MovieChat Forums > Family Matters (1989) Discussion > Did Carl and Harriete attend or graduate...

Did Carl and Harriete attend or graduate from collge?

posted 8 years ago by queencity86
5 replies | jump to latest

I know Vivian and Phillip Banks and Cliff and Clair Huxtable attended college, but I never heard of them (Carl and Harriet talk about attending college, but didn't seem any less middle class or upper middle class black family as the Huxtables or Banks. I guess I'm kind of saying this to say. My dad and his younger sister were the only two out of all 5 of his siblings to attend college, the other 4 didn't want to, (my dad met my mom in college and they both have their bachelor's and my dad has his masters and my dad's sister who went and graduated college met her husband (my uncle) in college and they both have degrees), but they are no more middle or upper middle class than the three other siblings and their spouses that didn't attend college. All of my dad's siblings and their spouses worked great jobs. My dad was a principal for 20 something years until he retired in 2008. I didn't finish my degree and I'm 30 now and married with a 6 month old and my husband is 32 with two degrees. I am considering finishing my bachelors, but anyway, we're about to be homeowners and I don't think I'm any bad off than my friends that did finish college. My dad's youngest brother's wife (my aunt) didn't go to college and she's vice president at Bank of America here in the city we live in. Sorry for my off topic rant, but I noticed I never heard them mention college and Carl was a police officer and Harriet worked in retail, I think, both jobs you don't need a degree to have.

[–] hillbrian2005 8 years ago

In the past you didn't need college degrees to become police officers and in episode five Carl told Eddie tht he and the grandfather didn't go to college and that he could be the first Winslow to graduate which he didn't instead becoming a police officer also.Harriet didn't either as far as I can tell. She worked for the Chicago chronicle originally.

[–] abajasds 8 years ago

No mention of they went to college my guess is no. But Harriett did mention about working for the Chicago Police Department also in season 1 after she was let go from the Chronicle as an elevator operator and she became head of securities there. And a police officer really doesn't need a degree but times have changed sinc it's so much to Law Enforcement nowadays. But regardless I think that Carl and Harriette made out well. Carl became captain of the Chicago PD and Harriette ended up becoming director of sales in a department store. I call that quite a success story.

My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather

[–] furienna 8 years ago

[Carl and Harriet] didn't seem any less middle class or upper middle class black family as the Huxtables or Banks.

They were obviously working class to me (at least until the last few seasons, when they got promotions to police captain and department store manager respectively). Yes, I will agree that they lived in a nice enough house. But it was also clear that they had to save every penny to get what they had. They could never spend thousands of dollars on one painting or one record, like Cliff and Claire Huxtable did. And there was no way that they could haved hired a butler or shared a pool guy with the Reagans, like the Bankses did. So... were the Winslows middle class? Maybe so, but not until towards the end of the show. And as for the being upper middle class... Dream on!

Intelligence and purity.

[–] arcticdragon340 8 years ago

And there was no way that they could haved hired a butler or shared a pool guy with the Reagans, like the Bankses did.

Wasn't there an episode where Carl actually hired an attractive maid, and then Harriet got unhappy and countered by hiring an attractive butler? I wonder, with their income, how did they manage that?

And now that I think about it, was there any indication that Harriet did or did not go to college? I know that Rachel did, which she mentioned to Laura in that straight-A episode. But what about Harriet?

Anyways, some college degrees can be pretty overrated and useless sometimes, such as degrees in Liberal Arts or General Studies, which are basically High School Diplomas 2.0s. Rachel went to college but worked as a writer and a restaurateur. And Harriet basically worked on the retail ground floor and got promoted her way up to executive position. Unlike Carl, who went to Police Academy because his career choice needed specific training, Harriet merely needed general knowledge for economics and management, and that kind of knowledge can be obtained on the job without college, and Rachel needed loan for her restaurant and enough business management skills to profit and pay back debts.

As for me, I have only one field I have any sort of potential in, and for that, a bachelor's degree is not simply "good to have", I really require it under all circumstances.

Welp, that ends my boring lecture. If you decide to finish college, that degree will be good to have on your resume. But if not, then enough working experience from where you are now will also do. I wish you the best of luck, OP.

[–] furienna 8 years ago

Wasn't there an episode where Carl actually hired an attractive maid, and then Harriet got unhappy and countered by hiring an attractive butler? I wonder, with their income, how did they manage that?

Whoops, I forgot all about that one!

Yeah, they shouldn't have been able to afford that. Then again, it was only for one episode. So it was hardly a regular expense for them.

Intelligence and purity.