Sunday, October 7, 2018

Private schools in Switzerland


I used to work in a high-end furniture store. One of out customers was a terribly wealthy retired couple. The husband had been president of a large company in California. They were friends with Charles Schultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip. The wife talked about what normal, down to earth guy Schultz was. When company came around, he would always serve tuna fish sandwiches. Always. Every time.

This image of Schultz was ruined for me when they did an episode about him on A&E's Biography. Schultz had a teenage daughter he had some minor trouble with, so he shipped her off to a boarding school in Switzerland. Then, so she wouldn't feel bad, he demanded that his son go to Swiss boarding school, too. Rich people are monsters and cartoonists are no exception.

More recently, I was working in a warehouse selling stickers, keychains, patches and similar items. Most are aimed at teenagers and are calculated to upset their parents. We mostly sell wholesale, but we received a retail order from Switzerland. I googled the mailing address and found it was an exclusive Swiss boarding school. I looked at their website. Horrible rich kids, shunned by their own parents, were reaching out to us.

It's not the same as a boarding school, but the last "finishing school" in Switzerland, Institut Villa Pierrefeu, is shutting down. It's a "school" where they teach rich girls how to act rich. They do it after high school but before college. It's $30,000 for a six week course. Think of the shame those girls must feel telling their friends they're going to "finishing school".


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