This was a real post on my neighborhood listserv

[Anonymous]

Are there Listservs in McLean? Please say no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But yes, word is out that the OP posted this.

Why on earth would anyone care?

I care - as do my neighbors - because what the OP did was incredibly mean spirited. But I suspect you know that ....

There is nothing mean about it.

When you post something online on a PUBLIC list serve an sign your name, you can't expect privacy. If this was a personal email or a personal note, that would be different.

Pineconr lady wanted to get her vent public. OP was just helping deliver the message to a wider audience.

Similar to the Lost Pet posts - people want as many people to read those as possible so they post them on the ListServe.

Oh yes, the OP was just being helpful and distributing the poster mom's message to the entire DC Metro area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you will get yours. Everyone knows that YOU posted this on DCUM. Karma is a bitch.

Not the OP but WTF? Making threats??

You seriously consider that to be a threat? Does your child happen to throw pine cones?

I strongly discourage anyone from throwing pinecones, and parents not taking responsibility for their own kids. But "you will get yours" is a commonly known threat that can get you in serious trouble.

Toughen up, snowflake. The OP will get a dose of her own medicine. No one is threatening her physical safety, so calm the fuck down. But yes, word is out that the OP posted this. She will find that public humiliation and shaming is a tough pill to swallow.

I'm confused. Are you saying that the people in the Bethesda 'hood where the pine cone assault occurred know the OP's name? If that is what you're saying then, if you aren't actually pine cone mom, you are exponentially stupid for trying to scare OP on DCUM. You do realize that no one's IP address will be revealed because they busted an idiot who post
ed something idiotic on a neighborhood listserv. What are you? 15?

"Word is out..."

All I'm saying is that many of us in the neighborhood know the OP and the poster mom. And find what the OP did to be incredibly unkind. I'm not threatening her safety (and I think you know this but are trying to stir the pot) but yes, neighbors are aware of what the OP did and think it's incredibly cruel. The OP will find a few more cold shoulders. That's all.

Not the PP, but you posted that 'Karma is a bitch.' and 'You wil get yours.'

Sounds like a threat to me.

And that you will make sure OP gets a dose of her 'own medicine'. Like you and Pine Cone Lady are out for revenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you will get yours. Everyone knows that YOU posted this on DCUM. Karma is a bitch.

Not the OP but WTF? Making threats??

You seriously consider that to be a threat? Does your child happen to throw pine cones?

I strongly discourage anyone from throwing pinecones, and parents not taking responsibility for their own kids. But "you will get yours" is a commonly known threat that can get you in serious trouble.

Toughen up, snowflake. The OP will get a dose of her own medicine. No one is threatening her physical safety, so calm the fuck down. But yes, word is out that the OP posted this. She will find that public humiliation and shaming is a tough pill to swallow.

I'm confused. Are you saying that the people in the Bethesda 'hood where the pine cone assault occurred know the OP's name? If that is what you're saying then, if you aren't actually pine cone mom, you are exponentially stupid for trying to scare OP on DCUM. You do realize that no one's IP address will be revealed because they busted an idiot who post
ed something idiotic on a neighborhood listserv. What are you? 15?

"Word is out..."

All I'm saying is that many of us in the neighborhood know the OP and the poster mom. And find what the OP did to be incredibly unkind. I'm not threatening her safety (and I think you know this but are trying to stir the pot) but yes, neighbors are aware of what the OP did and think it's incredibly cruel. The OP will find a few more cold shoulders. That's all.

Not the PP, but you posted that 'Karma is a bitch.' and 'You wil get yours.'

Sounds like a threat to me.

And that you will make sure OP gets a dose of her 'own medicine'. Like you and Pine Cone Lady are out for revenge.

OP - is this you continuing to stir the pot? Why don't you give it a rest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw something like this last weekend. My friend's TEN year old son started jumping in a bounce house with shoes on. The lady running it yelled over the screaming kids to remind him to take his shoes off. The boy then got off the bounce house and sat on the ground blubbering. By the time his mom found him he was so wound up. He told mom that a lady was "mean" to him. So my friend being the cool and collected lady she is, marched over and tore this woman up oneside and down the other. She actually made the woman start to cry, and my friend asked her why she felt that she needed to be so very harsh to this sweet boy. I was so embarassed. Even though I witnessed everything, my friend would not listen to me. She kept saying "you would be pissed if this was your kid." I would have been pissed, but at my son for being a whinny boo.

I saw this at Brookside Gardens a few weeks ago. I'm the butterfly exhibit - a worker told a mom to have her kid stop standing on a bench. Apparently the mom felt the lady was being too harsh.

What happened to following the rules and showing respect for other prople's property? Ugh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you will get yours. Everyone knows that YOU posted this on DCUM. Karma is a bitch.

Not the OP but WTF? Making threats??

You seriously consider that to be a threat? Does your child happen to throw pine cones?

I strongly discourage anyone from throwing pinecones, and parents not taking responsibility for their own kids. But "you will get yours" is a commonly known threat that can get you in serious trouble.

