Thursday's Most Active Threads

Yesterday's most active thread dealt with another topic in which I simply don't understand the interest. The thread was titled, "Chastised for not tipping on a to go order" and posted in the "Money and Finances" forum. It seems like there are new threads about tipping every few days on DCUM and I am baffled about why. The original poster of this thread describes going to what was apparently a sit-down restaurant and ordering an order to go at the hostest stand. She was presented with a check, which she paid, and was told that the tip was not included. The original poster ignored that remark and left, returning a few minutes later to pick up her food. As she was leaving the restaurant, the waiter who had taken the order called out to her saying that she hadn't left a tip. The original poster is so angry that she is thinking about calling the manager and complaining. Maybe I didn't get a good night's sleep, but I just can't be bothered with this thread at the moment. Why the hell would anyone give this incident a second thought, let alone start a DCUM thread and consider calling the manager? In many places, restaurant wait staff are not paid the minimum wage and, therefore, tips are an important part of their income. The waiter's behavior was inappropriate, but it wouldn't hurt the original poster to have a bit of empathy and perhaps leave a small tip. At any rate, I know that DCUM posters have strong antipathy toward tipping under most circumstances so I expect this poster to have found plenty support.

The second most active thread was posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Titled, "Tell me about Amherst", the original poster wants to know what life is like at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. While quite a few posters have good things to say about the University, many of the responses are strangely hostile. There is an off-topic debate about Covid and a discussion about the diversity of the student body. Another weird obsession of some posters in the college forum is Northeastern University and somehow that school even comes up in this thread. This thread highlights a very common phenomenon on DCUM in which a thread's topic is simply used as a jumping off point for posters' pet issues. I suspect that had the thread been about another college, many of the exact responses would still have been posted.

The third most active thread was titled, "Mindy Kaling" and posted in the "Entertainment and Pop Culture" forum. Until just now, I thought this was an older thread about the actress that had been revived. But it turns out that it is a new thread started to highlight Kaling's recent weight loss. Continuing today's trend of me not having a clue in the world why people are interested in these topics, I really don't get the obsession that some DCUM posters have for Kaling. She is fine actress, I grant you, but there are at least 10 other threads about her. Kaling's weight has always been a particular fixation of those posting about her and the fact that she is Asian seems to trigger either devotion or animosity depending the poster. In both cases, the emotion is often extreme enough to be difficult to understand. I've only read a few posts in this thread, but it looks like Kaling is both praised and criticized for her weight loss. I can understand why fans of the actress want to post about her, but I really don't get the haters. Why would you click on a thread about someone you don't like? That just gives additional attention to the person. Ignoring them is much more effective. But, sadly, those who irrationally hate celebrities never strike me as being particularly brilliant so this is probably above what they are capable of understanding.

The final thread at which I'll look today is titled, "New bike lane on Old Georgetown Rd in Bethesda" and posted in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics" forum. This is going to cap off a day in which I hate every popular thread (okay, the Amherst thread was not so bad). This thread has been around for a couple of weeks but added over 5 pages yesterday, accounting for its inclusion in this post. Based on the title of the thread, there is apparently a new bike lane along Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. But, since I haven't been on that road in quite some time, I have no personal knowledge of it. What I do know is that bike lanes are probably the single most controversial issue in the DCUM metropolitan politics forum. This thread is currently 26 pages long. Twenty page threads about bike lanes are pretty standard. The debate points are well-known. Car drivers complain that bike lanes remove lanes for cars which results in backups and lengthens commutes. Bike lane proponents respond by saying that by promoting safety, bike lanes encourage biking which removes cars from the road and is better for the environment. These points are then argued endlessly. I have no idea what spurred the burst of posts yesterday, but I suspect that it is nothing more than variations of the same arguments.