Are you an "expert" in a topic you refuse to discuss on DCUM?

[Anonymous]

I'm a landlord tenant lawyer. Takes too long to explain things to people who have no clue, so avoid it. Also very well educated in African American Studies and Literature, as well as Women's Studies. Avoid all threads on racial issues. They're scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Criminal defense attorney. I weigh in every now and then. Mostly avoid unless someone posts something like, "I am so excited! My boyfriend of 3 weeks loves kids! He hasn't worked since he got laid off from his job 4 years ago and has agreed to watch my kids for free while I am at work! How did I get this lucky!? No idea why his horrible ex sued and won full custody and he has to have supervised visitation with his own kids for a couple hours every other week. Oh well! More time for me. He wants me to homeschool since the schools have some rule that I don't understand about him not going on school property. So lucky he wants to be involved with my kids!"

I think you helped me with creepy Uncle Larry a few years ago. You gave me the courage I needed to remove him completely from my child's scene. thanks!

[Anonymous]

Yes. Some comments are too frustrating and it's not worth my peace of mind to try to correct.

[Anonymous]

I am a family law attorney and have posted only a couple of times. It kills me when people give out advice to those who may heed it that is completely wrong. Such as "50/50 is what the judges will do" and or " you have to get a job because judges don't give out spousal support" It's just so wrong to make such blanket generalized statements and say "that's what a judge would do" and I hope that posters seek the advice of an attorney and not listen to these people.

[Anonymous]

"expert" is a weird word to use in my case but I am a constitutional law professor. I have to stay away from the politics forum.

[Anonymous]

Urban Planning. I try to stay out of a lot of real estate discussions. Especially when everyone is predicting the bubble....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not an "expert" but a former gymnastics instructor who is familiar with trampoline safety. No one ever seems to want to hear that backyard trampolines are dangerous, and that one of the biggest dangers is multiple kids jumping at the same time. I'll still post that every single time it comes up, in case someone decides to pay attention, but it's really disheartening to read all the responses of "well, my rules are no more than 3 kids jumping at once, and we have a net, so it's perfectly safe!"

I had a middle school teacher who had been paralyzed from the waist down in a trampoline accident. She was a gymnast practicing a routine flip. But she landed wrong and damaged her neck. She said it wasn't even a particularly bad fall but the right angle to damage her spinal cord.

She was a very cool lady. I wish that hadn't happened to her.

[Anonymous]

A couple of months ago i posted an Ask Me Anything in my field of knowledge/experience. Although i don't consider myself an "expert" I am certainly a good source of information. And I like to help people. I think i helped one or two people in making career decisions. The remaining "questions" in what turned out to be a 5 or 6 page thread were not even questions. They were attacks! I stopped looking at it after a while. Felt pretty stupid for trying to share my "expertise." I stay away from the topic altogether on DCUM. Not sure what the typical response is to an AMA post - perhaps they just come off as obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in a medical sub-specialty field but I don't often weigh in on relevant topics. Main reason being the DCUM sentiment that physicians are overcompensated, ignorant, insensitive and rude.

I quit weighing in when a DCUM poster told me I must be a terrible physician because my patients, most of whom suffer from a chronic, debilitating and difficult to manage disease, have to keep returning to see me. Their thought was since my patients keep coming back, they are not getting any better so clearly I'm a terrible physician.

Are you a chiropractor or mental health specialist?

These are the two areas I see where people want to be HEALED DAMMIT and if they have to go for checkups/adjustments/assessments they think you aren't doing your job or your job isn't 'real'.

[Anonymous]

I'm a computer system admin. I don't discuss because it just becomes endless requests from people looking for help with their various computer problems who don't want to pay someone who knows what they are doing to fix the problem. I help family and close friends and otherwise, refer people to the Geek Squad. Unfortunately, there are far too many people who need computer help and just trying to be nice ends up being overwhelming.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I have worked in finance and credit analysis for 20+ years. The amount of mis-information/ignorance is scary and when you try to put the correct information out there - people argue it. There are usually a few other people who will chime in and dismiss the people spewing false information.

[Anonymous]

Yes, nutrition. I can't believe how hostile people get about it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a psychologist and therapist. Most of the threads on relationships, parenting and education touch on what I do for a living. I sometimes weigh in anonymously but mostly MYOB. I would never advise a client of mine based on an internet post. It's usually way more complicated than that. The one thing I will comment on is where I see someone truly in distress who I feel could benefit from professional counseling or medication. I will urge that person to seek help.