Toughen up, snowflake. The OP will get a dose of her own medicine. No one is threatening her physical safety, so calm the fuck down. But yes, word is out that the OP posted this. She will find that public humiliation and shaming is a tough pill to swallow.

I'm confused. Are you saying that the people in the Bethesda 'hood where the pine cone assault occurred know the OP's name? If that is what you're saying then, if you aren't actually pine cone mom, you are exponentially stupid for trying to scare OP on DCUM. You do realize that no one's IP address will be revealed because they busted an idiot who post
ed something idiotic on a neighborhood listserv. What are you? 15?

"Word is out..."

All I'm saying is that many of us in the neighborhood know the OP and the poster mom. And find what the OP did to be incredibly unkind. I'm not threatening her safety (and I think you know this but are trying to stir the pot) but yes, neighbors are aware of what the OP did and think it's incredibly cruel. The OP will find a few more cold shoulders. That's all.

Not the PP, but you posted that 'Karma is a bitch.' and 'You wil get yours.'

Sounds like a threat to me.

And that you will make sure OP gets a dose of her 'own medicine'. Like you and Pine Cone Lady are out for revenge.

OP - is this you continuing to stir the pot? Why don't you give it a rest?

I'm the PP. No, definitely not the OP. I could never afford to live in Bethesda! Now, I'm somewhat glad about that though. All the drama.

[Anonymous]

OP doesn't seem like she gives two shits about a few cold shoulders. However, if PCL and her henchbitch do something crazy to OP this awesome thread is great evidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, that pine cone post epitomizes what is wrong with our society. If my son threw a pinecone and someone got angry and left without allowing him to apologize, I would think "wow, that guy's sort of mean," and move on with my life. I would absolutely not post a rant on my neighborhood listserv. Similarly, if my 6 year old son cried about it immediately afterward, I would comfort him briefly, but if he was "STILL" crying for any significant period of time, I'd tell him to buck up.

PLUS infinity.

Yes!! So true.

If Pinecone Lady had any sense, she'd post another message saying how she was wrong to come on the Listserve with her public rant. And that her kid shouldn't have been throwing things. End of story.

[Anonymous]

Well, I guess I'm inviting everyone to mock me as well, but here goes. . .

I don't think the mother's email was really off base. It's not something I would probably send, but my reaction as a recipient would have been mild sympathy.

Some kids have a really strong sense of shame, especially at that age, and many have a strong sense of justice as well. In combination, I can see where a mother would be frustrated at how this played out. My nephew is like that. I can easily imagine him ruminating on this and feeling really bad and embarrassed for a long time.

I also think if you're going to really take someone to task, especially a stranger who won't have the opportunity to follow up later, it's better not to do it in a hit-and-run fashion. The kid is not entitled to "closure" as the mother put it, but it would nice. Since the guy took on the role of "village" in this situation, he could have take the extra 30 seconds to do it more productively. Learning to apologize meaningfully is important and this was a lost opportunity for that. One of my biggest peeves is those terrible, passive-voice, "I'm sorry if what I said/did offended you," nonapologies that you hear all the time.

Whether or not you feel the man was in the wrong, the mother's email WAS totally out of line. Someone says something to you about your kid's behavior in a brusque tone and then the person leaves before your kid can apologize. The appropriate thing to do is comfort the kid a bit, remind him not to throw things, encourage him to move on, and move on with your life as well, NOT to throw a tantrum on your neighborhood listserv.

[Anonymous]

Yes, exactly. But she doesn't know how to take responsibility and she won"t be teaching it to her son, either.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I care - as do my neighbors - because what the OP did was incredibly mean spirited. But I suspect you know that ....

No, I don't know you, and you don't know me. You don't know who OP is, either, so drop the witch hunt now.

[Anonymous]

I feel really sorry for this kid. What 6 year old boy would want everyone in his neighborhood to know that he was crying hysterically for a prolonged period? It was NOT good judgment on the part of the mom to post that message. Sometimes people are not as nice as they could be, but when they drive off and disappear, the lesson to be learned is, sometimes you feel angry and frustrated, but you have to deal with those feelings and move forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
All I'm saying is that many of us in the neighborhood know the OP and the poster mom. And find what the OP did to be incredibly unkind. I'm not threatening her safety (and I think you know this but are trying to stir the pot) but yes, neighbors are aware of what the OP did and think it's incredibly cruel. The OP will find a few more cold shoulders. That's all.

You can't tell who OP is from DCUM, so now you've found someone unpopular to harass? Stop it now. WaPo, where are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel really sorry for this kid. What 6 year old boy would want everyone in his neighborhood to know that he was crying hysterically for a prolonged period? It was NOT good judgment on the part of the mom to post that message. Sometimes people are not as nice as they could be, but when they drive off and disappear, the lesson to be learned is, sometimes you feel angry and frustrated, but you have to deal with those feelings and move forward.

Seriously, how would he know unless momma pinecone tells baby pinecone? That'd be a doozy #2 for the week. As I posted earlier, he's happily playing Angry Birds on his iPad2, munching on organic snacks blissfully ignorant of this whole saga...as it should be. Lesson learned. Can we move on now?