02

The most active thread yesterday was a thread in the "Political Discussion" forum about the latest indictment of former President Donald Trump. Since I've already discussed that thread, I'll go on to the next most active thread which was titled, "Etiquette re landscapers taking their lunch break on my front lawn" and posted in the "Lawn and Garden" forum. I believe that this is the first appearance of a thread from this forum in the most active list. The original poster explains that she has landscapers come weekly to mow her lawn. She is very happy with both the cost and performance of the service. However, often the crew members take lunch just before or after working on her lawn. They lounge around on the ground under a cherry tree in her front yard. They don't leave any trash or cause problems of any kind. Nevertheless, this bothers the original poster. However, she is concerned that complaining will cause problems of some sort and wants to know what others think about the situation. DCUM posters rarely are unanimous in their responses, but in this thread they are very close. Overwhelmingly, posters are appalled that the original poster is upset by this behavior. I don't think more than 2 posters sided with the original poster. The rest considered the original poster to be, at best, unfamiliar with American customs (the original poster described being an immigrant) or, at worst, being a horrible monster. Just about everyone said they would have no problem with the landscapers eating lunch in their yards in this manner. Several said that they routinely offer drinks in similar situations and some even invite workers to sit on their porches or other more comfortable seating. Given the near universal reaction, one would have thought that the original poster would quickly accept that she was wrong. But, no. Instead, the original poster rejected any post that wasn't supportive of her — at one point clearly saying that only the supportive posts were "decent". This attitude further enraged those responding who doubled down on their opinion that the original poster is a terrible person. Any attempt by the original poster to defend herself or offer additional clarification only seemed to make things worse. At the rate things are going, there is a fairly good chance that the original poster will enter the pantheon of DCUM folklore legends  beside Pinecone Mom and Lightly Fried Tuna Lady.