Thursday's Most Active Threads

Leading in number of views and second in number of replies yesterday was a thread titled, "$8.50 for a loaf of bread" that was posted in the "Money and Finances" forum. When I saw this title, I assumed that this was going to be another thread complaining about "Brandon" and the economy. Instead, it turned out that the original poster had gone to Whole Foods with the intention of buying a loaf of brioche. However, the original poster passed on the bread when she saw the price was $8.50, up from the $4 or $5 that she used to pay. She attributed this increase to price gouging and asked how rich do you have to be to not notice or not care about such a rise in price. Because the original poster's experience involved both Whole Foods and brioche, she didn't get a lot of sympathy from those who responded. Most replies were variations on "what do you expect from Whole Paycheck?" Many posters reported brioche was much more affordable at other grocery stores. Others recommended bread machines and home baking. I did learn something new in this thread. The oft-quoted Marie Antoinette is said to have declared, "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" or "Let them eat brioche" in the original French rather than "cake" as it usually reported. Several posters attributed the high price to attitudes that would be right at home in the House of Bourbon. Based on these posters' telling, which I have no reason to dispute, Whole Foods markets to a demographic that doesn't notice or doesn't care about price increases or happily pays higher prices in order to demonstrate status and liberal values. Possibly true, but sometimes a brioche is just a brioche and, as the original poster demonstrates, can be passed over easily enough.

A thread titled, "Unexpectedly enjoyable activities" and posted in the "Off-Topic" forum was third in both views and replies yesterday. The original poster asks for examples of activities that someone thought they would hate but ended up enjoying. The original poster's example was leaf cleanup. Several of those who responded also listed cleaning leaves so apparently this is not uncommon. The responses include a wide variety of activities, many revolving around varius sorts of cleaning beyond leaves such as picking up litter, grooming pets, washing cars, vacuuming, and shoveling snow. There is not a lot to be said about this thread beyond just listing the responses which I don't think is worth doing. But, if this sort of thing interests you, there are 5 pages for you to read.

Second in number of views and fourth in number of replies was a thread in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum titled, "WWYD with this rude child?". The original poster explains that she and her husband are separated and he moved across country to take a very specialized job. A friend's child told the original poster's son that his dad must really hate his mom to move so far away. The friend immediately told his child that was an inappropriate thing to say. The original poster was apparently not present when this happened, but was furious when she found out later. She is now considering confronting the family and demanding an apology. While the original poster says that she is upset at how her son was treated, many of those responding suggested that she was angry for her own sake rather than her child's. Others sympathized with the original poster and suggested taking a break from the family. Many posters asked the age of the child, explaining that below a certain age they would be more tolerant and understanding. However, the original poster steadfastly ignored the repeated questions about age. One poster suggested that the original poster was so angry because what the child said was actually true. That didn't go over well with the original poster who responded by saying that, even if it were true, it was still a very rude thing to say to her son. Personally, I think the two families should just get together and talk this out over a $8.50 loaf of brioche.

I am sorry to say that DCUM has apparently been infested by a number of posters suffering from a mental illness. This illness is exhibited by an obsession with bike lanes and an inability to stop ranting about them. The most recent demonstration of this condition is in a thread titled, "Free bus service in DC proposed" and posted in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics" forum. This thread, which was first overall yesterday in number of replies and fifth in number of views, is nominally about a bill before the DC Council that would make Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority buses that originate within the District of Columbia free for riders. But, the original poster, without so much as the decency of a trigger warning, blatantly baited "anti-bike people claiming to be pro-transit". The bike lane obsessives immediately took over, complaining that money spent on bike lanes should instead be spent on the homeless. What, pray tell, I can hear you saying, do bike lanes and the homeless have to do with buses? Well, let me tell you. The first reaction to the original poster was from a bike lane obsessive who argued that free buses would be full of homeless people. To hear this poster tell it, getting on a bus will be like a scene out of "The Living Dead" with homeless people playing the role of zombies. As such, instead of spending money on buses, money should be spent on caring for the homeless. Also, money spent on bike lanes should be spent on the homeless. Now, I am sure many of you are thinking that the homeless do deserve care and more money should be spent on them. I agree. However, I am not convinced that, despite what they claim, the bike lane obsessives agree. Rather, their entire thought process is predicated on hating bike lanes and they will exploit any argument that might strengthen opposition to bike lanes. As such, the plight of the homeless is something simply to be exploited for purposes of combating bike lanes. I see no evidence of an actual commitment to aiding the homeless among this crowd. It is hard to explain logically how taking money from buses to help the homeless can end up being part of an anti-bike lane campaign, but read this thread and you will understand. If you can work your way through the posts about the homeless and bike lanes, there are a few posts about removing the fares from busses.