Thursday's Most Active Threads

Fully six of yesterday's ten most active threads were threads that I have already discussed. That barely leaves me enough for today's post. The first about which I'll talk was the second most active thread yesterday. Titled, "MCPS teachers - what would you tell parents in your class(es) if you could?" and posted in the "Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)" forum, the thread is meant, as the title suggests, to invite input from Montgomery County Public Schools teachers about what they would tell parents if they had the opportunity. The thread begins with warnings that teachers are very busy, have very little extra time, and cannot do all that they would want. A parent responds to one of these posts by describing the teacher in question as a "failure in [the teacher's] life's work." In many ways, this is current state of MCPS boiled down to its most essential essence. Teachers warning that they are being stretched too thin and being called "failures" by parents in response. The real cherry on the cake is that just four posts later that very same poster responded by describing herself as a "distraught" parent who was beng "taunted" by teachers and painting herself entirely as the victim of bullying teachers. If this is the situation with which teachers are dealing — and by all accounts it is — no wonder they are quitting in droves. Who wants to deal with this kind of parent? But, the poster didn't stop there. When other posters patiently explained that anyone reading the school forums on DCUM would know that there is a teacher shortage and that the remaining teachers face severe resource constraints and the poster should be supportive rather than combative, the poster rejected the message. Instead, she replied saying that she was an "outsider to the special needs parenting community" — the exactly opposite of what she previously suggested — and accused teachers of being abusive and "narcissists" who gaslight parents. This poster is not representative of all the parents who post in the thread and, hopefully, is not representative of most parents with whom teachers have to interact, but it wouldn't take too many parents like this one to completely poison things. In addition to this poster, other parents seize this thread as an opportunity to air their grievances with teachers. Ignoring that this is the compete opposite of the intention of the thread, one poster suggested that they discuss the teachers' union and school closures during the pandemic. It's been clear for some time that there is a cohort of parents who are no longer able to discuss any other aspect of schools and education and, like a scratched record that repeatedly replays the same few notes, fixate on school closures regardless of the context. It really seems like many school systems are entering a vicious circle in which teachers are stressed to breaking, parents are more than willing to break them, and more teachers quit causing those remaining to be stretched even thinner. I'm not sure that this pattern can be reversed until the kids that experienced school closures have aged out and taken their parents with them.

For the next thread I had to skip all the way to what was the sixth most active thread yesterday. Originally posted in the "Off-Topic" forum, I have just moved it to the "Jobs and Careers" forum. Titled, "Would you work if you don't have to?", the original poster asked if others had sufficient savings, trust funds, or high-earning spouses, would they quit working? As could be expected, there are a variety of responses. Several posters say they get fulfillment from their jobs and would, therefore, continue to work. Several say they might reduce their schedule to part-time. A number would quit their jobs, but do volunteering or take a job that pays less but is more interesting. There are posters who describe themselves as already wealthy. Some of them work despite their money because they enjoy their jobs and some of them don't, relishing their lifestyles. Later in the thread it turned to descriptions of what posters would do if they didn't have to work, but still had sufficient financial means. Many have somewhat elaborate fantasies to which they have obviously given lots of thought. One poster would focus on doing things to help the community such as helping children with literacy or opening a senior center. Another one would repeatedly take family members or friends to the airport and pick a destination from the departures board. Given our highly literate audience, it is probably no surprise that there are posters who already quit their jobs to become authors and posters who would love to be able to do that themselves. One poster said that she and her husband are "on this path together" and as long as he works, so will she. But, once they both can quit their jobs, they both will.

The next thread among the most active that I haven't already discussed was titled, "Are bikes allowed to go through red lights on major roads?" and posted in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics". Bikes are to the DC metro forum what Meghan Markle is to the Entertainment forum. The topic is guaranteed to be controversial and invites fanatics from both sides. This thread begins with a poster saying that she was stopped at a stop light when two bicyclists, with children onboard, that were travelling in the same direction she was came up from behind, passed her, and proceeded through the intersection despite having a red light. The original poster found this very dangerous because crossing traffic had the light. A couple of posters, perhaps reflexively but also accurately, responded to say that it is not legal for bicyclists to run red lights. Another poster pointed out that in the District of Columbia "bicycles can now legally go through red lights after stopping at intersections where it's permitted by signage" and provided a link to a webpage offering further information in this regard. However, that page says that no streets have had the required signage added and, moreover, the cyclists described in the original post didn't come to a full stop. Therefore, the posters who instantly responded to say that the cyclists had not acted legally were correct despite the new law. Nevertheless, a poster then responded to criticize the earlier posters as responding "reactively" simply because they "dislike all things bikes do". When posters made clear that the cyclists had not followed the law, pro-bike posters moved the goal posts and began arguing that cyclists are the best judge of the risks they face and, therefore, should not be criticized even if they break traffic laws. An additional justification was that cars often run red lights. I have to say that the pro-bike posters in this thread, at least up to the point I got fed up and stopped reading, weren't doing themselves a lot of favors. Their overriding principle seems to be that they should be able to do whatever they can get away with. More than one of them chastised the original poster for even asking the question. While the thread originally dealt with stop lights, discussion soon broadened to include stop signs with many arguments about bicyclists' behavior regarding those as well. Eventually, as all threads of this nature do, the thread simply turned in to a general debate about bikes on roads.

The final thread at which I'll look today was posted in the "Entertainment and Pop Culture" forum. This was actually the ninth most active thread yesterday. Titled, "Britney & Sam split", the thread is about the disclosure that Britney Spears and her husband Sam Asghari have separated and intend to get a divorce. I have been generally successful at avoiding using any of my precious few brain cells on the various Britney Spears controversies and don't see any reason to change that habit now. So, I'll just say that if this is the sort of thread that interests you, it is currently nine pages long. Beyond that, I can't really say anything about it.

Have a good weekend everybody. I'll be back Monday to review threads from the weekend.