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Comment by mmcnickle | Hacker News Reader

Am I the only one who found the whole thing extremely patronising? "A homeless man who could teach me something, who would've thought. I went to MIT!"

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I think there's also a broader implication that "homeless people" are so different from "normal" people that their input is some sort of gem that this young man went out of his way to discover for the rest of us. There are a saddening number of stories hoisted to the front page of HN that exhibit such classist overtones that I wonder if it adds an out-of-touch quality to the site and really limits the discussion.

The post _does_ come from someone who felt they needed to refer to their school in their username here: MIT_Hacker.

Yeah i don't see what the story was here either. It sort of disgusts me to think anyone would read this and be enlightened or surprised. If you've never had to worry about being out on the streets yourself you've led a very privileged life.

And, that's the point. The poster in the story realizes the privilege of his life and gains insight into the life of others. You really expect him, at 19, to understand homeless people when there is so often a sensationalized stereotype.

About his username, it is absurd that you cannot admit to going to a good school without being pretentious. The classic example is how Harvard students say where they go to school, "in Boston". Hiding information about your successes because they might impress people is much more pretentious than making a username "MIT_Hacker".

Think before you attack people.

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