The Most Active Threads Since Friday

The most active thread since my last post on Friday was titled, "Buyers can't have it both ways" and posted in the "Real Estate" forum. The original poster notes that in her neighborhood houses are "selling like hotcakes". The houses are all the same age and have been slightly updated or staged. However, one house that has had nothing done to it has been sitting on the market. The original poster blames the lack of interest on the fact that it would require updating after purchase. This leads the original poster to accuse buyers of trying to "have it both ways". On one hand they complain that no houses are on the market and on the other refuse to consider houses that have not been updated. Several posters provide an explanation for why houses in need of updating are avoided by new buyers. After having put nearly every cent of their savings into a down payment and closing costs, new buyers don't have cash for a renovation. If they buy an already updated house, the cost of the renovation is rolled into their mortgage. Several posters see the advantages of buying a house in need of updating. For instance, several would rather do a renovation themselves rather than accept a cheap job done only to enhance a sale and there are the obvious financial advantages. But, if they don't have the money, they can't take advantage of those benefits. A second reason cited for avoiding homes in need of updating is the disruption that comes with renovations. With months long waits for appliances or cabinets, many posters say they would just rather avoid the headaches. However, the length of this thread is a result of one of my most hated phenomenons: a fight between generations. In this case, the battle is between millennials and baby boomers. As I have repeatedly written, I don't like generational labels which I find to be of little value. I especially dislike when posters divide each other with these labels and get into arguments. In this case, millennials are accused of being lazy and too incompetent to paint their own houses while boomers are said to be overly attached to their outdated homes for which they are expecting to get far too much money. The lack of utility of generational divisions is quickly displayed by posts from millennials who not only can paint a room, but apparently have built their entire homes from the ground up with little more than a hammer and screwdriver. Similarly, plenty of boomers claim to be quite happy to spend $40k updating their home in order to charge $80k more for it. 

The next most active thread was posted in the "VA Public Schools other than FCPS". Titled, "APS and new healthcare provider", the original poster says that Arlington Public Schools has changed the healthcare provider used by staff members and asks if anybody knows why. This thread illustrates another of my pet peeves — I guess it is going to be one of those days — which is posters ignoring the limited and very specific question asked by the original poster. Instead, most of those responding simply used the thread as an opportunity to rant about teachers and saying that teachers should adjust to changes that are common in the private sector. I've never been fond of the "things suck for me so they should also suck for you" mentality, especially when the original poster never actually complained about her situation. For some reason, several posters suggest that teachers want parents to advocate on their behalf in relation to the health insurance changes. Maybe teachers are doing that somewhere else, but I didn't see them doing that in this thread. Rather, several posters explained why there is some disappointment about the change and why it might have some negative ramifications. But, mostly it seems like posters just used this thread as an opportunity to take cheap shots at teachers. The thread devolved to the usual litany of complaints about teachers, with an added dose of posters who claim that they normally sympathize with teachers but this is a bridge too far and in this instance they think teachers should simply suck it up. I personally think there is a significant difference between changing from say, AETNA to Carefirst and changing from Kaiser to BlueCross as is apparently happening here. The second is more than likely going to require a lot more changes in doctors and will be more disruptive. So, I wouldn't begrudge teachers a few gripes.

Third was a thread titled, "Antisemitic incident at Blair" and posted in the "Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)" forum. The original poster linked to a WTOP article about an incident at Montgomery Blair High School in which students performed an "antisemitic salute". Continuing today's trend, the responses demonstrated another of the common DCUM behaviors that I dislike. The very first response was "Of course mcps says nothing". Had the poster bothered to click on the link provided by the original poster, he would have seen that the entire article was based on a letter from the Blair principal informing parents about the incident and condemning it. Of course, the original poster could have put a bit more effort into the original post and not required clicking a link to gather details. Regardless,  the goal posts were promptly moved and this official statement was downplayed as insufficient. The same poster then implied that Montgomery County Public Schools does not consider anti-Semitic acts to be hate crimes. Again, a simple review of the Principal's letter would have disabused the poster of this idea. The Principal says that the police were alerted and they are conducting "thorough investigations". The poster goes on to say that incidents of anti-Semitism are routinely swept under the rug. This poster would ultimately post 47 times in this 15 page thread and really accounts for its length. While I understand concerns about this specific incident as well as the increased anti-Semitism our country is witnessing, I think this poster could have benefited from less of a knee jerk reaction and a bit more thoughtfulness. The incident is clearly not being swept under the rug. Adding to the surrealism of this thread was a poster who compared kids making an anti-Semitic salute to Archie Bunker from the television show "All in the Family". This poster apparently believes that Bunker's evident racism demonstrated that racism is funny and not offensive. In actuality, Bunker's behavior was a humorous way of demonstrating what was wrong with racism. Other posters go to great lengths to excuse the behavior of the students which is off-putting. The thread also gets somewhat bogged down in comparisons, most of which are unfounded, between how MCPS reacts to anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry such as racism or anti-LGTBQ incidents. I am not sure what more could be expected of MCPS in this incident. Indeed, some posters seem to think the school system is doing too much. Posters on both sides of the argument in this thread are making me question whether this thread is actually an elaborate bit of performance art.

The final thread at which I'll look today was posted in the "College and University Discussion". Titled, "I find it annoying when people get on here and say it really doesn't matter where your kid goes", the original poster asks why posters who don't appreciate the value of choosing the best college are bothering to participate in the college forum. As if posters spent the weekend conspiring to convince me that DCUM has been my greatest failure, most of those responding simply ignored the question in the original post. One poster who did respond to the question in the original post said that she doesn't think college choice matters, but she uses the forum to "find out about those little schools I hadn’t heard about that aren’t high in the rankings". Most of those responding, however, simply debated the importance of college choices without explaining why they were participating in the forum. The first poster to respond, for instance, argued that the choice of college, other than in limited circumstances, doesn't make a difference. According to this poster, employers will care that someone went to school, not where they went. There was some agreement that there are a limited number of schools which attending would make a difference, but this is the exception rather than the rule. On the other hand, a poster who described themselves as "a child of immigrants" made an impassioned argument that college choice is important as a means for social mobility, especially to poor and non-White students, and opens up ideas and opportunities that wouldn't be available elsewhere. Other posters cited additional reasons that they think college choice matters. While desirable job opportunities was one, others suggested that the interpersonal connections that could be made were also important. While these were generally career-oriented connections, that was not solely the case. One poster claimed that "Smart and mature young men and women prioritize meeting a spouse in college." So, apparently for some posters, college is not only about education, but is also about jobs, a network of contacts, and even a spouse. No wonder they sweat this decision.