of the family housing in the area. She does not know how much some of the residents do for the students at the Charter School.

[graciegirl]

What does she know about The Villages first hand and about being our age first hand ?? She read Andrew Blechman's book and observed her own grandmother and is measuring all of us by her primary school ruler.

If she was our age and if she would be given the opportunity to live here, she would most likely do what we did.

We don't hate children and we don't relish avoiding them, many of us have given a good share of our lives for the betterment of education and many programs that benefit children. We were the room mothers, the scout leaders, the soccer moms, the band boosters, the tutors, the mentors, the contributors to better the world for children. We enjoyed our children, still do and adore our grandchildren. We don't have to defend ourselves.

I voted for every school bond issue that came my way. My grandchildren are reaping the rewards of those schools.

Because we choose to live here and be happy and feel safe and reap the benefits of carefully planning for our retirement, we should be criticized?

I don't think so.

I think that she will change her mind when she grows up and certainly when she reaches our age.

[Bogie Shooter]

Maybe if she got 35000 emails explaining The Villages, she would get the point.

[Whalen]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

What does she know about The Villages first hand and about being our age first hand ?? She read Andrew Blechman's book and observed her own grandmother and is judging all of us by her primary school ruler.

If she was our age and if she would be given the opportunity to live here, she would most likely do what we did.

We don't hate children and we don't relish avoiding them, many of us have given a good share of our lives for the betterment of education and many programs that benefit children. We were the room mothers, the scout leaders, the soccer moms, the band boosters, the tutors, the mentors, the contributors to better the world for children. We enjoyed our children, still do and adore our grandchildren. We don't have to defend ourselves.

I voted for every school bond issue that came my way. My grandchildren are reaping the rewards of those schools.

Because we choose to live here and be happy and feel safe and reap the benefits of carefully planning for our retirement, we should be criticized?

I don't think so.

I think that she will change her mind when she grows up and certainly when she reaches our age.

Bravo
Thank you Gracie, well said.
Why do people feel that if we don't want to be surrounded by, and spend every waking hour discussing children that we are anti children?
We love children, and as you said we all have and will continue to do what we can for all our children.
But now it's our time, our time to relax, to play, to enjoy the company of people with similar experiences and interests, and have some fun in a safe and
beautiful place.
And of course visit and enjoy all the children in our lives.

[Sidney Lanier]

Why do we even give credence (and somewhat defensively, I might add...) to writers like this whose whole motivation is questionable to begin with? Frankly I wouldn't waste my time, nor would I buy a book like Blechman's and give him the royalties he would get if I were to....

[Boomer]

I am growing quite weary of this portrayal as Public Enemy Number One for those who choose 55+ living. I think they all just want free babysitters.

Boomer

[KayakerNC]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Maybe if she got 35000 emails explaining The Villages, she would get the point.

http://www.watoday.com.au/contact/

[rustyp]

The author's point of view that older folks in The Villages are not investing in the future because over 55 communities have low school taxes is not a strong argument in my book. I believe about half the residents in The Villages are two home owners. My home outside The Villages has plenty of school taxes and inside The Villages it may be low compared to outside but it is far from zero. The way I see it is the author ought to thank me for paying more than my fair share.
Her second argument of the social aspect of children are required in our lives to be balanced. Why is it that the author believes we don't integrate our lives with children. On an hourly basis I see my children more in The Villages when they visit us for vacation than we get to visit at home with their hectic basic work schedule. Did one forget that most households today have two working members in order to make the mortgage payments. When two household members work the everyday choirs still need to get done. I think a lot of those hours spent eat into what used to be the weekend family visits of yesteryear. Can you remember when the price of a house was 2 -3 times the "breadwinners salary"?
And finally (before I fall off this soapbox) the idea that Villagers don't contribute to society due to lack of suppot for children is bogus. I wish there was a metric to measure how many hours and dollars that volunteers from this community have contributed to outside local communities. Many a family in the local area has been touched by a helping hand from a Villager.
Time for me to take my blood pressue medicine.
See ya.

[graciegirl]

Well said Rusty P. And a good point about supporting two school districts with our taxes.

Kayaker.. Thank you for the link. Please everyone contact this paper, even if you write just a few words. I don't like for anyone to think that just because we are older we aren't aware of what people are saying about us. I will link it again.

http://www.watoday.com.au/contact/

[collie1228]

We need to understand where this writer is coming from, and what possible motivation she might have for writing this drivel about The Villages. I looked up the author, Ms. Abdel-Fattah, up in Wikipedia and learned that she is an Australian (and the newspaper link is an Aussie newspaper as well), born in 1979 to Palestinian and Egyption parents, and is a lawyer. I'm all for diversity, but come on, where does an Australian lawyer under 30 years old get off lecturing me on my lifestyle and whom and what I should be associating myself with in my retirement? I realize that as an Aussie, she probably doesn't know that the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of association in the First Amendment, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt on that. But I can't ignore the fact that she seems to think that TV residents have all but withdrawn from society - which couldn't be further from the truth. I think a letter to the editor of her newspaper is in order.

Originally Posted by HowardSims

I certainly do not agree the author's views; however, I thought it might of interest to some of the TOTV members.

http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/re...q8.html?page=1

...of Andrew Blechman's Leisureville. I doubt if this reporter has ever even been to the Villages.

[RCT]

I just sent an email to the tipoff line of this publication, asking for a direct email to the person that wrote this article. We will see if I get any response! Here is the email I sent.

Didn't see where you could email directly to Randa Abdel-Fattah , concerning an article about The Villages, Florida, based on a book called Leisureville. It doesn't surprise me that there is no link to email this slanderous article by a person who has never visited our community. I would appreciate it if I could be sent a email address directly to this misinformed person you have writing this article, so I don't have to voice my opinion about them to anyone other than themself. Thankyou for your time in this matter.

[JohnN]

well, this doesn't really bother me. there is so much drivel in the world that one needs to be selective in what they read and believe.

[rshoffer]

My "kids" (face it, they are adults) live at different corners of the country and, I'm certain, are quite content having some space between us and them. I never understood this argument in Leisureville and I still don't. Enough.